Fitness: 4 moves in 10 minutes? Why we love HIIT.
10 minutes of exercise… surely that is hardly worth the effort? That is what we used to think too! Until we discovered HIIT, that is. HIIT? HIIT, or high-intensity interval training, is a training technique in which you give all-out, one hundred percent effort through quick, intense bursts of exercise, followed by short, sometimes active, recovery periods. This type of training gets and keeps your heart rate up and burns more fat in less time. High intensity exercise raises your pulse, respiratory rate and body temperature and your entire metabolism to a very high level over a very short period. The difference in metabolic activity, when compared to a resting state, is enormous.
Why do we love it?
- It is really efficient – you get great bang for your buck! We don’t have much time to train these days and HIIT allows us to get a tough workout in, in a very short period of time;
- You burn fat. Not only do you burn more calories during your workout, but your metabolism remains elevated (hence burning more calories) for a long time after you have finished training where you continue to burn fat (even when you are in the shower! cool, right?).
- You don’t need much! You really don’t need any equipment and you certainly don’t need much space – so this is literally a workout that you can squeeze in, any time, anywhere – and we LOVE that!
- Good for heart health. Most people do not relish the idea of pushing themselves really hard, to the point where your heart is thumping (for good reason!). But, with interval training it’s easier to push yourself to that level because its not for too long and there is that rest interval that comes so soon after. As long as you are a healthy individual with doctor clearance to undertake this kind of exercise, HIIT will help keep a healthy heart and help blood flow effectively throughout your whole body. You will certainly know that you are ALIVE.
- It is hard! Yep, that’s right. It’s not easy and there is that part of us that still loves to work hard and really responds to the challenge of the intervals. You are really always pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and it ALWAYS seems to be a great workout – no matter how fit we think that we are!
If you are looking for an efficient, tried and tested way to workout, with little to no equipment, that can be done any time, any where and will give you an incredible challenge…. give HIIT a go!
We will continue to post some workout ideas in our Wednesday workout #sshmovers – so keep an eye out on IG.
Good luck!
Anna & Em xo
