High Intensity Interval Training

by Roderick
(Alabama)

After I stopped football training because I was graduating from high school, I found it hard to find the determination to work out without a coach screaming at me.

I knew football was what kept me in such great shape in high school. I was determined to find something I could reasonably do that could put me back into my high school shape.

The answer to my dilemma was called High Intensity Interval Training or HIIT for short. HIIT is any exercise that is done for a brief time at maximum effort, followed by a period of less effort or what is known as the rest phase.

This is done in a cycling process. For example you could sprint at maximum effort for 15 seconds and jog for 30 seconds. You repeat this process for about 10 to 15 minutes (you could also incorporate, cycling, swimming, etc.).

HIIT is so effective because it uses your body’s anaerobic (without oxygen) energy system which develops muscles (just look at Olympic sprinters).

Putting it simply HIIT quickly burns through your body’s glycogen (sugar) reserves to burn energy and switches to burning fat when glycogen is depleted. Studies have shown 10 minutes of HIIT are better than any other form of jogging or similar aerobic exercise.

HIIT really suited me because I could avoid long sessions of jogging for a hour or so while only hoping to burn a couple hundred calories. My calorie burns with HIIT have been insane, because I truly gave my max effort when doing HIIT.

HIIT took a lot of determination because I had to push myself through but I gradually worked my way up to a fitter lifestyle.