What is High-Intensity Interval Training?
The biggest thing you should know about Interval Training is that it is not just for high-level athletes, the everyday athlete can always benefit from this type of training too.
Before we delve into the spell bounding magic of high-intensity interval training (HIIT), we first must understand what this is we’re talking about. Simply put, High-Intensity Interval Training is repeated bouts of intense work efforts immediately followed by rest or recovery periods. It has revolutionized the way we see cardiovascular training today and has become a buzz word in local gyms. Performance athletes, the military, overweight individuals, or just those crunched by time can receive benefits from HIIT.
Why is High-Intensity Interval Training Significant?
One of the more famous studies which is now called the “Tabata Protocol” compared 6 weeks of HIIT vs. steady-state aerobic exercise. Both groups received similar benefits in the end however, the HIIT group worked for 120 minutes while the steady-state group worked for 1,800 minutes. This has been demonstrated time and time again as an efficient weight loss or performance tool delivering benefits in nearly a quarter of the time compared to its steady-state counterpart.
Interval Training Techniques
There are two popular training methods gym goers follow when planning their interval program. The first is your standard work to rest ratio via time splits. This is easily the most popular protocol where the high and low-intensity bouts have a predetermined time allotted to them. The biggest downside to this method is that time is completely arbitrary. We have no idea what is going on inside our body when we decide to ramp it up again for the next interval. The second method is a bit less common but uses heart rate to determine the time of recovery. Standard programs will take 50-60% of your age predicted max heart rate (220-age) as your set point heart rate. After the high-intensity bout, your recovery is the time it takes your heart rate to reach that 50-60% set point. What you will notice is the first few intervals will have a much shorter recovery time than the latter due to less fatigue.
For example:
Interval 1 – Work 60 sec rest 45 sec
Interval 2 – Work 60 sec rest 60 sec
Interval 3 – Work 60 sec rest 75 sec
Interval 4 – Work 60 sec rest 90 sec
This is beneficial because in traditional time-based intervals, the recovery time in the first few intervals is much longer than necessary, rendering them less effective.
High-intensity interval training is a highly researched, rigorous, but beneficial training regimen. Because of this, it has become the darling of the fat loss and conditioning worlds due to its efficient nature for rapid results.
Exercise Physiologist
The Everyday Athlete Matters
