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Saturday 5 March 2016

Why You Only Think You're Doing HIITs But Probably Aren't (and Don't Really Need to Anyway)

This article is interesting and pinpoint the fact that many of people are actually not doing strict HIIT. However, some variations bring significant benefits too.

Extracts:

"The thing is, the term "HIIT" has been thrown about so much in recent years, it's true essence has become diluted. I was chatting with Fabio Comana, M.A., M.S., faculty instructor at San Diego State University, and University of California, San Diego at the IDEA World Fitness Conference where he was giving a lecture about this topic. He says, many of us out there think we're doing HIIT programs but we're really doing "some intensity" or "slightly higher intensity" intervals instead. This means we may not actually be getting all those amazing HIIT benefits we read about like increased V02 max and endurance, improved insulin sensitivity, reduced body fat and blood pressure and increased EPOC, excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (a.k.a. "afterburn"). Not to mention the well-touted benefit of saving time since HIIT workouts are supposed to be short and intense."

"What most of us are really doing, says Comana, are "HVIT" (High Volume Interval Training) or "VIIT" (Variable Intensity Interval Training) workouts. "High volume" meaning a lot of intervals or reps, not performed at maximal levels or, "variable intervals" meaning not all the intervals are done at same intensity or duration, nor are the recoveries. Is this a bad thing? Hell no!"



What are the key takeaways?
  1. That unless you're a competitive athlete, HIITs in their true form are probably not necessary.
  2. A sound, high volume or variable intensity interval program is a better fit for most. A knowledgeable trainer or instructor can make all the difference here.
  3. Newbies will hate life and likely drop out if they start off with Tabata or other type of HIIT training

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