4 Ways to Maximize Your Performance with HIIT Workouts

Sarah Bancroft, DO
Sports Medicine Primary Care

Lots of people say they want to get in shape but may not have the opportunity due to factors like weather or not being able to go to a gym. What kind of indoor workouts can you do in the winter? Is there anything you can do to burn calories quickly instead of needing to work out for an entire hour? Let’s talk about High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT).

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What is High Intensity Interval Training?

HIIT workouts include doing exercises to get your heart rate up to 80 to 95 percent of your maximum with rest periods in between exercises. In doing this you can decrease your work out time from one hour to 20 minutes and get even more benefit.

Benefits of HIIT Workouts

HIIT workouts have been shown to have multiple benefits, including:

• Decreased blood pressure
• Improved heart health
• Improved insulin sensitivity
• Decreased cholesterol
• Decreased abdominal fat
• Decreased body weight
• Maintaining muscle mass

HIIT workouts allow you to burn calories for several hours after the work out, which can increase your total calories burned up to 15 percent beyond your regular work out. So, how does this High Intensity Interval Training work?

Four Ways to Get Started

1. Figure Out Your Maximum Heart Rate

The formula for figuring our your maximum heart rate can vary, but one common method is to subtract your age from 220. Your goal during your cardio bursts is at least 80 percent of this number.

Max HR = 220 - [your age]

Goal during Cardio Bursts = 80% of this number

2. Plan a Workout

There are all sorts of options for HIIT workouts, from doing three-to-five minutes of intense exercise with three-to-five minutes of low intensity, to doing 20-to-30 seconds of the same exercise with 10-to-15 seconds of rest and repeating that sequence several times over a minute.

3. Try it Out!

If this is new to you and you have medical conditions that have made it difficult to exercise in the past, talk to your doctor first. You may want to start at an exercise class or with a personal trainer, but this is not always needed. Many workouts can be done on your own with the help of online videos and apps available now for free. But you may have to work your cardiovascular fitness up first. There are many different options in our area, and many are not very expensive!

4. No Excuses!

HIIT workouts can be done in as little as 20 minutes or two 10-minute sessions during your work breaks.