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Dallas Hot Yoga, Pilates, Barre & Fitness

Dallas Hot Yoga, Pilates, Barre & Fitness

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What Are HIIT Workouts?

Coaching, Fitness, High Intensity Interval Training, New Students, Workshops 0 Comment
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What Are HIIT Workouts?

HIIT workouts have been growing significantly in popularity recently. With HIIT group classes popping up in more and more gyms and studios across the country. Despite the popularity, there are still some misconceptions and misunderstandings about HIIT training.

The actual activity of the workout can vary, but typically HIIT training includes bodyweight and equipment based exercises. What makes it “HIIT”, is the time spent in high intensity vs. rest periods.

So, what does “HIIT” mean?

The acronym “HIIT” stands for high-intensity interval training. HIIT is a training technique in which you switch off between intervals of all-out effort in quick, intense bursts of exercise, and short recovery periods. HIIT workouts are popular today due to their ability to help participants burn more fat in less time, since this training method gets your heart rate up, and keeps it there. High-intensity interval workouts increase the body’s need for oxygen, which in turn causes your body to need more oxygen during recovery. This leads to an afterburn effect called “post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) and is the reason why intense exercise will help burn more fat and calories than regular aerobic and steady-state workouts.”

Top 3 Benefits of HIIT Workouts

  1. Efficiency:

As we already mentioned, HIIT workouts are made up of short bursts of intense exercise, alternated with low-intensity rest or recovery intervals. This process makes it a very effective and time-efficient exercise option since HIIT workouts are about 45 minutes long. However, these workouts actually can produce health and fitness benefits above and beyond moderate-intensity workouts.

Since many people have difficulty making time to work out, HIIT workouts are a great option since you get all the benefits but in less time.

  1. Burn more calories and boost your metabolism:

The EPOC process described above that is caused by HIIT helps to boost your metabolic rate, even up to 48 hours after your workout is done! This means that even 48 hours later, your body is still burning calories and fat.

One study about HIIT workouts found that participants performing 30 min of HIIT burned 25-30% more calories compared to 30 min of weight training, running, or biking. What’s most impressive about this finding, is that in the study, the HIIT workout consisted of 20 seconds of intense effort and the 40 seconds of rest. In other words, the participants in the HIIT group were only actually exercising for about ⅓ of the time that the other groups were exercising and still burned more calories.

  1. Little or no equipment used

Another great benefit of HIIT workouts is that they often require very little equipment, or have simple equipment that can easily be found or substituted. Many HIIT workouts involve bodyweight exercises, meaning you’re not using weights or other equipment, but are working against the weight of your own body (think: pushups, squats, burpees, etc.)

This means that you have some more flexibility of when and where you work out. It also means that for workout beginners who might be intimidated by gym equipment or weights, HIIT workout classes can be a great way to start getting fit.

Interested in trying out HIIT workouts? We’d love to have you at one of our many studio locations across the Greater Dallas area! Sign up online for a trial month, and try out our classes. We also have personal fitness coaches available to help get you started and build your confidence and fitness levels over time.



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