HIIT Workout stands for High Intensity Interval Training Workout.
A HIIT Workout is a popular form of training that involves quick intense bursts of exercise followed by short recovery periods.
A HIIT workout can last any length of time from as little as 4 minutes up to around 30 minutes including rest periods, meaning it is time efficient and can be performed anywhere including at home.
This means a HIIT Workout has great flexibility.
A HIIT workout gets your heart racing and burns more fat, so how does this happen?
Firstly the body gets energy from 3 sources, the macronutrients carbohydrates, fats, and in severe cases proteins.
These fuel sources are all broken down by the body through different metabolic pathways into the body’s main energy source Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP).
Fat Metabolism
When you use any of the cardio equipment at the gym you are likely to see a ‘pretty little graph’ on the machine telling you that if you’re working at around 50-70% of your maximum heart rate (i.e. low-moderate intensity) you are in the ‘fat burning zone’.
This is very true, as your body’s preferred energy source is fat, this is because the body can store lots of fat and therefore has a large supply of this macronutrient.
However the problem with steady-state cardio is yes you will burn fat during the time you are training (e.g. 45 minutes) but, as soon as you finish you will almost immediately slow down fat metabolism.
Up the Intensity!
Hiit workout’s are much more intense than steady-state cardio and therefore will use mainly carbohydrates as fuel instead of fat.
This is because although fat provides the body with the most energy, it is broken down very slowly into energy and therefore when you are working hard fat is broken down too slowly to be used as fuel for your intense workout.
Carbohydrate’s metabolic pathway is much quicker, therefore will be used for this type of workout.
So what is the point of doing a HIIT workout (and getting yourself exhausted) if you burn more fat doing steady-state cardio?
Are you just wasting your time and effort?!! NO, YOU’RE NOT! Here is the good bit!
The Afterburn Effect
HIIT workouts increase your body’s demand for oxygen, that feeling that you can hardly breathe means your body can’t take in enough oxygen to facilitate the activity.
This leaves the body’s cells with massive oxygen debt and like any debt, this needs to be repaid!
This means when you have finished your HIIT workout your body starts trying to repay this oxygen debt. This is called Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC).
The metabolic process can last up to 48 hours. This is the ‘afterburn’ effect (see the graph below).
Burn More Calories
Ultimately your body burns more calories in this period as it is needing more energy for the EPOC process.
These calories will be burnt as fat as the body doesn’t need to rush to complete the process, therefore it will revert to its preferred fuel source after the HIIT workout is completed.
Therefore what is more beneficial 45 minutes of ‘fat burning’ through steady state cardio or 10 minutes of high-intensity interval training, followed by up to 48 hours of increased ‘fat burn’?!
It’s pretty obvious isn’t it? High-Intensity Interval Training all the way!
This is supported by a study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine shows that HIIT workout’s increase fat burning more than aerobic based steady state exercise.
Added Benefit
The added benefit of certain exercises is that coupled with the high-intensity cardio workout they give you, it also is a resistance workout as you perform bodyweight resistance exercises e.g. squat jumps, tuck jumps, press ups, etc, using the large muscle groups.
This will cause muscle fiber tears and because large muscle groups are used a large number of tears will occur.
This muscle damage needs to be repaired and will take between 48 and 72 hours.
This process uses energy therefore again leading to more calories being burnt in this period hence increasing the afterburn affect even further!
Example of a HIIT Workout
- Burpees – 20 seconds
- Tuck jumps – 20 seconds
- Press ups – 20 seconds
- High knees running – 20 seconds
- Squat jumps – 20 seconds
All exercises are 20 seconds, with 20 seconds rest, aim for 3-4 sets to start with increasing to 5 in time.
Do you neeed that added motivation for HIIT work? Are you based in the North Birmingham area? Check out my Personal Training packages.
You can also use my nutrition services from anywhere in the world as I work online with me.
You can also combine Nutritional Therapy and Personal Training. If you have any questions about my services please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
