HIIT or High Intensity Interval Training is a popular form of cardio that many find helpful and a success in their weight loss program. The explanation is really in the title: it involves intervals of varying intensities, with some of those intensities quite high.

A typical HIIT routine will involve some bursts of “all-out” training followed by periods of lower intensity that allow for active recovery. this gives your body time to recover even though you haven’t completely stopped exercising.  It can be as simple as a few all-out sprints for a minute, a jog to lower heart rate to a certain level, and than sprinting again.  Most people find HIIT hard to recover from. If you do, try LISS (low intensity steady state) cardio. It is easier to recover from, though it takes longer to burn calories  

Advantages:  

1. You can burn more calories in a shorter amount of time   

2. for those looking to cut down on fat, a huge benefit is EPOC (exercise post oxygen consumption). Research shows that you may elevate your metablism for up to 24 hours after a HIIT workout!!  

3. each interval last just one minute so you can make your routine as long or short as you’d like or have time for!  

Disadvantages: 1. Requires time to recover due to the high intensity of the workout.  

2. most people can only do complete 3 HIIT workouts a week.  

3. If you have restricted your calories and need to lose more weight, adding more HIIT can be counterproductive because you can result in muscle loss not fat loss.  

Example routine:Warm up for a few minutes by jogging, doing jumping jacks, or jump roping to get your heart rate up. 

Each interval will last one minute:  For example, on the treadmill, you might do a minute at 5 miles per hour (mph), then a minute at 6mph, a minute at 7mph, a minute at 8mph, then you drop back down to 5mph and repeat.

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