HIIT, or High Intensity Interval Training, workouts are a great addition to your exercise regime, as they increase your cardiovascular fitness, build muscle and can burn a lot of calories! Contrary to popular belief, HIIT workouts are not all about jumping. A good HIIT instructor will provide their class with both high and low impact exercise options. These low impact modifications are easier on your joints, but will still give you a great workout!
HIIT training is all about firing up your heart rate in a short amount of time, then allowing it to recover before spiking it again with another set of exercises and repeating this process. Over the years of teaching HIIT workouts, we have found that the below tips have helped our clients get the most out of their workouts. When you book into a HIIT class you know you are going to train hard, therefore you want to get the maximum benefits out of your workout!
*Please note that these tips below refer to a healthy client, not a client who is not injured, prenatal or postnatal.
1. Go Heavier with your Weights initially
We suggest that you pick heavier weights in the beginning of a HIIT class, as you can always swap in lighter weights. You can even have the lighter weights next to you just incase you need to swap the weights quickly.
In HIIT workouts, we are aiming to work the muscles in a short space of time; anywhere from around 40-50 seconds in a circuit style class. Once the 40-50 seconds is completed, your muscles should be so fatigued that you could not have done another repetition (even if you had wanted too!). If you are doing a Tabata style HIIT workout, in which there is only 20 seconds of high intensity, go for those heavier weights and try to use them for as long as you can!
Getting a round or more done with heavier weights will do wonders for building muscle, improving your cardiovascular fitness and help you get the most out of your HIIT workouts.
2. Add in Active Recovery Time
If you want to get the most of your HIIT classes you can add in active recovery time. This means that during the rest period (that is, during the 10-15 seconds rest that you have after the high intensity 20-50 seconds of work) you hold a static exercise, such as a plank or a squat. Whilst this means you don't get your rest time in between exercises, you will be keeping your muscles active and warm and working harder! You will still get your rest period at the end of each round, which is usually a minute minimum.
Whilst this active recovery may seem tough initially, it is sometimes harder to stop working out for 10-15 seconds and then start again! Adding in active recovery time will give you more out of your HIIT workouts.
3. Workout for you and your body
Focus on your own mat / space. Don’t worry about what your neighbour is doing, how heavy their weights are or how many reps they can get in. You are there to work to the maximum effort for you and your body. Comparing yourself to the person next to you is only likely to cause you injury by losing form from lack of attention. By focusing purely on your workout you will get the most out of it.
4. Start Gradual
If you are new to HIIT classes it can be a lot for the body to adjust to. This is especially prevalent if you have been on a workout hiatus or have never really done any high intensity interval training before. A great way of easing yourself into this training is starting with completing two out of four rounds. This way your body will adjust to the level of performance required and you can build up to completing the whole workout. Perhaps you do one to two rounds of the high intensity exercise options, then pick the low impact exercise optics for the remaining rounds. This tip goes back to the above tip: to workout for you and your body. Starting gradually is a great way to get more out of your HIIT workouts, as you will see your improvements!
5. Apply the Talk Test
The general rule of thumb with a HIIT workout is that you should not be able to talk in complete sentences whilst working out! If you can hold a conversation without any puffing at all, you are probably not exerting yourself as much as you can.
6. Maximise your time
If you are doing a HIIT workout alone, use a timer! If you are attending our HIIT classes in Brisbane, start each exercise as soon as the timer goes off and do not stop until you her the timer buzz. My favourite way to push myself in HIIT workouts is to finish the repetition I am on when the buzzer goes off! It is amazing how many extra repetitions of exercises you perform, which all amount to assisting you to get more out of your HIIT workout.
7. Mix up your HIIT
Like all other forms of exercise, the body gets used to it after awhile. This is why it is a great idea to mix up your HIIT workouts by including both Circuit and Tabata HIIT style programs into your HIIT regime. Circuit and Tabata HIIT programs work and fatigue the muscle in different ways.
Mixing up your HIIT workouts is also a great way of making the body work harder, resulting in more benefits. If you only ever perform a HIIT Circuit workout with 40 seconds per exercise, your body gets used to this. Why not switch it up to one minute per exercise or even 90 seconds?! This increase in workout time will definitely help you get more out of your HIIT workouts.
Conclusion
Have fun with your HIIT workouts; that way you will want to keep coming back for more!
Adding HIIT to a varied exercise program that includes strength training such as Reformer and Mat is another great tip to get more out of your HIIT workouts.
We will leave you with a few extra tips!
- We recommend no more than three HIIT classes a week. Start with one, building up to two a week and then three a week if you want to / have time / feel like you can / love these workouts. Your body needs time between these cardiovascular workouts to recover from this level of training.
- We advise spacing your HIIT workouts out over the week. Do a HIIT workout one day, followed by a Mat Pilates workout the next day.
- Stay hydrated throughout the workout!
- Make sure you eat a couple of hours before the workout to fuel your body and allow it to settle beforehand.
