As it's Mental Health Awareness Week I thought I'd share each day a type of workout that I've learned to enjoy over recent years....exercise being one of the main things that improved my mental health, when I hadn't even realised that was one of my issues!
HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) – This is especially good if you’re short on time/can’t be bothered to do anything! You can have a workout over and done in 15/20 minutes – that’s right, who can’t find quarter of an hour in their day to get moving and feel all the better for doing it? (obviously nothing wrong with doing more if you want to!)
In HIIT training the idea is that you work for a period and in that period you go “all-out”, give it your all because after that work period you get a little rest. The split between work/rest is entirely dependent on you – your ability, your mood, but it is the sort of workout you should do when you’re prepared to put the effort in and, because it’s a short workout, there’s no excuse not to put the effort in because it’ll soon be over!
Work/ratio can be 30 seconds on with 30 seconds off, you might find that too long a period in which case simply extend it – 40 seconds on and 20 off, or 45 on and 15 off.
HIIT is typically associated with being an aerobic exercise; it gets the heartrate up and this is what you want to happen if you’re to improve your fitness levels. The more aerobically fit you are, the better your heart functions, the longer it takes you to get out of breath, the faster you’re able to run/cycle/swim…in turn, that can help prevent heart disease.
Your levels of ability would determine which exercises to include in a routine…the fitter you get, the harder the exercise you should do; simply so that you get the most out of the workout. The feeling after a really good strong HIIT workout is amazing….heart racing, but in a really satisfied way and just a few long, deep breaths should find that heartrate coming down (just remember to do some cool down stretches to prevent cramping/soreness).
One of the best things about HIIT though is what happens afterwards….your body keeps on burning calories long after the workout is finished!
So what’s not to love?
Efficient and you don’t get bored!
Improves Fitness
Boosts your Mood
No Equipment Needed
Increase Metabolism
Portable – you can literally do one anywhere, bedroom, lounge, garden, hotel room, caravan, park!
To get you started here’s a good 5 exercises to do your own HIIT – run through the circuit 3 times and you’ve got 15mins under your belt!
High Knees
Push Ups
Jumping Jacks
Squats
Forward Lunges
And if puffing and panting isn't your thing, I'll be sharing lower-intensity ideas later on in the week! x
