Find High Intensity Interval Trainers near you

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FAQs:

What is High Intensity Interval Training?

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a training protocol alternating short periods of intense or explosive anaerobic exercise with brief recovery periods until the point of exhaustion. HIIT involves exercises performed in repeated quick bursts at maximum or near maximal effort with periods of rest or low activity between bouts. The very high level of intensity, the interval duration, and the number of bouts distinguish it from aerobic (cardiovascular) activity because the body significantly recruits anaerobic energy systems (although not completely to the exclusion of aerobic pathways). The method thereby relies on "the anaerobic energy releasing system almost maximally".

Should I Do High Intensity Interval Training With Weight Training?

Combining high intensity interval training (HIIT) and weight training is a common practice for individuals looking to build muscle, increase fitness, and enhance endurance. Training them together, either on the same day or in the same training session can be beneficial, but it also can inhibit performance if not programmed correctly. So, should you train HIIT and weight training on the same day?  Yes, you can do both weight training and HIIT on the same day.  Most individuals who do so perform two separate training sessions on the same day to allow for recovery between sessions. If you choose to perform both in the same session, whichever is trained may not be trained to the same level of intensity. When looking to train both with weights and perform HIIT in the same session, it is important to determine which of the two is the main emphasis for that day. Often, you can vary the order of the two to place greater emphasis on one over the other based on your needs as a lifter/individual.

Is Crossfit High Intensity Interval Training?

While it may seem like the same thing as HIIT, don’t be fooled – CrossFit and HIIT are both an example of mixed-modal training, which means both involve doing different types of activities within one workout. But CrossFit has HIIT and a bit more. It uses things like gymnastics and Olympic weight-lifting movements.

Does High Intensity Interval Training Work?

HIIT can help to decrease body fat, increase strength and endurance, and improve health outcomes, but it is not necessarily better than other exercise formats. Its main appeal is that it can achieve similar fitness and health benefits in a shorter duration and that it includes periods of rest.

How Much Time Should There Be Between My High Intensity Interval Training?

When performing HIIT, research suggests that the range of work and recovery for each interval be 15 seconds up to 2-3 minutes in duration (depending on the ratio of work-to-recovery used).

The total duration of a HIIT session should be about 30-60 minutes in length, with warm-up and cool-down included in that time.

How High Intensity Interval Training Work?

HIIT is a type of interval training exercise. It incorporates several rounds that alternate between several minutes of high-intensity movements to significantly increase the heart rate to at least 80% of one’s maximum heart rate, followed by short periods of lower-intensity movements.

Is High Intensity Interval Training Safe?

Generally yes, but this will depend on your own fitness level and circumstances. If an aerobic endurance base is developed over time and the training protocols are followed properly, then HIIT can be a safe and effective method of exercise. Individuals who are just starting to work out or have serious heart conditions should get the approval of their doctor before beginning strenuous activity. HIIT should not be the only form of exercise that you do during the week, but it can help you when you are crunched for time and need to work out quickly.

Who Should Avoid HIIT Workouts?

HIIT training is not meant for everyone, at least when unsupervised. Here's a look at the list of people who should NOT indulge in this exercise routine.

- People who are injured.

- Pregnant woman

- Women who are in the first 3-6 months postpartum.

- Immunocompromised people

- Those who have a serious heart condition

- People diagnosed with osteopenia or osteoporosis

- Always speak with your doctor or fitness trainer before engaging in this intense workout regime.

What is High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) Training for Weight Loss?

HIIT is a type of interval training exercise that involves quick, intense bursts of exercise, followed by short, sometimes active, recovery periods. It is known to burn maximum calories in a short amount of time and can also help you lose fat. Muscle gain is another benefit you can reap from this form of exercise.

According to the researchers, HIIT has many benefits not just during the sessions, but also because it increases fat burning during other physical and daily activities.

"Engaging in HIIT can improve burning fat, with larger effects expected for longer training regimens and individuals with overweight/obesity," they said.

