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get more fit in less time: high intensity is key

By on October 21, 2013
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from the Go Fit Gals.

Last March was the annual summit for the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). These guys are the largest organization for sports medicine and exercise science. It’s this institution that helps to both advance and integrate science as it applies to physical fitness and sports medicine. In other words, when they speak we should listen.

At the summit, last March, one of the trending topics was high intensity training, otherwise known as HIT.

Presented as confirmed and concise science was:

“High intensity training is far more superior than continuous steady-state exercise for physiological benefits.”

What the heck does that mean for you and I? It means that intense, yet shorter, workouts will elicit far greater returns to our aerobic and anaerobic fitness, our ability to burn calories both during and after the workout is completed (called EPOC), and it achieves a far better fat burning result.

High intensity training will also stimulate our muscle-building hormones like growth hormone and IGF-5, putting our bodies into the perfect state to build lean muscle mass.

When incorporating a HIT workout into your regime, I recommend that you first start on a treadmill with a heart rate monitor on. You need to understand and feel how hard you need to work, and a treadmill is one of the easiest ways to control your environment. To train at a HIT intensity the recommended training heart rate is 85% of your maximum. Note this is not a heart rate that most people are used to. This will be uncomfortable and challenging. However, on the flip side you only need to be at that heart rate for a short duration.

A HIT workout cycles between periods of intense exercise and periods of active recovery. These are called intervals and each intense interval can be anywhere from 20 seconds to two minutes (max), with your active recovery time double whatever work time you choose.

How long you choose to do a HIT is up to you and your current level of fitness.

Beginners may want to start with 4-10 minutes, working themselves up to the max of 30-40 minutes.

Don’t think that this is just for athletes, either. Anyone can perform a HIT workout. It does not matter what your current level of fitness is. What changes is how fast you go. A fit person may have to increase their treadmill speed to 10.0 mph (to achieve their 85% target), while a new exerciser may only need to be at 3.0mph with a 4% hill to reach theirs. Wear a heart rate monitor and listen to your body.

Once you get a feel for what intensity you need to be at start adding this principle to other types of exercise.

All of my group classes are HIT workouts using both body weight and dumbbells. I am able to achieve great results for my people with this technique – and I train all ages and levels of fitness.

Give a HIT workout a try and start seeing results once again with your exercise program!

Try these HIT workouts on our YouTube channel:

Turbo Charged Tabata

Ladder Time! 

Tabata Core Circuit

Go Fit Gals: our mission is to create fit & healthy bodies, one person at a time. www.gofitgals.com

 

 

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