You must have heard the hype surrounding HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) by now. The reason why this type of workout has been gaining some serious attention is that it can improve your overall cardiovascular fitness while also helping you develop lean muscle mass. What’s the best part? It does so while helping you shred fat. In simpler terms, HIIT workouts definitely do the trick.

 

What I personally love about HIIT workouts is that they can be finished within 30 minutes. Oh, and did I mention they’re a load of fun? Burn calories, boost metabolism, build muscle – all of that in one workout!

 

HIIT or High Intensity Interval Training is basically a type of workout in which you give it all you got in quick bursts of intense exercise that are followed by short recovery periods. Both the anaerobic and aerobic energy systems are conditioned and trained during HIIT workouts. What’s more, these types of workouts help elevate your heart rate while helping you burn calories and fat in less time.

 

Interestingly, research tells us that shorter, higher intensity exercises can benefit your overall health significantly more as compared to longer, leisurely workouts. With HIIT, your heart health is vastly improved. Other than that, here are a few other benefits of HIIT:

  • Significantly reduces risk for metabolic syndrome
  • Tones down a range of cardiovascular risk factors
  • Helps fight obesity
  • Keeps you away from high blood sugar
  • Your blood pressure is also maintained at an optimum level
  • HDL cholesterol is also kept at bay

How does HIIT Training work?

The main point to note about HIIT training, which makes it significantly different from other basic intervals, is that higher intensity intervals revolve around maximum effort – unlike other workouts that basically focus on elevating the heart rate. So you can easily distinguish HIIT from simple intervals as in the former, you have to push yourself to the max and then follow up with a recovery period. Getting that quick burst of maximum effort and following it with a recovery period helps elevate your heart rate while burning more fat in less time.

How many calories can you burn in an HIIT session?

This is the main question when it comes to any and all workouts. Why do you hit the gym, anyway? Do get those calories off your body, of course! Burning calories is the primary goal of all exercises, and high intensity interval training is no different. In fact, in terms of calorie burning, HIIT is way ahead of any other type of exercise, as during a single session, you get to burn nearly 10 calories per minute. You obviously need to wear a heart rate monitors to get the exact feedback.

 

One more, unparalleled benefit of HIIT is that it revs up your metabolism, thanks to which you can keep burning the calories long after you are done with the workout. Is that awesome or what?

So when are you starting your HIIT workout?