Benefits of High Intensity Interval Training

Many people know that regular exercise is important to living a healthy lifestyle however it is estimated that about 30% of people worldwide do not get enough. Unless you have a physically demanding job, a regular dedicated exercise regime is the best way to ensure you keep active.

Although, not everyone has a lot of time that they can dedicate to exercise, therefore High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) might be the best option for you.

HIIT sessions involve short periods of work at a high intensity alternated with rest periods. A session could be as short as 10 minutes and last up to, and longer than, 40 minutes following a sufficient warm up. These shorter higher intensity sessions come with many benefits besides not taking up too much time in a person’s week, these include; 

Burning lots of calories in a short amount of time

One study compared the amount of calories burned during 30 minutes each of HIIT, weight training, running and biking.The researchers found that HIIT burned 25–30% more calories than the other forms of exercise. In this study, a HIIT repetition consisted of 20 seconds of maximal effort, followed by 40 seconds of rest. This means that the participants were actually only exercising for 1/3 of the time that the running and biking groups were. Although each workout session was 30 minutes long in this study, it is common for HIIT workouts to be much shorter than traditional exercise sessions. This is because HIIT allows you to burn about the same amount of calories, but spend less time exercising.

Raised metabolic rate for hours post workout

Several studies have demonstrated HIIT’s impressive ability to increase your metabolic rate for hours after exercise with some researchers even reporting that HIIT increases your metabolism after exercise more so than jogging and weight training. Due to the intensity of the workout, HIIT can elevate your metabolism for hours after exercise. This results in additional calories being burned even after you have finished exercising throughout the day, all contributing to your total daily expenditure (TDE).

Improved oxygen consumption

Oxygen consumption refers to your muscles’ ability to use oxygen, and endurance training is typically used to improve your oxygen consumption. Traditionally, this consists of long sessions of continuous running or cycling at a steady rate however, it appears that HIIT can produce the same benefits in a shorter amount of time. However, it appears that HIIT can produce the same benefits in a shorter amount of time. One study found that five weeks of HIIT workouts performed four days per week for 20 minutes each session improved oxygen consumption by 9%, which was almost identical to the improvement in oxygen consumption in the other group in the study, who cycled continuously for 40 minutes per day, four days per week.

Reduction in blood pressure and heart rate

A large amount of research indicates that it can reduce heart rate and blood pressure in overweight and obese individuals, who often have high blood pressure. In one study involving eight weeks of HIIT training on a stationary bike lowered blood pressure as much as traditional continual endurance training in adults with a history of high blood pressure. However, it did report that it did not typically change blood pressure in normal-weight individuals with normal blood pressure. 

To summarise, if you are looking for a time efficient training method to increase your activity level, improve your health and help you feel better then HIIT is for you. So if you are interested in signing up for some of our HIIT classes visit our website and purchase one of our class packages and come down to the studio where our trainers will take you through a structured workout to help you reach your goals.

To find out more about HIIT and all the other classes we offer please email us at admin@lmcphysio.co.uk or call 01788331570. You can view our class timetable and book here