HIIT Class

What is HIIT?

HIIT is a high intensity Interval Training workout which is the best cardio workout you can do.  HIIT involves alternating between intervals of high intensity training and intervals of rest.  HIIT has gotten a lot of buzz lately, I believe it is because the actual workout does not require a lot of time or equipment, you can do HIIT workouts anywhere and anytime in less than 30 minutes.  HIIT workouts keep your heart rate up, which helps you burn more fat in less time.  Your body is burning calories up to 48 hours after you are finished.  Another factor that HIIT improves is VO2max, which is the amount of oxygen you can use per minute. People that have a higher V02max use more energy doing the same activity, this helps them burn more fat.

Tabata workouts are a great example of HIIT training, today in class we did a Tabata to burpees, push ups, and plyo jumps.  A Tabata is 20 seconds of work with a 10 second rest for 8 cycles, the total workout is 4 minutes long. During that 20 seconds of work you push yourself as hard as you can, and take the full 10 seconds to recover.  I promise you when that 4 minutes is over you will be out of breath.   We use many of these drills in our Ship Shape Strong Classes but we actually have a class dedicated to high intensity interval training called HIIT with Tara on Tuesday and Thursday at 6:30pm at Oakleaf Baseball Fields, by the overpass. Go check it out!