High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is one of the biggest fitness trends right now, and as a result, many people have tried to personalize it. When this occurs, you may not always receive the incredible benefits of HIIT and may perhaps do more harm than good. It is critical to understand how to conduct HIIT correctly in order to achieve the desired effects. HIIT has been shown to increase health-related fitness, prevent lifestyle-based chronic diseases including obesity and type 2 diabetes, and lower the risk of heart disease and heart failure.
There are several types of interval training, which is a broader phrase for periods of intensive, near-anaerobic activity alternating with rest intervals. One type is HIIT, and the others are fartlek and Tabata (though it is a form of HIIT). However, not all interval training is high-intensity interval training (HIIT).
So there are some areas where people make mistakes with HIIT workouts:
- Incorrect work-to-life ratios
You won’t be able to recover and execute your intervals at 100% if your rest periods are too short, and longer rest periods have been linked to health benefits. According to Schmitz et al. (2018), longer work/rest intervals during HIIT result in higher levels of MicroRNA-222 (miR-222) and miR-29c, both of which have been identified as significant modulators of heart development and may protect against pathological cardiac remodeling.
- They shouldn’t go Strong ENOUGH:
Most people will go “quite hard” for a while and then ease up by going slower to actively relax. True HIIT is unpleasant. It usually takes 6 to 15 seconds of your all-out, nothing-held-back effort on a bike or runs. Will adds that sometimes 3 to 4 seconds are plenty, and 20 seconds is the upper limit because no one — not even a world-class athlete — can keep pure 100% intensity for any longer than that.
- Not warming up or warming up incorrect:
If you don’t warm up or perform the incorrect warm-up, you’re significantly more likely to injure yourself during HIIT. Because HIIT is so rigorous, jumping immediately into it is perilous. Do low-intensity versions of the high-intensity activities you’ll be doing to prepare your body for what’s to come. Exercises such as jump squats, jump rope, and jogging can be performed. Warming up doesn’t have to take long; 3 to 5 minutes is usually sufficient.
- They do not relax during the rest periods:
You can configure your work-to-rest ratio in a variety of ways. In general, the longer the rest interval and the shorter the actual work period, the better the HIIT workout is for explosive, strong activities. For example, you could sprint for 10 seconds and then rest for 50 seconds. If you want to get the most out of a true HIIT workout, make sure you put your all into those 10 seconds. You won’t feel great at the end; you might even feel like passing out or puking, which is why you shouldn’t overdo it on HIIT, especially if you’re just starting out.
