Williams - Introduction to HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)

Introduction to HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)

The risks and benefits of HIIT you should first consider

By John Williams

Table of Contents

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), is a training method that couples high effort levels with infrequent, fairly short periods of working out. This is different from traditional methods of training that often pair low or moderate effort levels with frequent and longer workout periods. Arthur Jones , inventor of Nautilus, played an instrumental role in popularizing and defining HIIT training during the 1970s and he was famous for his iconic summary of the training methods philosophy which said: Train harder but, train briefer or Train harder but, train less often.

In this book, I am going to give you an in-depth look into high intensity interval training, along with breaking down Arthur Jones philosophy, giving sample exercises, and analysing myths and health concerns surrounding HIIT training and much more.

Now that you have a brief idea of what HIIT training is, I am going to break down Arthur Jones philosophy and talk about some of the controversy surrounding HIIT and its origins.

The key principle when it comes to HIIT has to be the amount of work you put in. In order to build muscle size and strength, you have to exert more energy from them than they are used to. Greater intensity means more work overload and this makes your exercise more effective. While training at a high level of intensity, maximum effort is utilised until reps become harder to perform in top notch form. Temporary failure of muscle is experienced and although it is by no means necessary for building muscle mass and strength, it helps you ensure that you have reached your maximum potential for that sole purpose. As long as you do not overdo it, training harder than normal for short periods of time will is not likely to cause serious harm to your body.

When you work harder than normal and put in an intensely high level of effort, your workouts have to be shortened in order to avoid put too much stress on your body. HIIT training workouts normally take about 30 minutes to complete and you will probably need a short, 10 minute workout to consolidate when you are done, rounding your workout out to about an hour if you factor in the time it might take you to warm up. There is great debate among trainers concerning volume of training with some claiming that HIIT training only works for beginners because of its low volume of training and that advanced trainees would need to increase their volume to much higher levels if they are looking to get substantial results. Despite all of these claims, evidence appears to overwhelmingly support the philosophy of training hard but brief if you are an advanced trainee to stop yourself from overtraining and causing any injury.

Training harder than usual is bound to put an incredible amount of stress on your body and this can increase your chances of burning out or picking up a serious injury, especially if you do not allow your body to recover properly in between any workouts. It is not uncommon in HIIT training, for trainees to go beyond their limits and begin to stagnate. It is important to allow your body to recover and for some advanced trainees, greater cuts in their time spent at the gym or at home training offer up better results.

Many people choose to live by this three step philosophy and swear by its effectiveness. HIIT is very popular in the fitness world and has seen many famous figures as well as a regular people turn to it for its incredible results. That is not to say, however, that it is not without its controversy.

Not everyone is a fan on high intensity interval training and some have claimed that it goes against tried and tested weight training fundamentals, especially with its high levels of effort and shorter training periods. In addition to this, the origins of HIIT are also shrouded in controversy with many people accusing Arthur Jones of copying the idea of HIIT training from a medical doctor called Gustav Zander. Zander developed a training method and set of machinery in the 19 th century, that bore a strong resemblance to Arthur Joness work. Jones defended himself, saying:

I learned that a doctor named Gustav Zander had designed and built a number of exercise machines in Europe nearly a hundred years before I built my first one; I did not copy Zander's work and learned nothing from him, was not even aware of his work until long after I had made the same discoveries that he had made. But if I had known about, and understood, Zander's work, it would have saved me a lot of time and a rather large fortune in money, because the man was a genius; his only problem was that he lived about a century ahead of his time, at a time when very few people cared about exercise and even fewer knew anything about it.

To this day, there is still a lot of debate surrounding the origins of HIIT but, there is no denying that Arthur Jones, his team and his fans played an instrumental role in popularising the training method.

With that being said, I think I have done a pretty sufficient job, explaining the origins and philosophies of HIIT and the next question to ask yourself should be:

To be honest, almost any individual can give HIIT a go, as long as you are up for the intensity of training, especially in the beginning. This is not to say that it gets easier with time but, the hardest part of any training regimen or sport has always been the beginninggetting your body used to working large groups of muscles at a time and getting accustomed to raised heart and breathing rate levels is not something many people are cut out for.

If you are looking for a new, challenging training method then, HIIT is for you. If you are a beginner or have recently recovered from an injury, then HIIT is still a viable option for you, so long as you take it one step at a time and do not push yourself to hard. Although HIIT training can be done by almost anyone, it is important to ensure that you are capable of doing at 15 to 20 minutes of uninterrupted exercise without any problems, before you jump into HIIT full force. If your body cannot withstand basic exercise, it is probably best to consult with a medical professional or certified fitness expert before attempting any strenuous activity or, you could just avoid HIIT training altogether. At the end of the day, fitness training methods should be about improving and building your body, not exerting and tearing it down.

The American College of Sports Medicine cites sedentary lifestyles along with other factors just as genetics, high cholesterol levels, smoking, obesity and many other issues as contributing factors to the increase in your chances of developing serious health problems, should you undertake high intensity workout methods. They advise checking and consulting with your doctor before taking up HIIT training.

Now that we have established that who can do HIIT training and who should take caution, we should take a closer look at some of the health benefits this progressive training method has to offer.

As I mentioned before, high intensity interval training is quite popular in the world of fitness and this can be boiled down to its unique approach to training that combines maximum effort with shorter training time as well as its many health benefits. HIIT training provides a good boost to your metabolism in addition to burning a lot of calories in a fairly short time. Some other health benefits of HIIT include:

High intensity interval training changes your muscles cellular structure thus, allowing you to raise your endurance levels during any form of exercise. A study was conducted and posted in the Journal of Physiology, where people undertook HIIT training for 8 weeks. The results revealed an increase (double) in the amount of time they were able to cycle while maintaining the exact same pace.