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Whether you are a fitness freak or just getting started with improving your overall fitness, you must have heard about high-intensity interval training a.k.a HIIT. In the last decade, HIIT has secured a spot on the top fitness trends and you can find a list of HIIT routines on almost every popular workout session whether you follow a fitness coach, watch YouTube videos, or learn through a fitness training app.
However, most people don’t know how HIIT actually works, why it is so beneficial, and whether they are supposed to do it. In this article, we will explain all the important details that you need to learn about HIIT to get started.
High-intensity interval training refers to workout sessions that consist of short bursts of intense exercise along with periods of lower-intensity exercise or rest. The total HIIT session can be anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes with intense periods of 1-5 minutes and recovery periods of 3-5 minutes.
For an exercise session to qualify as HIIT, your heart rate must reach at least 80 percent of your maximum capacity during the intense periods. Sometimes, you may reach 100 percent of your heart’s capacity as well. This type of training gets your heart rate up and keeps it high for longer which results in a variety of health benefits.
High-intensity interval training requires no weights or machines and can be performed using only your body weight. As a result, these can be performed almost anywhere. The difference between high-intensity interval training and steady-state, continuous types of exercise is the inclusion of intervals.
Thus, an example HIIT session may start with a warm-up of 10 minutes, followed by 4 minutes of vigorous exercise such as sprints to get your heart rate rising up to at least 80 percent of your maximum followed by a 3 minute recovery period such as walking or jogging and would end with a cool-down period of 5 minutes.
Here are a few benefits of doing high-intensity interval training:
In fact, VO2 max is one of the best predictors of your overall health and calculates how much blood your heart can pump and when you would run out of breath while doing activities such as swimming or running.
Thus, HIIT has proven to be more effective than traditional moderate-intensity training for reducing body fat.
High-intensity interval training offers numerous health benefits and is incredibly useful to people who don’t have enough time to exercise for more than 20-30 minutes a day. The best part is that you don’t require any special equipment or weights to get started.