David Reagan, Atlanta Local Trainer, Answers: What is a HIIT Workout and How Does It Help with Weight Loss?

Originally published on innewsweekly.com

High-intensity interval training, otherwise known as HIIT workouts, are a popular choice for those seeking weight loss. While everyone’s body sheds weight differently, and not all workout routines affect those in the same way, some forms of exercise are known to positively work in favor for most, such as HIIT workouts.

David Reagan, an Atlanta-based NASM Certified fitness trainer, specializes in weight loss, personalized workout plans, bodybuilding, and nutrition. He caters to high-end clients and executives in Georgia’s capital, helping them achieve their fitness goals by accommodating their busy schedules. Reagan knows that trying to achieve the perfect weight while battling personal issues and professional challenges can be overwhelming. He discusses more on why affective workouts such as HIIT might be a great choice to consider trying when losing weight.

This style of exercise is known as interval training and has slimming results. Interval training is an alternation between working out with high-intensity for a short period, and then slower and longer for recovery time. This type of fitness targets heart rate and forces you to work out with a higher heart rate during limit-pushing intervals.

Popular formats of HIIT workouts can be compared based on the work to rest ratio of intervals. Here are three examples below:

You can practice HIIT workouts in ratio sequences if you are on a stationary bike or running outside. Try riding or running as fast as you can for thirty seconds, then slow down to a recovery pace for one minute, and repeat this cycle twenty times.

Tabata workouts are very short intervals. Exercise hard for twenty seconds, rest for ten seconds, and repeat this series eight times. The total workout lasts for less than five minutes. This specific HIIT workout has proven effective if routinely done four days a week.

AMRAP represents “as many rounds as possible.” Your goal with this exercise routine is to get as many rounds of a set in a certain amount of time. For instance, set your timer to thirty seconds and get as many repetitions of a sequence (such as twenty burpees, twenty, and twenty push-ups) as possible into that time frame. Then rest for one minute and repeat the intervals three times.

Of course, a primary benefit of practicing HIIT exercises is weight loss, which is why the physical genre is a well-known go-to. Other benefits include improving overall physical performance and stamina, as it has been proven to do so with athletes. You will notice a rise in your endurance levels as your short, fast workouts take up less than an hour of your day.

While you are burning more fat from your muscles exercising at high-intensity, you’ll also experience a greater afterburn, which is the number of calories you will burn after your workout and during the rest of your day.