In addition, they said that fat metabolism "will improve after only four weeks of HIIT", and it will "continue to improve over time". Besides burning fat and improving metabolic health, this exercise is also said to manage obesity.

Study author Professor Zeljko Pedisic, from the Institute for Health and Sport, Victoria University, Melbourne, urged: "If that stubborn body fat isn’t going away, consider adding HIIT to your exercise routine."

He added: "According to the recent Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends, HIIT is among the most popular types of workouts."

If you have made up your mind to lose weight fast, here are some of the HIIT exercises you can do for weight loss.

- Burpees

- High knees

- Lunge jumps,

- Jumping jacks

- Mountain climbers

- Push-ups

- Side Jackknife

How Often Should I Do High Intensity Interval Training?

Unfortunately, there is not one completely right answer. The amount of HIIT you should do per week depends on your level of intensity as well as other activities you may do throughout the week. Your current fitness level is also a factor.

It may also be helpful to take a look at your goals and determine what need you have for HIIT. Do you want to use it as your main method of training? Are you using it for weight loss, strength training, or another goal? These questions can help you determine how much priority you should give to your HIIT sessions.

Most experts say HIIT training should be done 2 to 3 times a week, depending on intensity, and will show the best results when implemented in a program that involves other types of low-impact training, such as resistance training. 75 minutes of HIIT or another high-intensity activity is typically best.

Of course, you’ll have to be sure your activity is truly high-intensity or your max effort. Rest days are also very important to incorporate. So, if you’re striving for the recommended 75 to 150 minutes per week, be sure to do enough training that allows for a few days of rest. A well-rounded program that involves a HIIT routine may look something like this: 

Day 1: HIIT Session 25 min

Day 2: Rest

Day 3: Resistance Training 40 min

Day 4: HIIT Session 25 min

Day 5: Rest

Day 6: Resistance Training 40 min

Day 7: HIIT Session 25 min

Is High Intensity Interval Training Aerobic Or Anaerobic?

HIIT is generally considered anaerobic. This is pretty much the complete opposite of aerobic exercise hence the prefix an, which means without. Sprinting, Jump rope, Gymnastics, and Plyometrics are all forms of anaerobic exercise.

In Anaerobic exercise, the body is working at maximal levels and can not sustain that period for very long without rest. This is due to the lack of oxygen in the muscles and the build-up of lactic acid.

This allows for extreme use of energy and quick bursts of power. Usually, in brief, second durations and very rarely if not impossible longer than a minute the intensity is much more than that of aerobics.

Requiring intense but brief forms of energy, this form of exercise taps directly into your fat stores as opposed to just only your glucose or the energy in your muscles that Aerobic exercise does.

This is because the demand required to keep up this amount of activity is so intense that your body needs to convert glucose at a higher rate much quicker.

Fat does a perfect job of this and prevents your body from breaking down your muscles. This is why you often see sprinters or gymnasts with huge massive frames as opposed to long-distance runners.

Anaerobic exercise requires all-out maximal effort which keeps your heart rate in the upper 80% to 90% range. Due to the intensity of the exercises rest periods (depending on the individual) are typically longer in duration.

Longer rest periods allow lactic acid in the muscles mentioned previously to clear out and the cycle to continue.

What Does a HIIT Trainer Do?

A HIIT trainer who not only understands your goals but can also guide you through workouts that will produce optimal results. By working with a HIIT trainer, you will learn how to optimize your workouts by using the proper form as well as become more familiar with workout methods that best suit your goals. A trainer will give you useful tips on proper exercise forms and techniques so that you can get the most out of your training whether you are participating in an advanced or beginner HIIT workout. A HIIT trainer will help you set realistic goals based on your personal needs and abilities, and they can help to keep you on track to hit those goals over time. Working with a HIIT trainer is like having your own personal coach. They keep you motivated and check in regularly to see where you are at. This helps make sure you stay on track and get the most out of your time with them by bringing in results fast! You’ll notice a big difference in your circuit training before and after working with a HIIT trainer.

