High-Intensity Interval Training, simply put, is high-intensity training with rest in between. The rest time is very short and needs to be strictly controlled. How is it considered high intensity? It is generally considered high intensity if your heart rate reaches 80% of your maximum heart rate.
In fact, HIIT is not a specific training, but a training arrangement method. The specific actions can be running, jumping, pushing, pulling, freehand or weight-bearing. In short, any exercise that can make your heart rate rise rapidly in a short period of time can be used. join in. For example, sprinting on a treadmill, sprinting for 30 seconds, resting for 30 seconds, and repeating 4 times, this is HIIT; another example is doing 5 sets of squats at the fastest speed, 20 times each, and resting for 30 seconds between sets, this is also HIIT.
Maybe you’ve also heard of Tabata, which is actually a more intense form of HIIT with shorter rest periods. Generally, you choose a few movements, exercise with all your strength for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds and then cycle.
Why is HIIT suitable for fat loss?
Continue to burn fat after exercise
Aerobic exercise (such as jogging) almost only consumes calories during exercise, and there are basically no excess calories consumed after exercise. HIIT uses short-term high-intensity bursts of exercise to cause the body to produce an “excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC)” mechanism after exercise, allowing the body to continue burning fat for 12-48 hours after exercise, even while lying down after exercise. thin. Experiments show that this sustained fat-burning effect is far superior to the fat-burning effect of ordinary aerobic exercise.
Strengthen cardiopulmonary function
Because of the large changes in intensity, HIIT stimulates the heart more and more obviously than constant-speed aerobic exercise with a relatively stable heart rate. This will strengthen cardiopulmonary function. Cardiopulmonary function is a very important physical fitness. Strong cardiopulmonary function can not only improve Exercise performance can also effectively prevent the occurrence of cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and respiratory diseases.
Time-consuming, no equipment required, no venue restrictions
The reason why many people don’t exercise is simply because they don’t have time or space. HIIT can be done at home, at work, in the park, or in the gym using your own weight. Compared with regular aerobic exercise that can take more than 40 minutes, it saves a lot of time. It’s very Suitable for busy office workers.
Lose fat without losing muscle
One of the reasons why many fitness enthusiasts don’t like to do aerobics is that aerobics will consume the muscles they have worked so hard to build. Compared with longer-duration aerobic exercises, HIIT is characterized by being shorter in duration, thus reducing muscle loss. possibility. For novices who have not done high-intensity exercise, the high intensity of HIIT may also stimulate muscle growth, achieving the effect of losing fat and building muscle. (This double-killing effect may not apply to everyone)
Helps break through the fat loss plateau
Many people use constant-speed aerobic exercise such as jogging to lose fat. After a period of time, they find that their weight and body fat have stagnated and it is difficult to decrease again. This is because your body has gradually become accustomed to this relatively stable intensity and has entered a fat loss plateau. At this time, you can replace jogging with HIIT. Through continuous changes in intensity, your body will not adapt easily and help you break through the fat loss plateau.
How to practice HIIT?
Repeating the same movement is monotonous. The charm of HIIT is that you can choose a variety of different movements to combine, as long as you ensure the training intensity. Since you have such freedom, use a little creativity instead of squatting, deep squats, etc. Squat, squat again, or crunch, crunch, crunch again!
Fat Loss Concentration Camp – HIIT primary training. This set of training contains a total of 8 sets of movements, involving all parts of the body. It is absolutely neither repetitive nor monotonous.
For example:
Raise your legs high
jumping jacks
Burpee
Quick punch
mountain running
You can also collect 8-10 similar movements and design a set of your own HIIT.
Also, a word of caution!
The HIIT method is easy, but it is not relaxing. It can even be described as abnormal. The so-called high intensity means trying your best to reach the limit. If you don’t feel tired and out of breath after doing HIIT, then you must not have done it right. .
Therefore, people with muscle, bone, and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases must consult a doctor before deciding whether they can perform it. Please warm up and stretch before and after training, and gradually increase the intensity according to your physical condition.
