Do you feel:

• Weight gain?
• Difficulty losing weight?
• Does eating relieve fatigue?
• A sense of fullness during and after meals?
• Agitated, easily upset, or nervous?

If you are experiencing any of these situations, why not try a HIIT workout to relieve these symptoms.

Everyone can agree that they do not have enough time to exercise. When asked why people will not work out, one of the reasons is that due to their hectic lifestyle, the lack of time comes out on top of it all. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends that adults should get between 150 and 300 minutes per of moderate-intensity. There is a way to cut that time commitment in half by opting for high-intensity workouts instead. With high-intensity interval training or HIIT, it is one of the proven ways to reap all the benefits of exercise in less time. Research shows that spending less time doing HIIT may even be better than spending more time doing less intense exercises for individuals.

What is HIIT?

High-intensity interval training or HIIT alternates explosive bursts of full-throttle efforts with periods of recovery. It can either be rest or a lower-intensity exercise. In many fitness centers and gyms, HIIT workouts often include both cardio and resistance training; however, HIIT workouts can be done as a strictly cardio routine.

During intense burst in a HIIT workout, a person is working out at around 80 percent of their max heart rate for 15 seconds to a few minutes. Between each of those periods, a person is either slowing down or resting completely to let their heart rate come back down to around 50 percent.

A person can calculate different target heart rates by using an online calculator. During a workout, a person can wear a heart rate monitor to keep track on much they are exerting themselves. For a lower-tech option, Denver-based certified personal trainer Lindsay Kelly recommends the “talk test.” The way the “talk test” is when a person is doing their target intensity heart rate like sprinting; for example, it should be hard to speak more than two words without taking a breath. Then when they are in the recovery period, the reverse factor is real.

Why HIIT Works

HIIT is so effective because it allows a person to exercise at a higher intensity for such a short period. The exertion gets the heart working and the blood pumping better than any moderate-intensity exercise can bring with their prolonged periods of rest.

The Importance of Rest

While a person might not realize it, the rest periods are built into the HIIT workout and are a critical part of the routine. They force the body to adjust to a very different state of activity, which is excellent for cardiovascular conditioning.

Feel The Afterburn

Another benefit of a HIIT workout is that even after a person is finished with their HIIT workout, it keeps on working for them. Research shows that when individuals keep on burning calories after their HIIT workout at a higher than they would after a continuous exertion workout. It is commonly known as the “afterburn effect,” and it helps people extend the benefits of their efforts.

The Benefits of HIIT

Researchers have been studying HIIT extensively, and the results are precise: HIIT workouts are better than continuous exercise when it comes to improving health in a variety of ways. One of the health benefits of a HIIT workout is that it improves cardiorespiratory fitness, which is the health of the heart and breathing. This matters to a person who is trying to get in as much exercise as possible with little time because cardiorespiratory fitness is a primary factor in the risk of diseases and death. Studies have shown that HIIT workouts can increase cardiorespiratory fitness at twice the rate of continuous exercises.

The health benefits of HIIT does not stop there, as other research studies have shown that HIIT can help with the following areas of the body.

Endurance

By improving cardiorespiratory fitness, HIIT can improve a person’s stamina. What it does is that it enhances the body’s ability to consume and use oxygen. One study has compared a regular endurance training to HIIT by looking at how they affect maximal oxygen consumption known as VO2max. The research found out that HIIT was superior to endurance training by improving VO2max in healthy young to middle-aged adults. Once a person starts to build their endurance, they can increase the length or the intensity of the HIIT working periods and enjoy the significant health benefits it provides.

Heart Health

One of the significant contributors to cardiovascular disease and death is high blood pressure, and one of the best ways to keep it in check is through regular exercise. The traditional recommendation for blood pressure modulating has been to exercise at moderate intensity for at least 30 minutes on most or all day so that way high blood pressure will not transform into hypertension. Several studies have suggested that HIIT may be an even better option, and one study shows that while both continuous exercise and HIIT helps with blood pressure control, HIIT is the only workout to help reduce arterial stiffness. Arterial stiffness is a predictor of cardiovascular disease in people with high blood pressure.

Brain Function

When a person feels that that mental clarity after a good workout, it is not their imagination. The brain and mental health benefits of exercise are well documented. Research shows that HIIT helps explicitly improve the cognitive function, including short-term memory, verbal memory, attention, and processing speed in the brain. HIIT also increases the amount of oxygen that the brain gets from the blood.

Diabetes Management

Since exercise is an essential part of diabetes management, research shows that HIIT may be a wise exercise choice for anyone who has type 2 diabetes. Studies have shown that HIIT workouts can improve endothelial function, insulin sensitivity, glucose control, and other health effects of diabetes that are better than continuous exercise.

Conclusion

HIIT workouts are perfect for anyone who does not have enough time out of their busy schedule. With the alternating burst of exercises and periods of recovery, HIIT workouts are beneficial to anyone with a short amount of time to complete them. HIIT includes both cardio and resistance training and works with the entire body. Some products are excellent in countering the metabolic effects of temporary stress and supporting the body’s system.

The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic, musculoskeletal, and nervous health issues or functional medicine articles, topics, and discussions. We use functional health protocols to treat injuries or disorders of the musculoskeletal system. Our office has made a reasonable attempt to provide supportive citations and has identified the relevant research study or studies supporting our posts. We also make copies of supporting research studies available to the board and or the public upon request. To further discuss the subject matter above, please feel free to ask Dr. Alex Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900.

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References:

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Milanovi?, Zoran, et al. “Effectiveness of High-Intensity Interval Training (HIT) and Continuous Endurance Training for VO2max Improvements: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Controlled Trials.” SpringerLink, Springer International Publishing, 5 Aug. 2015, link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-015-0365-0.

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