If you are looking for something with high intensity routines where you are able to burn fat and build muscle fast, this is the perfect kind of workout.
There are many different types of routines that you can follow to help your running technique and help with your health and fitness but Hitt workouts are known to be very effective because they target many different areas of your body.
This guide will be outlining exactly what Hitt workouts are and also give some examples of how you can do them. It is also important to know what the benefits are of doing this type of exercise too and what it can do for your health.
What Is A HIIT Workout?
If you are looking to increase the health of your cardiovascular system, this is a great workout for you to try. It takes fitness to another level because it pushes you to your limits.
If you’re not someone who likes to train at a gym and prefers to be out in the open, this is also great because it can be done anywhere on a field or a track which also makes the training very affordable for you.
If you can spare 15 minutes out of your day, you can set up your own Hiit workout and make it as challenging as you like, dipping between both aerobic and anaerobic exercises.
How To Start Doing HIIT Workouts?
HIIT workouts are all about adding intensity to your regular routines. You can start to make your own routines depending on the type of intensity you want to start out with.
You need to first look at the amount of time you want to be exercising and how long the recovery time will be. Most people use the 2:1 ratio, exercising for 30 seconds intensel, then resting for a minute and repeating.
Tip
- When choosing what type of exercise you want to be doing, you need to focus on what you feel comfortable starting with. For example, if you haven’t done too much running in a while, you probably don’t want to start with sprints until you have worked your way up to it.
Why Should You Start Doing HIIT Workouts?
There are many benefits for doing HIIT workouts and one is very specific – it will make you better at running. This is because it helps you to build core muscles as well as helping important muscles like your heart.
When you are running, your breathing is a very important part of how long you are able to run for. You need to have high endurance levels to be able to carry out longer routines as well as the short ones.
If you are looking to build muscle during your workouts then this could be great for you. Due to the high intensity of the workouts, and the mixture between exercises are going to be losing the fat and building the muscle instead.
Most people really struggle with building muscle when doing regular running activities because it takes much longer with low intensity workouts.
Therefore, people opt for this type of workout to start feeling the burn really early on and to start seeing changes to their body sooner rather than later.
This type of workout is a huge benefit for people who do not have a lot of time to give to their weekly exercise. These types of workouts only last up to 15 minutes which doesnt waste a lot of your time during the day or the evening.
Another benefit to add to the list is the impact it can have on your metabolism. When you start doing HIIT workouts, it helps to speed up your metabolism which starts to digest your food faster and helps your process of weight loss speed up.
How Many Sessions Should You Be Doing?
You need to make sure that you are resting as well as working out. The balance between the both is very important to avoid any type of injury.
Due to this being a very high intensity workout, you are more prone to injury because of the fast paced movements which is why you need to be having rest days in between to rest your muscles and also recover doing some stretches and preparing yourself for your next session.
On the topic of rest, you also need to look at the ratio between exercise and rest inbetween the workout itself. You need to work out the best ratio for you depending on your level of fitness.
This relates to how long you rest between exercises and how long you do the exercise for. If you are just beginning to start these types of workouts, you need to be having longer rest periods in comparison to the actual exercises.
You need to make sure you do not overdo it with the intensity of your workouts to start with because you could end up pulling a muscle or straining a ligament which could put you back for a few days until recovered.
How Can You Incorporate HIIT Workouts In Your Weekly Routine?
Most people tend to mix up their routines during the week to work different areas such as long distance running and interval training and it is also a good idea to add in one HIIT session per week.
This can include training such as: weight training, core training and working out on a treadmill.
How To Do a HIIT Workout
There are different types of HIIT workouts such as:
- Core workout – when working out, you are helping to improve your fitness to make you a better runner and this includes strengthening your core muscles. You will be doing different exercises including: Mountain climbers, crunches and planks. When you start adding these exercises to your weekly workout in intervals, you will start to see the changes in your core and you will start to become stronger.
- Jump training – Jump training gets its name for the types of movements you ‘ll be doing. This type of workout requires speed and power to start the process of building muscle across your whole body. The exercises include: Burpees, jumping jacks and lunges.
