I train busy people, who work hard, have stressful jobs & lives, travel lots and don’t get much sleep. It’s my job as their coach get them in shape and manage their energy levels so they can perform both in the gym and at work.
Exercise is stressful, and HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) is very stressful. Layering yet another stress into an already stressed out / elevated cortisol (stress hormone) life isn’t going to do you any favours.
Let’s look at the data:
HIIT is championed for a few reasons. One being EPOC (Excess Post Oxygen Consumption). People will tell you that you burn more calories after training as the reason to do HIIT. Which is true, at a base level. But the total amount of extra calories burnt is only a small percentage. Depending on the study you read it will be about 7-10% that’s not a lot of calories when you compare how many calories is in a can of Coke.
There is a limited number of calories you can burn in a session, I’m sorry to say your FitBit, MyZone or Apple Watch are wildly inaccurate. The calories burned in a moderate activity session vs a HIIT class will not be far off.
Also…
You didn’t earn the right to do it. Most people jump into HIIT training when they are pretty out of shape. Without putting in the months of training to build up a base to even be able to push themselves hard enough for HIIT. Just because your heart rate goes through the roof, does not mean your muscles are working at the levels required to actually get the benefits of HIIT.
And….
Often people are going to HIIT sessions in a class format where it’s a 45min class. If you were truly doing HIGH INTENSITY you would be tanked in about 4 minutes. I’m not saying you’re not working hard, it’s just not high intensity, you’re just getting fatigued. Then on top of that, it’s often done too frequently. If you’re tired from the previous day/s workout you are not working at high intensity, you’re just knackered and struggling to recover.
I’m not totally against HIIT, I just think a lot of coaches are trying to fool you into thinking it’s some miracle form of training.
The Rules….
There a defiantly benefits to HIIT training, you can read them here:
The reality is, if fat loss is your goal, it takes more than just exercise alone. So HIIT just doesn’t play out from daily energy expenditure or from a risk vs reward standpoint.
If you’re super fit and strong and you love HIIT, then GREAT carry on. But don’t be fooled into thinking it’s an optimal form of training. It’s one of the hundreds of different forms of training. Most are no better, or worse than the another.
It’s just HIIT is currently on-trend.
Here’s the thing, I live in a social media bubble where I surround myself with women lifting weights, getting strong and generally being freaking badass human beings. Yet when I walk into most gyms, this isn’t exactly what I’m seeing.
Elevate your conditioning with well-designed circuits. Far too many routines throw together exercises haphazardly, creating unbalanced fatigue and overwhelming recovery demands. It’s about strategic selection and smart planning—ensuring each session builds you up without burning you out.
The big scary carbohydrate is here to ruin your diet and make you gain weight. It’s time to separate the facts from the fiction, such as why you should not cut a whole food group out of your diet and why we need carbs.
It’s a common misconception that exercise must be long to be effective. This usually aligns with the notion that exercise is all about calories burned.
Copyright © 2019 Andy Vincent PT
Created by DO Digital Marketing
1 thought on “Why High Intensity Interval Training probably isn’t right for you”
Pingback: Maximise Your Training Using Supersets | Andy Vincent PT