Create Your Own HIIT Workout
HIIT, or high intensity interval training, is a popular workout format that helps you build muscle and lose fat, in a shorter amount of time (compare to other exercise modalities). This is because with HIIT, you’re able to get your heart rate higher, for a longer period of time, than if you were to exercise at the same intensity.
HIIT is a great way to change up your workout routine! Adding in one or two HIIT sessions can help increase the results you see, challenge your body in a new way, and allows you to workout in a shorter period of time! Just remember, too much of one thing is never good, so try not to overdo the number of HIIT sessions in a week!
A common misconception of HIIT training is that there’s a lot of jumping and/or high impact moves. That’s not always the case though! Sure, you could perform a HIIT workout with high impact exercises, but you don’t have to. I recommend HIIT training to a majority of my clients because of its great effects on the body!
Creating a HIIT Workout
There are many different ways to go about creating a HIIT workout, but there are 4 main components you need to pick from: modality, total time, intervals, and interval timing.
Modality
A HIIT workout can be cardio-focused, strength-focused, or both, so you first need to decide which modality will be your focus for the day.
I usually focus on completing 1 cardio-focus (running) HIIT session during the week. However, if I wasn’t able to get all my lifts in for the week, I’ll do a combo strength and cardio HIIT session.
Once you choose cardio vs strength training, you get to decide how you want to perform your cardio (running, walking, swimming, etc.) and/or what muscles to focus on (upper body vs lower body vs full body).
Total Time
You need to decide how long you can workout for. If you’re a beginner, I suggest starting with less time, 5 or 10 minutes, for your first HIIT session. Because the nature of this workout is HIGH in intensity, it will be challenging and you need to start with a safe and doable amount of time. As you get more comfortable during your HIIT sessions, you can add 3-5 additional minutes to your time.
I would recommend keeping your HIIT sessions under 45 minutes, even if you are an advanced exerciser, as an hour plus of a true HIIT workout is extremely taxing on the body. If you are completing a hour+ HIIT session, chances are you aren't doing a true HIIT workout.
I usually do a 15-20 minute cardio HIIT session, or a 30-40 minute combo HIIT session.
Intervals
Intervals are how long you are exercising vs how long you are resting. If you are just starting to exercise, I suggest you start with a 1:4 exercise to rest ratio, meaning you are resting 4 times as long as you are exercising. For example, you exercise for 30 seconds, your rest time would be 2 minutes. As you get stronger, your intervals will change, with the goal of your exercise to rest intervals being a 1:1 ratio (ex: 30 seconds of exercise, 30 seconds of rest), and then eventually, a 2+:1 ratio (60+ seconds of exercising, 30 seconds of rest).
Interval Timing
Interval timing determines how long your exercise and rest intervals will last. You’ll want to choose an exercise time somewhere between 20 seconds and a maximum of 2 minutes. Once you determine your exercise interval time, your rest time will just follow the appropriate ratio.
Example: You have been exercising consistently for about a year, so you might want to try a 1:1 ratio. You chose to do each lift for 40 seconds, therefore you will rest for 40 seconds. You’ve been exercising for over 3 year and want to do a HIIT session following a 2:1 ratio, exercising for 2 minutes at a time. You would therefore rest for 1 minute at a time.
If I’m doing cardio only, I like to sprint for 1 minute and rest for 30 seconds. *I have been working out consistently for over ten years so I have built up the ability to do this - I didn’t start here!
And viola! You’ve created your very own HIIT workout! I would recommend writing it down (or however best you’ll remember it) and do it every week to two weeks and watch how much easier it becomes to you. Once it becomes easier, it’s time to change it up by either changing the intervals or the interval times!
*And since this is a high intensity workout, don’t forget to warm up properly before your workout, and to cool down afterwards! *
Happy Sweating!