- Hill training – this is not something you should start with if you’re a beginner because it is very challenging for regular runners. This includes running up and down hills with breaks in between. This will raise your heart rate, build muscle and tone your muscles.
- Treadmill work – When using a treadmill you want to be using different incline levels to push yourself during the HIIT workout. You need to make sure you have warmed up properly before working out to avoid any injuries occurring
- Sprinting – This type of training is great for combining both running and HIIT workouts. This is the type of workout that requires a longer warm up to make sure all of your muscles have been properly stretched and ready for the fast movement. You will be sprinting for 30 seconds with a minute rest. This will be repeated about 5 times for an effective workout.
Reasons To Do HIIT Workouts
- HIIT workouts allow you to burn fat faster than doing other types of exercise such as bike riding or long runs. It takes nowhere near as much time to do because the duration usually goes up to 30 minutes if you exercise regularly. Whereas other types of exercise can take hours out of your day and you still wouldn’t be burning as much fat or gaining as much muscle.
- Even after finishing the HIIT workout, due to the high intensity, you will still be burning fat even after you have stopped working out. It also raises your metabolic rate after you have finished exercising as well which is a huge benefit.
- This can also help with your endurance and oxygen intake. It helps you to improve your oxygen intake much faster than other activities which can take months for you to start having these benefits.
- It is more important to look at the health benefits that you can have as well. When doing HIIT workouts it can also help with reducing your heart and blood pressure. This is great for keeping you in good health and reducing the chance of you having any conditions in the future.
Recovery Tips
Most people do not realize the importance of having those recovery days in between working out. You need to make sure you are resting yourself after high intensity workouts.
You need to make sure that you are getting a good amount of sleep because if you don’t, this can affect your ability to perform as well if you’re tired. You also need to make sure that you’re keeping an eye on the nutrition your body is getting.
Your diet is something that is very important when it comes to your training sessions. You need to make sure you are eating small amounts before your workout so you are too full and feel heavy.
You also need to be watching what you eat on a daily basis to balance out your exercise and food intake.
Other things you can do during your recovery time is practicing your breathing and doing some techniques.
You can also try doing some meditation if you have the time in the evening to relax your body completely and release any stress you might have.
This tends to be a great recovery exercise for many people because it allows them to let their body rest and helps the body and mind.
You need to make sure that you are only doing about 2 HIIT sessions per week because they are high intensity sessions. You also need to have rest days between these to benefit you doing the workouts.
Without these rests, you might be subject to the painful outcomes of over training your body.
Conclusion
Overall, HIIT workouts have many amazing benefits for your mind, body and health because of the high intensity levels you will be performing. It doesn’t just help one area but touches on all types of physical benefits.
You will be working on your muscle building, toning, oxygen intake, blood pressure and other aspects to improve. This is the type of exercise that everyone should be incorporating in their weekly workouts.
As previously mentioned, the main thing you need to remember is that your recovery is one of the most important parts of your routine to prevent any injury from happening.
Hopefully this guide has given you all of the information you need to know about HIIT workouts and which ones are really beneficial for runners.
There are many different types you can try and use to help improve your running ability.
Most people have found that this type of exercise is the most effective for them – especially if they are trying to lose weight and build muscle and increase their endurance so they can train for longer periods of time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are HIIT Workouts Good For Runners?
With running, HIIT training can help you work more muscle groups and strengthen weak areas to help improve your running form. HIIT can be extremely beneficial to runners due to its strengthening and explosive aspects.
During runs, you are strictly moving forward and backward.
Is A 20 Minute HIIT Workout Enough?
I’ve found that the sweet spot is somewhere in the 20-30 minute range. If your workout lasts any more than 30-minutes, you’re probably not working hard enough to optimize the benefits of HIIT.
Is it better to do HIIT in the morning or evening?The best time to do HIIT for weight loss is in the morning. For doing any kind of exercise you need motivation and concentration.
In the morning you are naturally motivated because you know that your reason for waking up is only doing HIIT.