5 Types of HIIT Workouts

1. TABATA

Just 4 minutes is all you need to blast your body into action and melt fat, fast. Traditional TABATA HIIT workouts consist of just two exercises: perform the first continuously at maximum intensity for 20 seconds, take a 10-second break, then go all-out on the second exercise for 20 seconds. Keep going until the 4 minutes are up.

2. EMOM

Short for ‘every minute on the minute’, this type of HIIT is a protocol that keeps the intensity high and rests low to challenge your powers of recovery and force your body to adapt. Most EMOM workouts consist of one exercise performed for a specific number of reps at the start of every minute, with the remainder of the minute your allotted rest time. So, the quicker you go, the more rest you get.

3. LADDERS

Each workout consists of two exercises. Perform 1 rep of the first exercise, followed immediately by 1 rep of the second exercise, then rest for 45 seconds. Perform 2 reps of each exercise, then 3, then 4, and so on, all the up to 10 reps – resting for 40 seconds between each pair. Once you’ve completed 10 of each, work your way back down the ladder.

4. COMPLEXES

Ironically simple, complexes involve picking up a bit of kit and not letting go of it again until the workout is finished. They test your grip strength and willpower and fire up your metabolism. An example workout would consist of five exercises. Complete the prescribed number of reps for each exercise in order without resting, then rest for 90 seconds, and repeat the whole thing four times.

5. AMRAP

‘As many rounds as possible’ simply means completing as many reps or rounds as you can in the allotted time. Say you had a circuit of six exercises, you could set a timer for 20 minutes and complete as many rounds of that circuit as you can. AMRAP training is an effective way to monitor your fitness because you can easily test yourself against previous efforts.

The Benefits of High Intensity Interval Training

HIIT isn’t new, but it has become more popular in recent years for many reasons. What most people love about HIIT workouts is that they take a lot less time than steady-state training. If you don’t have time for 45 minutes on the stair climber, you can do 20 minutes of HIIT and get many of the same benefits and then some.  High intensity interval training is a unique type of cardio workout that has all the benefits of cardiovascular fitness plus others: 

1. HIIT Workouts Burn Major Calories

Being able to save time on a workout is a major benefit of HIIT, but you don’t want to sacrifice the calorie burn. It turns out that HIIT workouts burn more calories per unit of time than steady-state cardio. So, you can torch the same number of calories in less time–a great option for clients with a weight loss goal. One study of calories burned compared 30 minutes of steady-state cycling and running with 30 minutes of HIIT. The researchers found that the HIIT participants burned up to 30% more calories. 

2. The Calorie Burn Continues

Studies also show that the calorie burn extends well beyond the actual HIIT workout. This style of training seems to rev up your metabolism so that you keep burning more calories than you otherwise would, long after the workout is done. 

3. Lose Fat and Build Muscle

HIIT boosts your metabolic rate, but it might also shift your metabolism toward using fat as energy and away from using carbs. Studies indicate that HIIT is a powerful fat-burning workout, likely for this reason and because of the increase in metabolism generally. While losing fat, HIIT can also help you build lean muscle. For both of these effects, but especially muscle-building, it’s important to understand that the effects are mostly seen in people who are overweight, obese, and largely sedentary. For already well-trained individuals, HIIT is a great workout, but the fat loss and muscle gain will be less. 

4. HIIT is Good for Cardio Health

Anyone can benefit from HIIT workouts for improved cardiovascular health. Stead-state workouts are good too, but the high intensity periods seem to have a greater effect on things like blood pressure and resting heart rate. Again, the effect is more pronounced in people who are overweight or have cardiovascular health issues. Try swapping in a HIIT cardio workout on your next cardio exercise day.

5. Improve Oxygen Consumption

For fit individuals and athletes in training, HIIT is highly effective for boosting oxygen consumption. This is the ability of the muscles in your body to use oxygen for energy and it improves athletic performance. Endurance, steady-state cardio has traditionally been the workout of choice for increasing oxygen consumption. Now, experts know that HIIT does it better and in less time.

