Kick-Off Your HIIT Regime – Join The 30 Day Challenge
Many of us have good intentions of getting started with High Intensity Interval Training. Somehow, for all too many people, it just never happens.
One way round your exercise procrastination is to join in with others that are getting started and to include a clear challenge. It tends to bring out the competitive nature in us all.
That’s the idea behind the 30-Day High Intensity Interval Training Challenge. We wish it was our initiative but we can’t claim the credit that goes to the guys and gals over at myfitnesspal.com
One of the things we really like about this challenge is that these guys know what they are talking about. They understand HIIT. So the exercises and plan they layout is really what HIIT is all about.
Still, that’s enough from me. You can get the flavor of what they are all about in the excerpt below. Click the link at the end to see the rest of the article and to get some cool HIIT exercises.
The 30-Day High Intensity Interval Training Challenge
If you are new to the fitness world, or have taken a prolonged break, things have changed a bit. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and As Many Rounds As Possible (AMRAP) made popular by CrossFit have become the “it” workouts. These types of workouts are a combination of both strength and cardiovascular training. Each workout can be as short as 10 minutes, but are typically no longer than 20 minutes.
Benefits of HIIT Training
The are several benefits to HIIT training. If you are like most of us who have a job, family and social life, your time is tight. Twenty-minute workouts—not counting warm-up and cool down—work in our favor. HIIT workouts burn a ton of calories, which never hurts if you’re trying to lose weight. An unexpected benefit: HIIT training builds mental toughness. Ask anybody familiar with these types of workouts and they’ll tell you that they can be one of the more challenging workouts you’ll ever do.
Things to Keep in Mind
The challenge is to complete five rounds of a HIIT circuit in 30 days. The program follows a 3-day-a-week plan. On the days that you don’t have a HIIT workout scheduled, you should rest or do some easy walking or bike riding.
If you don’t feel comfortable with a selected exercise, substitute it with another exercise, or remove it altogether. If you are not feeling comfortable with an exercise you can always substitute the exercise. For example, do bodyweight squats instead of thrusters. Do planks instead of Russian twists if you have back pain; complete step-ups instead of lunges if you have knee pain. If you’ve been working out for a while, you can decrease the rest in between each round, or increase the weight to make the circuit more difficult.
Safety is a major concern when it comes to this type of training—the number one goal is to avoid injury. You should expect some muscle soreness initially, but as the program progresses, the exercises remain the same so muscle soreness should be little to none over time. Be smart when you’re training, and listen to your body. If muscle soreness becomes a problem and is lasts more than a few days, take more rest days during the week. Do not push through pain—it will only aggravate the issue. If you feel beat up, had bad sleep, and work is stressing you out, take an additional rest day. As my college running coach always said, “One workout cannot make you, but one workout can break you.”
Complete whatever cardio exercise you prefer during the cardio portions of each workout. Some suggestions: If you’re at home, ideal cardio moves include: jumping jacks, jump rope, or running in place. If you’re at the gym…
As we said – this is not our gig. Get over to myfitnesspal to get started now!
