How To HIIT – All the tips and tricks for you to successfully shred high intensity interval training

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I’ve often said my favorite questions from readers make my favorite blog posts; this one is certainly no different! I recently had a T&T viewer ask me the following question:

“Why should I participate in HIIT and what is the best way to do it?”

Imagine there was a way to burn an hour’s worth of calories in only 20 minutes and elevating your metabolism so your body continued to burn calories even after you were done with the workout… is that something you would be interest in? Alright, alright, put your hands down!

Today we’re talking all about HIIT training – what it is, why you need to be doing it, and a few tips to make your next HIIT workout successful. If you’re lucky I’ll even throw in some links to some of my favorite HIIT workouts here on T&T (alright – you’re probably going to get those, anyway!). Let’s do this!

H.I.I.T stands for High Intensity Interval Training. It’s actually a fairly simple idea – after a warm-up period you perform intervals of as-hard-as-you-can exercise followed by bouts of lower-intensity exercise or “recovery time”. Ideally you repeat this pattern for 5-10 bouts of exercise. For example, if you were on a row machine (after you’ve warmed up) you would row as hard as you could possibly go for 60 seconds and then row at a comfortable pace for 60 seconds. You would then repeat this 5-10 times. The main reason I love HIIT like this is you just shredded through approximately one hour of casual, nonchalant, rowing in about 20 minutes AND elevated your heart rate to keep burning fat even after you’re done working out!

There are lots of different opinions and speculations as to what the proper rest:recovery interval should be. In my opinion the optimal average interval for any given HIIT workout is approximately 1:1 work:rest ratio. For every 1 minute of high intensity exercise you need at least 1 minute of low-intensity recovery. Some people argue a 1:2 or even a 1:4 rest:recovery period. On the flip-side guys like Tabata argue a little bit different training style of a 2:1 work:recovery interval. None of these are wrong! It all just depends on how hard you’re willing to push yourself and what your capabilities are. I have found that for me personally I get the most gain out of a 1:1 ration; the bottom line, however, is that it all depends on your fitness level, your fatigue, and listening to your body. You may also find that you need longer recovery times later on in the workout – no shame in this, either!

While there really aren’t any hard-and-fast, set-in-stone rules to carrying out HIIT training exactly, here are 5 essential tips to help you successfully shred through your next HIIT workout!

1. Mix it up a bit to beat monotony. If you’re coming up with your own HIIT workout, utilize everything at your disposal! Running outside can be a great HIIT workout. Elliptical trainers and spin bikes and rowers are awesome. Even weight machines can be great circuits in the gym. Utilize everything at your disposal to beat boredom and improve your results.

2. Cap your interval length at two minutes. If you find yourself going longer than two minutes chances are you aren’t putting enough effort into your “work” phase. You should shoot to be completely gassed at about 60 seconds and begging the recovery time to get here faster!

3. Go hard for at least 10 seconds. Just like there’s a maximum cap at two minutes, your max-effort time should never be less than 10 seconds. It’s important to remember that if you’re going less time, it will be important to get in more sets (for example – I would do five 60-second bouts of activity/rest intervals OR ten 20-30 second bouts of activity/rest).

4. Don’t forget to hit the weights. You’ve got to be strong to regularly complete HIIT workouts! Be sure to include regular strength training throughout the week to strengthen key muscle groups to get through your hit workouts successfully. You can even intersperse high-intensity intervals into your weight training; for example complete your set of 10 bench presses and head over to the treadmill for a 60-second sprint.

5. Remember, remember – recover, recover!! Don’t sell your recovery times short! These recovery times give your muscles a chance to rest and recover from the work they just did and gear them up in preparation for the work they’re about to perform. Your recovery times should be an easy pace – not too much that you’re still working hard but not too little that you’re actually cooling down. Keep in mind that your workout could even start at a 1:1 work:recovery ratio and end at a 1:2 or 1:3 ratio. Be smart and listen to your body!