7 Benefits of High Intensity Training for beginners.

At BodyRock, we love high intensity interval training (HIIT)! In fact, HIIT workouts are a major part of our philosophy. HIIT can be used to describe any exercise that alternates between intense bursts of activity and periods of less-intense activity or rest.

Many workouts that claim to burn fat, use these principles. Can exercising hard for 50 seconds, followed by a 10 second break actually help you burn fat? Seems too simple to work, doesn’t it? Well, the truth is, it does work. There is a great deal of science that shows HIIT training to be an incredibly effective way to reach your body goals!

Here are 7 benefits of HIIT training:

1. HIIT is one of the most efficeint workouts for losing body fat quickly. 

Having a busy schedule can make it difficult to squeeze in a workout. If all you have is your lunch hour, you want something that is going to be both quick and effective. Research has shown that if you do interval training for 15 minutes, 3 times a week, you will make much greater gains than if you just run on a treadmill for an hour. What’s more, if you only have a short window of time to get yourself into better shape, 2 weeks of HIIT training can improve your aerobic capacity as much as 6 to 8 weeks of endurance training, according to  a 2011 study presented at the American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting.

2. With HIIT training, you will burn more fat and calories. 

HIIT workouts not only burn more calories, they help you continue to do so after the workout is completed! The intervals of intense exertion send your body’s repair cycle into top gear. This means that you will burn more fat and calories for the 24 hours following the workout than you would if you had done steady state cardio instead.

3. HIIT workouts will help you build a stronger heart. 

HIIT workouts force you into the anerobic zone — a place most people who putter around at the gym never reach. This is that place where you feel your heart beating like a drum. Pushing yourself to this level can produce some incredible results. A 2006 study found that after just 8 weeks of HIIT training, subjects were able to bicycle twice as long as they could before while keeping the same pace.

 4. HIIT workouts will help you lose weight, not your fat burning lean muscle tone. 

If you have ever been on a typical diet, you know it is hard to lose weight without losing muscle mass. Steady state cardio workouts like running, cycling or the elliptical machine, tend to strip lean muscle while burning body fat. HIIT workouts help you build fat burning, lean muscle tone and maintain the lean muscles tissue that you already have. The energy you expend during a HIIT session comes directly from your fat stores, creating a leaner you! You can further this development of lean muscle tone by following a Meal Plan that ensures that you are getting the right balance of protein and other nutrients that support fat loss, and by adding a little resistance to your workout routine. Doing your HIIT workout while wearing extra weight (like the BodyRock Weighted Vest!) is a really simple way to make your workout harder without impacting your movements or range of motion.

5. HIIT workouts will boost your metabolism.

As you now know, HIIT helps you lose fat and maintain muscle but it also increases your production of human growth hormone (HGH) by as much as 450% for the 24 hour period following your session. HGH increases your calorie burn but it also helps you look young and fresh by slowing the aging process — inside and out!

6. You can do HIIT workouts anywhere.

Because HIIT just means repeated periods of going all out, followed by periods of recovery, you can adapt the workout to fit your needs. If you’re on the road, you can easily make room for it in your hotel room. Want to take your workout outdoors? Parks make a brilliant space for HIIT training. Only have a short period of time? 12 minutes of HIIT is all you really need. HIIT is perfect for small spaces like condos, hotel rooms, and living rooms. 

7. HIIT Workouts Are Perfect For Beginners. 

HIIT is one of the most effective ways to workout - especially if your goal is quick fat loss and general conditioning (strengthening and toning) of your body. If you are a beginner and looking for a HIIT workout program to get started with, we have a number of HIIT workout programs that we designed specifically for beginners. If you haven’t purposefully exercised for years or even decades, these beginner level HIIT programs will get you up on your feed and moving again at a pace that you can manage. These workouts will challenge you, but they have been programmed to be achievable - which means that you will actually be able to complete them - which will help build your confidence and sense of accomplishment.

At BodyRock, we are here to help you lose weight, and get in the best shape of your life, but to get you there, we also need to take the time to progress your self-esteem and confidence forward, along with re-shaping and toning your body. Thats why we built these beginner programs, and we don’t just push you into the deep end to see if you can swim. Being a beginner means that you are starting something new, and that takes courage. We have a great article on getting started with exercise here. If you like our vibe here at BodyRock, we have a number of beginner level programs like our 30 Day Beginner Bootcamp (which introduces HIIT) that you can try that have helped over 250K women (and men) successfully begin their fitness journeys, and the results have been nothing short of miraculous. We also have Intro to Strength (teaches the basics of Strength Training), Intro to HIIT (gets you started with HIIT), and a number of other great beginner level programs on our Fitness Streaming Platform BodyRockPlus.com. 

It turns out, that when you support people with workouts that they can actually complete and feel good about, incredible things start to happen - like they start to enjoy exercise! They start to feel more in control of their lives and they start to feel much better about their bodies! All from just showing up and meeting people at the level of intensity that’s right and appropriate for where they are and where they are starting from. It’s so simple, and yet the vast majority of workout programs out there are just too difficult for people which causes them to get frustrated and quit. One of our missions here at BodyRock is to make the best training methods available and accessible to beginners. We believe that the best fitness classes and workouts shouldn’t just be available to the fit, or those people that can afford personal training or $30 gym classes. Thats why for a limited time, we are offering a full year (365 days) of unlimited access to BodyRockPlus.com and all of our beginner level programs for just $69 with code: NY22. We hope to see you there. 

Best,

Freddy