HIIT (standing for High Intensity Interval Training) which has gained a lot more popularity these days in which is to workout at your top level of exertion in order to achieve maximum burn in minimum time alongside some cardiovascular and muscular endurance improvement.
And in practice, HIIT can have impressive results. It’s an effective tool for increasing cardiovascular fitness, sculpting your physique and increasing metabolic rate. Hence why HIIT classes are popping up all over the place. People have become accustomed to turning up to a class with loud music and dark lighting, just like a night club and leaving them barely able to walk.
So why is HIIT bad for some people? Here are 3 reasons,
Firstly It’s a stressful addiction. With the right dosage, it’s extremely great for our body to produce the kind of growth response in many areas such as muscle mass and the respiratory system. But when we get carried away, things will start to get overwhelming. Let’s not forget the stress we are already getting from work, family and issues we might currently be facing in our lives. If our body fails to combat all the stress accumulated, the stress hormone will shoot through the roof. This can bring about a whole heap of negative impacts to our immune system, energy, appetite and even promote the storage of more fat, which is the opposite of what we all want.
Secondly, basics are not meant to be skipped especially when you are a beginner. The basics and fundamentals of fitness components such as mobility, stability and strength are crucial to be established before taking on any fast paced and strenuous activities. The issue is, many people have not been conditioned to do HIIT. The risk of orthopedic injuries or ankle injuries can surface when there is a lack of structural integrity all across our body. Your best bet is to instill patience to practice strength and movement training for a period of 3 months before incorporating your first ever HIIT workout into your regime.
Thirdly, the focus has always been about how much can you burn in one workout? What if you could keep burning more all day long even on days you are resting? Muscle is a metabolically active tissue and it is “calorie expensive” to keep. So the more you have it, the more you will burn. Take gymnasts for example who possess the greatest physique of all, perform strength work for the most part of their training! So there you go, a solid example of why HIIT is not the only solution to stay lean, but well-designed strength training can be the answer.
Getting yourself educated with proper exercise technique execution can go a long way. Invest in learning from a trusted coach as this can prevent you from making unnecessary mistakes while saving you the time it will take figuring it all out yourself. Always listen to your body, not the trend and ultimately nurture it with what suits you best at your current physical abilities and lifestyle you have.
