HIIT workouts are great for torching calories and improving your heart health, but they can also be overwhelming for some. It’s important to take it slow and get clearance from a healthcare professional before starting.
When incorporating HIIT into your exercise routine, aim to perform the workouts two or three times per week. It is recommended that you rest between sessions to allow the body to replenish energy stores and repair muscle tissue.
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Whether you’re a beginner or an athlete, you should always start your workout with a warm-up and follow it with a cool down. Jumping right into a high-intensity exercise without properly warming up your muscles increases your risk of injury and puts unnecessary stress on your muscles.
A proper warm-up should take 10 minutes to raise your internal body temperature and activate the major muscle groups you’ll be using in your workout, Doubleday says. She recommends low-intensity aerobic activity, such as walking or jogging, and dynamic movements, like leg swings, arm circles, and torso twists.
Then, move on to more focused exercises that target the muscles you’ll be targeting during your HIIT workout. Avoid static stretching during a warm-up, as research shows that this can decrease your performance. Static stretching should be saved for post-workout maintenance stretches, as they help to move out any lactic acid that built up during your workout.
High intensity interval training requires short bursts of intense exercise and brief recovery periods. This level of exertion may be uncomfortable at first for some participants, especially those who are used to moderate-intensity exercise. As fitness levels improve, trainers can increase the amount of time spent at the high-intensity pace.
It’s important to keep in mind that HIIT workouts can be more difficult for some participants than conventional exercise, so they should not be performed on consecutive days or as a sole form of exercise. It’s also best to incorporate HIIT into the beginning or middle of a workout to avoid muscle fatigue.
To ensure the proper workout intensity, trainers can use a rate of perceived exertion (RPE) scale to gauge effort levels and determine when a participant needs to move on to another set. In general, the work intervals will be around or close to a 10 on the RPE scale, while the rest intervals will be slightly lower.
You need to leave plenty of time for rest and recovery after HIIT. If you don’t, your body will have to go back to burning its own fat for fuel and may begin to lose muscle. This is why a full recovery meal (protein + carbs) is crucial for your body to replenish its protein stores.
It’s also important to drink water during HIIT workouts to keep your body hydrated. You’ll be losing a lot of sweat, and if you choose a hydration method with electrolytes (like coconut water or a sport drink), your body will reap more benefits because it will replace the lost electrolytes.
As you get more comfortable with the work/rest ratio of HIIT, you can start increasing the intensity of your workouts over time. Remember to always listen to your body and if you’re feeling pain, stop! This way, you’ll be able to enjoy all the benefits of HIIT over time.
It’s important to include a cooling down in your HIIT workouts, as this will help to ease your body out of the high-intensity training and allow your heart rate and breathing to return to normal. Think of it as a workout version of braking for a red light, rather than slamming on the brakes.
A cooldown will also help to reduce any lactic acid build-up in your muscles, which can cause muscle cramping and stiffness. It’s also a great time to do some maintenance stretches, such as a good stretch of your quads and hamstrings (try jumping up with your legs spread and arms overhead).
If you really want to see the best results from your HIIT workouts, it’s important to make sure you leave enough time for recovery between sessions. This means not doing another HIIT workout within an hour of lifting weights, as this can hinder your ability to recover from your resistance training and prevent you from maximizing your gains.
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