The Benefits of High-Intensity Interval Training for a Healthy Life
HIIT stands for high-intensity interval training and has quickly become one of the hottest workout trends out there. From effective fitness routines to quick, straightforward exercises, there are many advantages associated with including HIIT in your exercise regime.
HIIT may be more effective than other forms of exercise, including moderate intensity continuous training (MICT). Additionally, it can help decrease body fat while simultaneously improving cardiovascular and metabolic health.
Improved Cardiovascular Health
High-intensity interval training offers numerous advantages to cardiovascular health, chief among them increasing your VO2 max, or maximum amount of oxygen used during exercise, helping increase metabolism and burn fat more easily.
HIIT can be accomplished in various ways, with short bursts of intense exercise interspersed with longer rest periods. Any aerobic activity such as running, cycling, walking or swimming can serve as a HIIT workout.
HIIT training aims to challenge both muscles and cardiovascular system without overtraining or injury; making it an efficient method for fitting exercise into limited time slots.
High-intensity interval training offers many benefits, from improved muscle strength and fat loss, to keeping yourself fit over the years. These workouts will keep you looking their best!
One study demonstrated that men who engaged in high-intensity interval training three times weekly experienced significant fat loss and an increase in VO2 max. Furthermore, this form of exercise can even improve your blood sugar control and delay or prevent diabetes!
HIIT can also save time because its duration can be reduced compared to moderate-intensity workouts; studies show that 30 minutes of HIIT exercise can provide as many benefits for fitness as an hour-long moderate intensity session.
This makes HIIT an effective, efficient and economical way to increase fitness! To maximize its success, however, the key to successful HIIT is spending some time warming up beforehand to increase heart rate to peak levels before commencing exercise.
Once your body has warmed up, there are various high-intensity training protocols you can select: Classic SIT (sprint interval training) and reduced-exertion HIIT (REHIT). Classic SIT is an anaerobic exercise protocol consisting of repeated bouts at 350% of your VO2 max intensity for repeated sprint intervals. REHIT involves reduced exertion.
REHIT is a modified low-dose and low-intensity version of SIT exercise protocol designed for those with sedentary lifestyles, obesity, old age, or cardiac disease. The REHIT protocol includes four 4-min intervals at 90%-95% of your VO2 max intensity separated by 3-minute active recovery periods with moderate intensity at 60%-70%.
Increased Muscle Strength
HIIT workouts are an effective way to burn fat quickly, improve heart health, and work muscles faster than traditional cardio workouts. Furthermore, they’re one of the best solutions for managing high insulin resistance while simultaneously increasing resting metabolism levels and providing continuous energy throughout your day, which may aid weight loss.
Workouts sap glucose from your bloodstream to fuel muscle contraction, so afterward your muscles require replenishing to sustain themselves; this process is known as “excess post-exercise oxygen consumption”, or EPO.
As we age, our muscles need to work harder than usual in order to retain strength and power – this becomes especially critical as sarcopenia sets in and we lose muscle mass (known as atrophy).
Strength training is an integral component of overall wellness, and HHS guidelines recommend that both children and adults incorporate strength training exercises into their weekly physical activity sessions. Strength exercises also help preserve muscle and bone mass as people age – something which plays an increasingly vital role in overall health as we age.
Strength training also increases endurance, which can make daily activities less of an effortful process. This benefit can be particularly advantageous to older adults whose muscles have lost some of their strength or stiffness has made performing tasks less straightforward than they once could be.
Strength training can also help keep you active for longer and prevent chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Furthermore, strength training may prevent becoming overweight or obese while building confidence to manage day-to-day tasks more easily.
Strength training requires proper form and using an appropriate weight for each exercise, with one set per exercise being done until “muscle failure”.
No matter your level of expertise or fitness experience, there are various strategies available to maximize muscle-building potential. Lighter weights and additional repetitions per set have both proven successful methods for accomplishing this.
Reduced Risk of Injury
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is an effective means of improving cardiovascular fitness. HIIT involves short bursts of intense exercise combined with periods of recovery; work intervals typically occur more frequently and reach 80-95% of one’s maximum heart rate; these work/rest cycles can typically be repeated 6-10 times before shifting back into recovery mode.
HIIT exercise has proven its efficacy for weight loss, endurance building, lowering cholesterol levels and athletic performance enhancement. Unfortunately, however, many find it challenging to commit to regular HIIT exercises due to various reasons; one major barrier being time limitations which prevent people from meeting the recommended 150 minutes of moderate activity each week.
Apart from its obvious health benefits, HIIT may also reduce your risk of injury. Studies have demonstrated its efficacy at helping athletes avoid injuries and pain when used appropriately.
However, as someone new to HIIT it is essential that they remember not to overload themselves too quickly with exercise. You should always begin your workout by warming up gently through movements and stretching exercises before gradually performing exercises as part of an appropriate workout plan.
Take necessary rests between sets to allow your body to recuperate and strengthen itself if performing high intensity workouts. This is particularly important if doing an extreme program.
HIIT can be challenging on your body, increasing risk of injury as well as leading to fatigue. To protect yourself from this outcome, plan on training at least three days each week for maximum effectiveness.
Before beginning interval workouts, it is recommended that you warm up for at least five minutes, in order to prepare your heart and lungs for increased intensity. You may consider walking at a slow pace while increasing the incline on your treadmill as part of a warm up regimen.
Additionally, it’s crucial that your pace remains slow and consistent across each set of intervals so as to fully recover and increase VO2max levels.
Improved Sleep
Exercise can help people of all ages enhance their sleep quality. Research demonstrates that poor quality rest can contribute to various health issues, including heart disease and obesity. A good night’s rest also aids the body’s mitochondria — energy-producing cells — by keeping energy flowing efficiently within.
Not all types of exercise will enhance your quality of sleep; studies have found that high intensity interval training and resistance exercises have proven more successful at improving this aspect.
Researchers published in Sleep Medicine Reviews conducted an analysis of 15 studies that investigated how vigorous exercise affected sleep. Their analysis concluded that high intensity exercises performed 30-60 minutes prior to bedtime significantly enhanced both the onset and duration of restful slumber.
This type of exercise combines aerobic and strength-training exercises, helping you build muscle mass and strength, as well as increasing aerobic fitness – an excellent way to enhance sleep quality.
HIIT can not only boost cardiovascular health but can also reduce inflammation and help you sleep better at night. High intensity exercise has an immediate impact on the autonomic nervous system which controls sleep cycles as well as rebalancing the central nervous system to promote healthy sleep patterns.
An 18-week high intensity interval training (HIIT) program has been shown to successfully treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) in obese individuals, including an increase in AHI and self-reported daytime sleepiness without altering body weight or oxygen saturation levels.
The HIIT group also had more deep sleep cycles associated with dreaming than control groups and reported longer total sleeping hours than initial controls, providing individuals who initially began the study with poor quality of rest an improved night’s rest. These results were observed among those who initially presented with poorer quality of rest as participants in this research project.
Recent community-based studies conducted in older adult participants examined the effectiveness of three exercise interventions on sleep quality for older adults. They included high intensity interval training (HIIT), moderate intensity continuous training (MICT) and stretching as interventions that could improve efficiency, while MICT or stretching was more successful at improving global quality than HIIT alone.
