HIIT has become a popular way to burn more fat. It is a training method that has been effective for many people.
What Is HIIT And Why Is It So Good?
The HIIT (high intensity interval training) is a method of interval training based on the “all-out”, i.e., to give everything.
Depending on the intensity at which the effort is made, the intervals will range from a few seconds to several minutes.
This type of training is usually associated with activities such as running or cycling, but it can also be done in other ways, such as using a rowing machine, rope jumping…
Parameters to Perform HIIT
Number of weekly sessions: It is recommended to carry out between 2 and 3 weekly sessions always with rest days interspersed.
It is very important to respect these days because the correct performance of a HIIT supposes a significant wear on a person both physically and mentally, so it will be necessary to let our body recover to face the next training.
Duration of the series and rest: The series can go from 15-20 seconds to even last minutes. This will depend mainly on the intensity that we want to give to the exercise.
In the same way, the longer the series lasts and therefore the lower the intensity of the exercise, the breaks will be reduced.
Number of repetitions: As in the previous case, a greater intensity will concur in a smaller number of series and vice versa. In this way, as we can see, a greater number of series doing for example rowing, is due to the fact that we work long intervals at low intensity and therefore we will be focusing our work on aerobic capacity.
HIIT Training Benefits
As we have been able to verify in different studies, performing two HIIT sessions per week of moderate / high intensity is equivalent to performing the 30-60 minutes / day recommended by the different health associations to avoid the first sedentary lifestyle and secondly avoid or reduce the suffering of any disease such as obesity or type 2 diabetes.
Below we will mention a series of improvements that HIIT carried out correctly gives us and that have important scientific support:
- Reduction of hyperglycemia and increased oxidative capacity of the skeletal muscle in patients with type 2 diabetes. (1)
- Improvements in glycemic control in sedentary adults. (2)
- Increased insulin production in type 1 diabetics. (2)
- Stimulation of growth hormone production.
- Improved VO2 max. (3)
