As ABC launches the Your Move campaign to help Australians explore their health and fitness journey, reporter Marnie Vinall hits the road to sample some of the growing fitness trends across the country.
As one of the hottest fitness trends out there, I thought I’d give high-intensity interval training (HIIT) a bench test.
Key points:
- HIIT sessions involve short intense bouts of maximum effort exercise with short recovery times
- Sessions include exercises like jumping jacks, sit-ups, triceps dips, and lunges.
- Classes are often available at gyms and are advertised as convenient and time-effective.
This would not be my first rodeo with high intensity exercises.
During the six Melbourne lockdowns, I went through a YouTube dance HIIT phase, crouching and jumping to Hamilton and Disney songs, blindly following the instructions of a fitness YouTuber.
But this would be my first in-person group class, one where I couldn’t decide to skip moves or exercise as I pleased, or log off early considering I’d done enough.
This time, I would have nowhere to hide.
Since my local gym already offers these types of classes, I decided it would be a safe and wise bet to try the popular exercise format.
But first I contacted John Hawley, director of the Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research at Australian Catholic University, to ask him what HIIT was all about.
“High-intensity training and interval training have been around for years for athletes, but have only recently become popular for general health,” he said.
The idea behind this is “very short, high-intensity bursts” of exercise followed by short periods of rest.
For example, 10 minutes of high-intensity work with a minute of recovery between each set for 20 minutes.
“Now what is high intensity? Well, it’s something you can pretty much only do for a minute and then you have to stop,” said Dr. Hawley.
It includes exercises like jumping jacks, planks, jump squats, jumping jacks, sit-ups, triceps dips, and lunges, all aimed at increasing your heart rate by 80 percent.
Dr. Hawley told me that these exercises had cardiovascular benefits because the heart rate increased dramatically, while also increasing the strength of the muscles used by the tension or resistance applied to them.
“You’re getting a very good bang for your buck,” he said.
“You are applying a very powerful stimulus to remodel the cardiovascular and muscular system.”
In addition, several investigations have associated HIIT with better cardiovascular and metabolic outcomes, including better fitness, weight loss, and better blood pressure and inflammatory markers.
So I took myself to the gym for a late afternoon HIIT class to see how I did with these short bursts of high intensity followed by, what I guess would be my first time, ferociously sucking in oxygen.
The class was divided into three sections with drink breaks in between. Each section lasted around 15 minutes and was filled with 45-second bursts of exercises, ranging from high knees and butt kicks to burpees, squats and planks.
I started off fairly confidently, grabbing a weight to hold during lunges and then jogging in place between exercises, but it didn’t take long before fatigue set in. About 20 minutes later I dropped the weight and just tried to keep up. and push through the pain.
Although, 45 seconds has never really felt longer than when doing glute grips or burpees interspersed with push-ups. He was grateful for the short breaks between exercises.
I was dreading another round of squat holds when the instructor declared, ‘You did it!’ and he led the room through a series of sections before letting us go. These included runner’s lunges, push-ups, hamstring and quad stretches, and child’s pose to relax the back.
My face was red and sweaty, but happy with my effort. Time passed quickly and I could see what Dr. Hawley was talking about when he said it was an efficient form of exercise. My entire body, in addition to my cardiovascular system, felt like it was training.
So I walked my shaky legs home, walked very slowly down the stairs on the way out, and jumped straight into a warm salt bath as my reward.
Dr. Hawley said that for non-professional athletes, refueling doesn’t need a huge focus, but a big meal and plenty of water should do the trick.
Also, that I would recommend not only doing HIIT classes but combining them with other forms of training, such as resistance exercises such as swimming, running or cycling. And always try to cool down to help flush lactic acid from the body and speed recovery.
For now, I’m just going to focus on recovery sleep.
What is HIIT?
HIIT stands for high-intensity interval training, where participants complete short bursts of explosive exercise at maximum effort with very short periods of rest in between, traditionally around 20 seconds, 10 seconds rest, though those times change and can stretch up to one minute. or a little longer.
Those bursts of explosive exercise are done under anaerobic conditions, which basically means “without oxygen.” That means you can’t do it for as long as aerobic exercise.
As a result, exercise sessions of this type usually last about 30 minutes.
This type of exercise burns glucose and creates a buildup of lactic acid.
How much does a class cost?
HIIT classes are often bundled with a gym membership or as part of a six- or eight-week package, which can run anywhere from $150 to $200.
Where can I do HIIT?
Gyms that offer HIIT classes are pretty common – just search for HIIT to find the nearest gym or to find a class you like.
Alternatively, a personal trainer may offer HIIT classes, just check out their website.
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