HIIT & Its Benefits

While the Circuit Breaker has given many of us the privilege of time to adopt new habits like exercising and cooking, through this article, we hope you'll be able to find your motivations to HIT it even when you get back to the modern fast-paced lifestyle.

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What is HIIT?

HIIT stands for high intensity interval training, which combines short bursts of intense exercise with periods of rest or lower intensity exercise. These exercises often include both aerobic and resistance training exercises.

The scientific definition would take into account a person's heart rate to beat at least 80 per cent its maximum capacity during high intensity exercises (Fitbits may come very handy here to those looking to execute HIIT more stringently).

The HIIT Routine

Some basic routines include the 4-by-4, which consists of a warm up, four four minute intervals with 3 minutes rests in between and a cool down at the end of the session. Whereas the 10-by-1 consists of 10 one minute bursts of exercise followed by one minute of down time in between.

If you're new to exercise, it might be easier to start out with shorter periods of intensity (1~3 minutes) and longer periods of recovery (~5 minutes).

Without further ado, here are 5 benefits of HIIT:

1. Heart Health

Perhaps the most prominent aspect of HIIT would be the benefits it brings to one's heart. Intervals from HIIT actually boosts cardio-respiratory health, which refers to an increase of VO2 max - the measure of endurance that calculates the maximum volume of oxygen the body can use.

This means that your heart can pump more blood at a lower rate (even when at rest), and thus takes longer for you to get out of breath.

Furthermore, VO2 max is also associated with telomeres, which are found in components of our DNA system that regulate the ageing of our cells. Cheers to healthy telomeres and reduced risks of cancer!

2. Weight Loss

As a form of intensive cardio exercise, HIIT is an efficient way to burn through those stubborn fats and help lose weight. Not only does your rate of fat oxidation increase, because of the oxygen-deprived state during intense exercise, your body will continue to consume more oxygen post exercise. This means that fats will continue to break down and convert into fuel even after your training.

3. Higher Metabolism Rate

HIIT stimulates the production of human growth hormones (HGH) up to 450 per cent for 24 hours after your workout. HGH is associated with increased caloric burn and slows down the ageing process too. Its a win-win situation (more than two wins in fact)!

4. Appetite Regulator

HIIT can lower the levels of ghrelin - an appetite-regulating hormone - which in turn decreases your appetite. The temporary increase in blood sugar and blood lactate level from HIIT similarly deflates your appetite as well.

Not only that, but the increase in glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity can help regulate blood glucose levels as well. HIIT is thus very helpful for people who are suffering from pre-diabetic or type-2 diabetes.

5. Efficiency

Have we mentioned that these benefits come to you at a fraction of the time spent on other forms of exercise? YES! In fact, just two weeks of HIIT training can improve your aerobic capacity as much as six to eight weeks of endurance training!

While HIIT is indeed an efficient way to train, is important to keep in mind that where intervals differentiate HIIT from regular steady-state, continuous exercises, one of the most crucial aspects of ensuring a successful HIIT workout would still be the intensity. So when you feel like giving up, do keep your energy high and press on!