I absolutely love High Intensity Interval Training – for many reasons! One, it is so short! Two, it isn’t an elliptical (it can be, but I choose not to) and three, probably the best, IT WORKS. I do some sort of HIIT almost everyday, except maybe sunday to give my body a rest. By doing HIIT workouts, it improves your athletic capacity, so if you’re a runner, you will find improvements in your lung capacity and it will be easier to hold a race-pace. This is because you are working so hard in HIIT, that you are in the “anaerobic” zone, using no oxygen. HIIT also improves glucose metabolism ( can break down carbohydrates more efficiently for energy). Along with all these great benefits, it’s just a well rounded cardiovascular exercise! You only need about 4-20 minutes. I am not so sure about 4 minutes being as effective as an hour long session, as some people say, but I do know that my 12-20 minute sessions do wonders!
I teach an “Intervals” class at the University of Oregon and my students love it. I do an alternation between strength training and cardio intervals with a few TABATA’s in-between. It’s 50 minutes long and it is a WORKOUT. But when I’m not teaching, I do a few other things on my own. I usually do a TABATA, which is full exertion for 20 seconds, then 10 seconds off. My workout looks like this:
Do each exercise for 20 seconds with 10 second break after each. Repeat 4 times thru before going to next:
- High Knee Runs
- Squat Jumps
- Mountain Climbers
- Lunge Jumps
Water break!! Then….do these exercises w/ same format
- Squat Jacks
- Pushups
- Burpees
- Bicycles
With a one minute water break, this workout is 17 Minutes! No Equipment. No Gym. Cardio & strength…How good does it get?
Change is uncomfortable!
xo
bon-bon fitness 