Courtesy of Victoria Sport
While people are rediscovering the joy of slow exercise this year and trading a run for a walk, there’s still no doubt that HIIT (high intensity interval training) is a convenient way for the time-poor to pack in results. If you wanted a reminder of the merits of power training – and some motivation to make you dust off the gym kit – speedflex trainer Shane Murphy can pack a punch. Here’s his take on why HIIT is here to stay:
1. It improves fitness levels
“HIIT improves your fitness levels as it stimulates several physiological changes in the body which can lead to improved speed and stamina. One way it does this is by helping the body learn how to burn lactic acid more efficiently, allowing you to exercise for longer before fatigue sets in.”
2. It’s quick
“If you have a busy, hectic lifestyle like most people seem to have these days, HIIT is ideal for you. HIIT alternates short periods of intensive anaerobic exercise with less intense periods of rest in order to elevate your heart rate into a high intensity zone, before giving you some time to recover, so that you can begin the cycle again. A short 15- to 20-minute HIIT workout can be as beneficial to you as jogging on the treadmill for an hour. To make sure you get the most out of a HIIT training session, personal trainer led, group training sessions such as Speedflex are an effective option. Speedflex offers a high intensity, low impact, full body workout which builds lean muscle, blitz’s fat and improves your fitness levels.”
3. Workouts can target specific areas or can be full body
“The possibilities are endless when it comes to a HIIT workout. This style of training is beneficial for both a full-body workout or when you’d like to work on a specific area and it’s brilliant for burning fat. This means that you can incorporate elements of HIIT training into almost any workout – be it resistance or cardio – for optimum results.”
4. It boosts your metabolism and increases the number of calories you’ll burn
“HIIT can boost your metabolism because it stimulates your human growth hormones (hgh) for up to 24 hours after a workout. This is great news for anyone looking to lose weight, as hgh helps speed up your metabolic system and increase the rate at which you burn calories.”
5. You can do it anywhere
“One of the beauties of HIIT is that you don’t need equipment to do it. If you’ve got limited time, or can’t get to the gym, you can get a great HIIT workout in the comfort of your own home. Body weight exercises such as mountain climbers, squats or plyometric exercises are all good ways of raising your heart rate and ensuring you get the most from your workout.”
6. It can lower glucose levels and improve the health of your heart
“As the name suggests, HIIT is designed to be intense, getting you to work harder so that your heart rate reaches a high intensity, anaerobic zone. This makes your heart pump faster, which in turn helps it to strengthen. As well as improving the health of your heart, HIIT can also help lower glucose levels in the blood which can help to prevent diabetes. In addition, it increases insulin sensitivity within the body for up to 48 hours after a workout, making it easier to control the body’s blood glucose levels.”
7. It’s anti-ageing
“Another benefit of HIIT is that it slows down your body’s ageing process. Really. This is because it stimulates your human growth hormones which, in addition to speeding up your metabolism, also slows down deterioration of the body.”
