Looking to Lose Weight and Increase Performance?

If your overall health and fitness goals include losing weight and/or improving performance, High Intensity Interval Training may be right for you:

What is HIIT?

High Intensity Interval Training is a exercise strategy that is intended to improve performance and burn fat by performing short bouts of intense cardiovascular exercise. The original protocol calls for a 1:2 ratio for work to recovery periods. For example, a runner would alternate 30 seconds of hard sprinting with 1 minute of jogging or walking.

How can I add HIIT into my workout plan?

There are two ways for you to add HIIT into your exercise program:

- On cardio only days, warm up for 5 minutes by running or cycling at a moderate intensity. Then, give 80% of maximum effort for 60-90 seconds. Follow that with 120-180 seconds (twice your maximum effort time) at medium intensity. Repeat 6-10 times. Then, cool-down.

- On strength training days, introduce high intensity intervals of 30-60 seconds into your strength trainings circuits. An example of this could be; dumbbell chest press, weighted jump rope, body weight squats.

What are the benefits of doing HIIT?

High Intensity Interval Training has been shown to increase a person's resting metabolic rate (RMR) for 24 hours after exercise due to EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption). Additionally, HIIT may improve maximal oxygen consumption (VO2 max) more effectively than traditional aerobic workouts. Therefore, a person's resting metabolic rate could be burning up to nine times more fat than had they spent more time on the treadmill working at a moderate pace. High-intensity interval training has also been shown to improve athletic performance for already well-trained athletes!

How often should I do HIIT?

I would recommend doing HIIT workouts between 1 and 3 times per week. As with most strategies, this one's most effective when used in conjunction with other programs.

**Please note note that these types of workouts are very intense, and participants should use caution when increasing overall effort.