What a Typical HIIT Session Be Like

A typical HIIT session would call for a warm-up of 5-10 minutes where the intensity gradually increases from an RPE of 3 to an RPE of 5. Once the body is warmed up, it is then time to begin the work intervals. The appropriate work-to-recovery ratio for HIIT is 1 minute of work to every 2 to 3 minutes of active recovery. Staying active during the recovery period allows the muscles to remove the metabolic waste and produce more energy for the next bout of high intensity exercise. Start with a lower number of work intervals and work up to 10-12 high intensity work intervals. An example of outdoor HIIT training would be running at the fastest pace possible on a track for 200 meters, then jogging at a slower pace for 400m (or twice the length of time required to run the 200 meters). An example of indoor HIIT training would be an indoor cycling class where the instructor has the class do hill climbs for two minutes working at an RPE of 7 or 8, followed by four-minute flat road intervals working at an RPE of 4 or 5.

How to Do HIIT Workouts Right

HIIT is great for most people, but to get the benefits, you have to do it right. It’s easy to overdo HIIT and end up with injuries. Starting out small and building up to longer, more intense workouts is essential. It’s also important to limit the frequency of HIIT sessions. This is not a workout for every single day. 

One of the many great things about HIIT is that you can tailor it to just any individual and their goals. When planning HIIT workouts, consider the five elements that you can vary for each client: 

Intensity and recovery duration. For a beginner, start with short burst intensity periods and longer recoveries, for instance, 30 seconds on and 30 seconds off. As someone gets fitter and adjusts to this tough workout, plan longer intense periods and shorter rest periods. 

Intensity level. Intensity should be around 80% to 95% of the maximum heart rate, which looks different depending on an individual’s current fitness. You can use fitness watches or perceived exertion to vary the intensity. 

Type of recovery. The recovery periods can be slower movement, like jogging after a sprint, or complete rest. The important thing is to get the heart rate down a little before the next intense period. 

The number of cycles. For beginners, start out with just a few rounds of alternating high and low intensity. Build up the number of cycles and duration as they get fitter. 

Also important to consider is frequency. Doing HIIT too often can actually cause muscle loss. It can also lead to burnout and injuries. For newbies, only do it once per week. Fitter people can safely do two to three sessions per week as long as they have plenty of recovery time.

HIIT Workout Examples

Want to start with a bodyweight workout? Try this 25-minute HIIT workout. If you have access to gym equipment, try this 20-minute HIIT workout:

Warm-Up

1. Plank Hip Extensions - 10 reps for each leg

2. Walking Lunges - 10 reps for each leg

3. Jumping Jacks - 30 seconds

4. High Knees - 30 seconds

Workout

Complete each exercise for 30 seconds and then recover for 15 seconds. To decrease the difficulty, try resting for 30 seconds. To increase the difficulty, increase the work time to 45 seconds. 

1. Rower

2. Kettlebell Clean and Press

3. Tire Flip to Burpee

4. Kettlebell Thruster

5. Mountain Climbers

6. Med Ball Jump Squat

7. Battle Rope Waves

Cool Down

1. Lat Stretch - 30 seconds

2. Single-Leg Hamstring Stretch - 30 seconds for each leg

3. Hamstring Foam Roll - 20 seconds

How to Do High Intensity Interval Training At Home

The easiest way to do a HIIT workout at home is to divide up each minute into work and rest periods. So for example, if you're a beginner, you might start with 30 seconds of work, followed by 30 seconds of rest. If you're more advanced, you might do 45 seconds of work and 15 seconds of rest. Or go with a more specific training protocol like Tabata training. This type of HIIT workout consists of eight rounds of 20 seconds of max effort with a 10-second rest repeated for four minutes total. You could also try AMRAP (as many reps as possible with good form) workouts where you'll perform as many reps as possible of a specific exercise for a set amount of time or EMOM (every minute on the minute) workouts where you give yourself a set number of reps to complete in a minute. Once you've completed them, the remainder of the minute is your rest period. Circuit training is another great option. This involves doing a series of exercises with no rest between each exercise. The rest comes at the end of a circuit and lasts for 30 to 60 seconds.

