This awesome infographic was spotted on Greatist, coupled with some really epic information:
On why interval training works:
HIIT taxes and maximizes both aerobic and anaerobic fitness, while cardio addresses aerobic only. Aerobic respiration requires oxygen to generate energy in the form of ATP, while anaerobic respiration does not. HIIT affects muscle tissue at the cellular level, actually changing mitochondrial activity in the muscles themselves. Studies indicate as little as 27 minutes of HIIT three times per week produces the same anaerobic and aerobic improvement as 60 minutes of steady state cardio five times per week.
Check out more at Greatist!
Looking for an app to help manage your interval training? Check out my post on timing intervals with RunKeeper.
Are you a pro at interval training? Share your experiences!
9 comments
I just started doing this, and I really like it so far. I feel worn OUT when I’m done. But I feel good. Plus I can do 20-30 minutes a few times a week. I also feel like interval training is improving my balance. Because you have to switch up what you’re doing really fast.
I do 30 seconds to a minute of
squats
shoulder presses
1 leg balance
ball crunches
push ups
5 to 10 times. I follow that up with cardio, 30 seconds to 1 minute of low intensity followed by 30 seconds to 1 minute of high intensity.
I started attending a “Bikini Boot Camp” this month and after reading this article I realize that we do the Tabata method. It is really intense and I am nearly out of breath but it hasn’t killed me (felt like I was dying). I am trying to increase my cardio not for weightloss but for stamina and endurance. I get SOB and winded very quickly. I am really working on that, I always thought as long as I wasn’t fat I was good. People around me do not understand why I workout, they feel unless you are overweight your shouldn’t exercise. Unfortunately, I bought into that and now I am completely out of shape. What should I do to endure looking with the having the sensation that I may pass out.
Absolutely love love love this infographic! Thank you so much! I am a huge fan of interval training & have seen results in shorter time than steady-state training.
Love this, and will be trying when I get to the intermediate and advance levels of fitness, but is there any HIIT for beginners?
Yep!
This is right on time! I just added interval training to my running schedule this week and this gave me a lot of helpful info. I’m looking forward to the additional fitness this will provide.
I did this with jumping jacks and it worked but was extremely taxing on my joints. I’m happy to say that I did lose 25lbs very quickly doing this and keeping an eye on my calories (2000 a day) but I’m sad to say it is very taxing on the joints considering I started out at 270 and now I don’t want to do it I’m afraid I’m going to ruin my knees if I continue. I joined a gym have switched over to low impact cardio and weights alternate days. Slower results and I’m slacking on watching my calories but I think I’ve improved my cardio so much with the interval training that I’ll be ready to start jogging soon… as long as it doesn’t snow.
Mama, you know that you can perform interval training on low-impact machines too, right?
I was having knee problems and couldn’t do a lot of the high impact HIIT exercises. I found some low impact HIIT videos on YouTube. I thought I could breeze through them, but nope! I was amazed at how intense they were even with no jumping around.
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