Researchers years ago figured out a way to get just as much benefit or possibly even more benefit from a 20 minute workout compared to an hour long workout, saving you 40 minutes every time! How epic is that?
That’s HIIT, High Intensity Interval Training. If you’re working out between 3-4 times every week, you can save yourself 120-160 minutes every week! Even though HIIT has been around for a good while, there’s still some confusion as to how much HIIT you should do and when the benefits start to drop off.
What is HIIT? What is the evidence behind it?
HIIT means that for a short burst of time, you go for your maximum heart rate or between 85-100% of your maximum heart rate, and you do that for between 30 seconds and one minute, and then you have a break between 30 seconds and one minute. You can get just as much benefit from HIIT over a shorter amount of time compared to going for a one hour workout!
Not only are you saving time and getting all of the benefits possible, but HIIT can actually help reverse your aging! A landmark trial published in 2019, showed that HIIT helps repair your mitochondrial DNA. Mitochondria are the powerhouses of your cells, which creates the energy that your cells need to do all of the work that they need to do. So by helping your mitochondrial health, you’re helping reverse your aging.
However, some people might overdo HIIT! Let’s explain exactly what happens when you do that.
There have been a number of studies showing that if you do too much HIIT, you’re at a much higher risk of getting injuries, specifically around the knees and the hips. Most of these injuries happen because of poor technique and overworking your muscles. The key part is that you should let your muscles have the chance to recover from that high intensity workout that you put them through.
This brings us into how much HIIT you should do every week to maximize your results and to reduce your chance of getting injured!
When you’re doing HIIT, you want your stress hormones such as testosterone and cortisol to go up during the high-intensity workout and then to go down quickly. It was found that if you go over 15 minutes of high-intensity exercise every week, that is the high intensity peak. So for example; if you’re doing a 30 minute workout and half of that time is at the high intensity peak and the other half of that time is the low intensity rest period, then you only count the 15 minutes. If you’re over 15 minutes, then your body’s responses to this high intensity exercise won’t be effective. It will be more of a flat pattern and you won’t be getting all of the benefits that you could be getting from the high intensity exercise.
You won’t only get more injuries from HIIT if you go over 50 minutes every week, but also won’t get the benefits from it. The main appeal of HIIT is to maximize the benefit that you get from your exercise in a short amount of time, so if that doesn’t happen because of overdoing it, then you shouldn’t!
How to maximize the benefits of HIIT?
- Split Your High-Intensity Workouts
Don’t do your 15 minutes of HIIT just in one day and then leave the rest for the week! Split that 15 minutes over 3 separate workouts. So half of the 15 minutes, you’ll be at that high intensity interval, and then 50% of the time or another 15 minutes, you’ll be resting. So it’s 15 minutes of high intensity exercise and doing this 3 times a week, that’s 45 minutes, which is perfect! - Don’t Do HIIT on Consecutive Days
You should always rest between your working out days. For example, you should work out on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, so you have enough recovery time to get the most benefits out of HIIT. The recovery phase is super important when it comes to HIIT. If you don’t let your body recover, then you’re not going to get the good benefits. - Make Sure You’re Getting Enough Sleep
You need to get at least eight hours every night. Sleeping well is important for your body to recover as during the sleep cycle your body actually adjusts to all of the changes that you do to your body while you’re training. - Make Sure You Get Enough Protein
You should have 1.5 grams of protein for every kilogram that you weigh. If you weigh 85 kilograms, you need to make sure that you’re getting at least 125 grams of protein every day. - Make Sure You Get Enough Water Intake
Water helps your muscles recover faster and makes you work better. - Combine HIIT With Other Workouts to Maximize the Benefits
It’s an additive effect. For example; if you’re doing HIIT on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, then on the other days, you can do different forms of training, such as resistance training for maximized benefits or yoga to stretch and destress.
If you are new to HIIT then you should check out The HIIT Trend to expand your knowledge!