Does the phrase ‘high-intensity interval training’ make you think of elite athletes punishing themselves in pursuit of physical excellence?
You’re not alone – HIIT can sound a bit scary to the uninitiated, though it’s actually a fairly simple but effective training strategy that’s easy to incorporate into your fitness regime.
What is HIIT?
Instead of jogging round the park for half an hour, imagine running as fast as you can (at ‘high intensity’) for two minutes, followed by one minute of walking. Repeat that five times and you can say you’re into HIIT.
And what’s so wonderful about it?
Have you ever wished you could find a way to burn fat while you languish on the sofa? Now you can. HIIT is more efficient than other forms of exercise because you work so hard that your body takes a while to recover afterwards, so you’ll continue to burn fat long after you’ve finished exercising.
And because you work at maximum intensity for short bursts of time, HIIT takes much less time than more conventional training or exercise, making it easy to incorporate into a busy schedule. It can quite literally spare you the misery of slogging away at the gym for endless hours.
It’s well documented that applying a holistic approach to your health and fitness is both beneficial and a good way to combat boredom and plateaux – and HIIT is especially effective when combined with a well-balanced, healthy diet and core conditioning exercises (think Pilates, dance and yoga).
We’ve witnessed great improvements in the general stamina and fitness condition of Fit Perfect clients as a direct result of incorporating HIIT techniques into their training.
So if a convenient but effective route to all-round health and fitness is what you’re after, HIIT could be just the ticket.