By: Trey Martin, DPT
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Hate jogging for 30 minutes on a treadmill? Don’t want to lift outrageously heavy weights? Good! You shouldn’t have to do that for a great workout. One of the most efficient ways to train is through High intensity interval training (HIIT). HIIT involves quick bursts of activity, followed by a rest period. This is where the fun comes in. The activities you pick for your HIIT workout can be endless. Bodyweight exercises, sprint intervals, and lighter weights are commonly used. The rest time periods can also be tweaked. HIIT packs an effective punch because it maximizes the best of both worlds: muscle growth stimulation and calorie expenditure. Studies have proven that proper HIIT programming can increase VO2 max to a greater extent and more quickly than traditional steady-state cardio. HIIT improves insulin sensitivity more than traditional steady-state cardio (aka lessens incidence of type 2 diabetes). Finally, HIIT has been shown to improve cardiac function markers equally or even greater than traditional steady-state cardio. This begs the question; how do I perform HIIT?
I break HIIT up into three categories: aerobic, bodyweight, and resistance. Aerobic will involve activities such as: running, cycling, Concept 2 rower, and swimming. Bodyweight will involve bodyweight only exercises such as: push-ups, pull-ups, dips, lunges, squats, handstand walks, box jumps and TRX rows. Resistance style HIIT will involve typical weight training exercises, but generally with a lighter weight. A few of my favorites for this include: power cleans, push jerks, deadlifts, thrusters, kettlebell swings, and weight
vest+bodyweight from above. These categories can be mixed and matched during the workout at will. An example workout using all 3 categories could look something like this. Row 10 calories on Concept 2, 10 deadlifts with 135#, and 10 TRX rows. Perform 5 rounds of this as quickly as possible.
HIIT workouts should only take 20-30 minutes, and that includes a warm-up and cool down time. This style is perfect for anyone who says, “I just don’t have the time to work out.” The options are endless, start your journey today. As I mentioned at the top of this article, if you like the sound of adding HIIT to your routine, check out the HIIT tab on my page. There are some great starters ideas where I will combine these principles for free.
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