The Best Body-Weight Exercises for a HIIT Workout at Home

Once you know how you're going to structure your workout, you can pick out a couple of your favorite exercises and put them together into a full HIIT workout you can do at home.

Body-weight exercises are a fantastic way to enjoy the benefits of a HIIT workout with no equipment. There's no need for specialized machines, multiple sets of free weights, or bulky exercise benches — all you need is enough floor space to safely perform each movement. Here are seven of the best HIIT exercises that can conveniently be done at home with little to no equipment.

1. Push-Up

Push-ups are a universally recognized measurement of upper-body strength and endurance. It's also an ideal exercise for HIIT at home because you can do it just about anywhere and you don't need much space. You can also modify them to match your fitness level or choose a new push-up variation so you never get bored.

2. Lunge

Lunges are a staple of lower-body workouts for a reason: They build leg strength, endurance, and cardiovascular fitness. Just like push-ups, there is nearly an endless supply of variations to keep your at-home workouts fun and engaging.

3. Step-Up

Step-ups are an extremely functional exercise. After all, how often do you find yourself going up a set of stairs? Alternate legs or train one leg each set; either way, you'll get a great cardio workout and work your legs from glutes to calves.

4. Triceps Dip

Another excellent body-weight upper-body exercise, triceps dips primarily work the back of the upper arm — where your triceps muscle is located. These can either be done on a box, bench, or chair or from the crab position (face up on all fours).

5. Squat Jump

If you want to add some plyometrics (aka plyo) to your workout, squat jumps are a great place to start.

6. High Knees

Even though all of these HIIT exercises will get your heart rate soaring, there's nothing like mixing in a good old-fashioned cardio drill to really elevate your workout.

7. Burpee

Without a doubt, burpees are one of the best exercises that combine cardio, strength, mobility, and balance. They can be tricky to master, so if you've never done one, start with a few practice reps until you get the hang of them.

What to Look for in a Personal Trainer

To make sure your workouts are safe and successful, look for the following in your personal trainer:

1. Certification. Your trainer should be certified by one of the several organizations that certify personal trainers. Make sure the certifying organization is recognized by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA). This ensures that the certification meets appropriate standards so you can be confident that your trainer has had a great education.

2. Education. Your personal trainer should have an educational background in exercise science, kinesiology, or another subject that covers anatomy and physiology. 

3. CPR & first aid certification. Working out is relatively safe, but accidents can happen. Make sure your personal training candidate knows what to do in an emergency. You may also want to ask if the gym has an automated external defibrillator (AED).

4. Liability insurance. Make sure your potential coach is properly insured, just in case.

5. Get everything in writing. A great personal trainer will give you paperwork that outlines the details of your relationship including fees, cancellation policies, liability, and other important information.

How to Find a Personal Trainer

To start, look at local gyms and fitness centers. They usually have their own trainers who work there. Trainers at gyms are often more affordable than trainers who work independently. You can search online. Use local business review sites to find highly rated trainers in your area. Asking friends or family members is a great way to find a personal trainer you're likely to get along with. Find out if anyone you know has had a great experience with a coach in your area. You can also ask people who belong to your gym for recommendations or references for the personal trainers there.

Sources:

Wikipedia

Fitbod Blog

HSPH

ISSA

MyZone

HealthifyMe

Times of India

STEEL

Livestrong

ACE

Circuit Works

Men’s Fitness

WebMD

Love At First Fit

 

The content herein is provided for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Medical information changes constantly, and therefore the content on this website should not be assumed to be current, complete or exhaustive. Always seek the advice of your doctor before starting or changing treatment. If you think you may have a medical emergency, please call your doctor or 9-1-1 (in the United States) immediately.