HIIT, or high intensity interval training, is a cardiovascular exercise technique incorporating periods of low intensity work alternated with periods of near maximum intensity. HIIT helps improve your oxygen intake capacity, or VO2max, thus enhancing your overall endurance, reports researchers from McMaster University in a 2005 issue of the "Journal of Applied Physiology.” This type of training also increases the body's capacity to oxidize fats, according to a study published in the December 2008 issue of "Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism." You can achieve all the benefits of a HIIT session in as few as 20 minutes if you are willing to push out of your comfort zone.
Step 1
Warm up on the treadmill for 10 minutes. Walk or jog at a very slow pace to encourage blood flow to your muscles and get your body ready for higher intensity activity.
Step 2
Increase your speed to a barely sustainable intensity for your fitness level. Run for a minute or two. Play with your speeds to see how much you can endure--most commercial treadmills go up to 12 mph. Increase the speed of these intervals as you gain more confidence in your abilities.
Step 3
Reduce your speed to a light jog or fast-paced walk for one or two minutes. Make your recovery time equal to the duration of your high intensity segment. If you really push your effort during the high intensity drills, you will most likely need to walk.
Step 4
Alternate the high intensity segments with low intensity segments for the duration of your workout. Go anywhere from 20 minutes to a full hour.
Step 5
Plan to do HIIT just two times per week on non-consecutive days. Allow your muscles to rest at least 48 hours between sessions so they can repair and grow stronger. As you become stronger, add in a third session per week if you desire.
Tips and Warnings
- Drills do not always have to consist of one- or two-minute segments. Go as short as 30 seconds at a time or as long as four minutes. Your rest periods can also vary. When you perform super-short, high intensity drills, you benefit from longer low-intensity periods--for example, run hard for 30 seconds and then walk for a minute. As the length of your high intensity segments increases, you might shrink the length of your recovery segments--for example, go as hard as you can for four minutes and then recover for just two minutes.
- If you are new to cardiovascular exercise, build a base of aerobic capacity with steady-state training before attempting HIIT. HIIT may be inappropriate for people with certain cardiac conditions, so please check with your doctor before starting this regimen.
Things You'll Need
- Treadmill
- Stopwatch or timer
References
- Oxygen Magazine: Melt Fat Now
- Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism: High-Intensity Aerobic Interval Training Increases Fat and Carbohydrate Metabolic Capacities in Human Skeletal Muscle
- Journal of Applied Physiology: Two Weeks of High-Intensity Aerobic Interval Training Increases the Capacity for Fat Oxidation During Exercise in Women
- Journal of Applied Physiology: Six Sessions of Sprint Interval Training Increases Muscle Oxidative Potential and Cycle Endurance Capacity in Humans
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