HIIT 101

I've had several friends ask me to explain HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) over the last several months.  HIIT might sound hard, and it is a HARD workout...that doesn't mean it is hard to understand.

HIIT is a form of cardiovascular exercise.  Basically, its getting a hard workout in a short amount of time.  HIIT is usually about 20-30 minutes long (I do about 20 with a 5 minute cooldown)  You can do it without a machine by just walking/sprinting in a park, on a trail, on your street, around your block,etc...or you can do it on just about any cardio machine; treadmill, eliptical, precor, rowing machine, stair climber...you get the idea.

I start with a 2 minute warm up at a very low speed.
1 minute SPRINT or HIGHEST level I can handle (I don't mean just hard, I mean YOU CAN BARELY KEEP GOING)
2 minute at a moderate pace
1 minute SPRINT
2 minute moderate
1 minute SPRINT
2 minute moderate
1 minute SPRINT
2 minute moderate
1 minute SPRINT
2 minute moderate
1 minute SPRINT
2 minute moderate
COOLDOWN.

I guarantee that this will kick your butt to the extreme!  If you're not dripping in sweat 10 minutes in, you're not working hard enough.  Make those 1 minute intervals count!  Use the 2 minutes to recover, it doesn't matter if you completely STOP moving during the recovery, just get that heart rate back down and get ready to BLAST it up at the next interval.  HIIT was just about the best discovery ever!  I love that I get a fast and effective cardio workout in without spending an hour on the machine.  LOVE IT!

I challenge you to get 3 days of HIIT this week!  Let me know how you do!