If we told you that you could get fit, lose weight and reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes in a mere 3 minutes a week, you probably wouldn’t believe us. But such exercise exists: the High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) phenomenon is sweeping the nation, with everyone desperate to find out more about the exercise regime that could be the future mainstream fitness craze. Lucky for you, here at HerCampus, we can tell you all you need to know about the training programme and will leave it up to you decide whether you think it’s a HIIT or a miss.
HIIT is an intensified form of interval training which involves intermittent sessions of concentrated intense anaerobic exercise and less intense recovery sessions. Researchers suggest these concise intense workouts can result in as much of an improvement in fitness levels and even more an increased metabolism than standard endurance training. Studies suggest you can achieve equal or even better results doing one minute of intense exercise three times a week than your friend slogging away on the treadmill for hours.
At the centre of HIIT research is Head of Biology at Loughborough University, Professor Jamie Timmons. He suggests a typical HIIT session would look like this: “Go very gently (around 50W, if your bike has a digital readout for power) for two minutes. Then set the bike to high power and do a full-on burst of 20 seconds. Then gently for two minutes. Then another full-on burst of 20 seconds. Then gently for another two minutes. Then another full-on burst of 20 seconds. Finally, a gentle two minutes to cool down. That’s nine minutes in total, of which one minute is intensive exercise.”
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Skeptical? These 21st century studies show that the excitement about HIIT is justified:
– 6-8 weeks of standard endurance training yields the same improvement in aerobic capacity as a mere 2 weeks of HIIT (study presented at the American college of sports medicine Annual meeting 2011).
– HIIT increases the resting metabolic rate for the following 24 hours and improves maximal oxygen consumption more effectively than traditional aerobic workouts. (King 2001).
– HIIT lowers insulin resistance & improved glucose tolerance, helpful for those who suffer from type 2 diabetes. (Timmons 2009).
– A study investigating the effects of HIIT on teenagers concluded that it is a “time efficient means for improving cardiovascular disease risk factors in adolescents” (Buchan 2011).
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So now you’ve got the basic gist of it, here are some pros and cons to help you decide whether HIIT is for you…
HIT
1. It’s quick
HIIT is ideal for the busy schedule and can easily be slipped in before coffee with your pals or in between lectures. It’s only a 10 minute workout three times a week and so more time can be spent on the really important stuff (shopping, partying etc).
2. It’s fun
Stressed about that essay? Boy troubles? You can let it all out in the high intensity sprint session, letting your anger and frustration be released through your hard work. Also you’re less likely to put off the gym if you’re only going for a 10 minute workout of intense and your utmost hardest work as opposed to mediocre slogging away on the treadmill.
3. Good for the body
As the studies show, the health and fitness benefits from HIIT include improved aerobic capacity, increased metabolic rate, decreased risk of heart disease and improved glucose tolerance which is ideal for type 2 diabetics.
4. Easily done
You can do HIIT by alternating jogs and sprints and so in this sense, it can be done anywhere whether it be sprinting in the park or on the treadmill.
5. Young forever
Human growth hormone – the hormone that fuels childhood growth -is released during anaerobic exercise which is said to be an anti-ageing hormone that can help encourage skin renewal, decrease body fat, increase muscle mass and keep you feeling energized.
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MISS
1. You may look weird
If you’ve seen Phoebe’s running in Friends, you’ll know there’s a fine line between looking cool, calm and collected when exercising and looking like an idiot. Sprinting down the street or viciously pedalling and grunting on the bike as you do your high intensity 30 seconds may not make you look like the most chilled out chick in the gym and instead may make you look like a maniac.
2. Specific equipment needed
Yes, the exact opposite to Advantage no. 4… Indeed, HIIT can be done by sprinting but Prof. Timmons insists: “You need to use either a cross-trainer or a static bicycle, and it needs to be heavy (ideally bolted to the floor). A treadmill won’t work because it doesn’t work all the muscles. You could do it on an outdoor bike — but for the fast bits you’d have to ride up a steep hill. Swimming won’t help either, as it doesn’t build up enough resistance in the muscles.” So if following Timmons advice, you want to use a bolted-down bike machine or cross-trainer so you’ll have to purchase one/head to a gym for this.
3. Not for the weak-hearted
HIIT is not advised to be a method used by the elderly or those with heart conditions. You also need to be at an average level of fitness; if you are very unfit you need to work up your fitness levels before having a go at HIIT.
Finally here are some tips if you think you’d like to give it a go.
– Most people aren’t used to anaerobic exercise (the lovely place where you find your heart pounding, body sweating, lungs gasping for air etc.). HIIT uses 80% of muscles in body compared to just 40% of jogging.
– If you want results, you can’t kid yourself. You have to give it your 100% or you’ll get nowhere. “Go fast as you can, as hard as you can”, Timmons says. “You need to give it 100 per cent effort. Of course, as you get fitter, your 100 per cent effort will get more and more powerful.”
Picture credits: Fitsugar.com, stronglifts.com