Training for busy people - Most people say that what they lack the most is time. To rest, to make your dreams come true, to meet friends, to play sports. How much truth is there in that? It's just an excuse?
The week is 168 hours. Ideally, we should train 3 times a week. Plus some kind of physical recreation such as bicycle, walk, swimming. No way? Okay, let's find time for two half-hour training sessions. It's always better than nothing.
What can you expect from such a short training session?
Just a few short training sessions a week significantly reduces stress levels, improves blood pressure, and helps maintain a healthy body weight.
For people who have not exercised completely before, the main motivation will be the fact that they will very quickly feel a marked improvement in mobility, they may even notice differences in appearance over time (strengthening the abdominal muscles, better posture, feeling of strength).
This is not a form of exercise reserved only for adults. A few-minute training sessions also helps children focus on learning and relieve stress.
The principle of intensive training
High Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT, is a training system based on high intensity. The key word here is "high". But what does that mean? After exercising like this for several minutes, you will be really tired, out of breath and sweaty. Cheating here, saving yourself or extending rest periods even to "to catch your breath" makes this training method pointless. This is training for the disciplined – effective but hard.
What should HIIT training look like?
HIIT is based on intervals, i.e., alternating sets of more and less intense exercises.
The entire training program should only last about 30 minutes, with 5 minutes being a warm-up to stimulate all muscles and get your pulse going. The last 5 minutes are for cooling down with some stretching elements. Thus, HIIT itself lasts 20 minutes, and should be 20 consecutive minutes of more or less intense activity, alternating throughout.
Make your workout plan and follow it with your watch in hand. Literally - counting down is especially important with HIIT because it helps you maintain the right pace. In the future, when you move to a higher level of performance, you can increase the duration of the vigorous exercises at the expense of your resting time.
The HIIT training plan can be based on any multi-joint exercise. We can run, ride an elliptical cross trainer, exercise on a rowing machine etc. - a more interesting solution is to arrange your training in the form of a circuit, which will consist of exercises involving various muscle groups.
Circuit-based HIIT training might look something like this:
- Warm-up (5 minutes) - jog, dynamic stretching, strokes, bends
- Sprint in place (15 seconds) + jog in place (60 seconds)
- High-speed jump squats (as many as possible in 15 seconds) + regular, easy, and accurate squats (60 seconds, no counting)
- Fast-paced push-ups (as much as possible in 15 seconds) + abdominal tension while lying down (accurate, easy pace, 60 seconds)
- Intensive jumping rope (as fast as possible, 15 seconds) + calm, tossing a medicine ball over the head or lifting it from the ground from a crouch position and lifting it above the head in a standing position (60 seconds)
The entire circuit can be safely done in your home or outdoors. Repeat it 3 more times, then stretch for 5 minutes to relax the muscles. And that's the end of training. It is extremely intense, so it's important not to any breaks between exercises. If you need to catch your breath slow the pace for one minute BUT DO NOT STOP.
What if the intensity is too low?
Whilst this is a rough guide, you are free to exercise your own way, at your own pace. If you enjoy doing it, you can do half-hour yoga or Pilates sessions twice a week instead of HIIT. Who will stop you? However, do not call something intensive training if it is not. And don't expect the effects HIIT can give you.