There's a secret weapon against pesky love handles: High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT workout). This intensive and time-saving training method is ideal for losing weight.
Let's face it, we all want a defined body, visible muscles and little to no love handles.
So less fat on the hips, but muscles on the abdomen, arms and thighs.
That requires thousands of hours of excessive training? No!
Because with the HIIT workout (High Intensity Interval Training) you can achieve athletic goals with little time.
Pretty snappy you can work your way to the dream body.
The fastest and most effective way to lose weight and define the body is a session of HIIT.
Table of contents
- What distinguishes a HIIT workout
- High Intensity Interval Training Advantages
- How the intensive interval training with HIIT works
- What you need to keep in mind when doing HIIT exercises
- How long the HIIT workout should last
- Mini HIIT workout plan for beginners
- Is a HIIT workout really more goal-oriented than other workouts?
This is what you need to know about training with bodyweight!
What distinguishes a HIIT workout
Who ever stumbles across the terms "HIIT Workout" "HIIT" or "High Intensity Interval Training" and wonders: What is HIIT? Here's the answer for you.
HIIT is a training method that alternates short, high-intensity workouts with short recovery periods.
One goes thereby to the maximum load limit and still a little further. One trains at highest possible intensity and with maximum heart rate.
HIIT originated from Izumi Tabata's interval training. He has Olympic sprinters train a total of 4 minutes with different running intervals.
20 seconds of intense to her performance limit was followed by 10 seconds of rest.
High Intensity Interval Training Advantages
There's really a lot to be said for short, high-intensity sessions.
After the HIIT workout you burn calories for hours afterwards
For our body and also the metabolism, the change from intensity and relaxation is like an alternating shower. It has to adapt to the new conditions again and again.
With the mix of effort and rest we force the body to burn calories for a long time. Even when that HIIT Workout has long since passed.
How it works? The greater the difference between metabolism during exercise and at rest, the more calories are burned.
This is because when the body shuts down to get back to "normal," it has to expend a lot of energy.
Increase your basal metabolic rate!
More muscles through interval workout
When we let the metabolism run at full speed, hormone levels are increased. Especially the growth hormones adrenaline, dopamine and noradrenaline are increased. They promote the building of muscles and ensure fat loss.
Due to the short and extreme load, muscle fibers are stressed, which thus provide for the building of muscles.
Those who rely on High Intensity Interval Training train independent of location
You can do the simple HIIT exercises just anywhere. Whether in the living room, in the studio, in the park or in the office.
Those who focus on High Intensity Interval have the option of relying purely on bodyweight training, or incorporating aids such as a bike or treadmill.
A big advantage of the HIIT workout is that you burn calories not only during the sport itself. Also the so-called afterburn effect ensures that the kilos fall also happens regardless of location so eg even on the sofa :)
These are the 22 most effective HIIT exercises!
Those who do the HIIT workout, train independent of time
Well, who doesn't wish for that? Training when you really have time for it. Not rushing to the gym, but free time management is at the top of the list for this intensive training.
However, this also requires a certain amount of stamina and motivation.
HIIT increases endurance faster than endurance training
If you push your body to the limits by alternating between exertion and rest, you'll not only get a snort, but you'll increase your endurance tremendously.
Our body needs an above-average amount of oxygen. This boosts the metabolism.
Those who regularly rely on HIIT improve their maximum oxygen uptake capacity. When you then train again, the oxygen is processed better.
What are the benefits of cardio training?
Maximum fat burning with Intensity Interval Training
Although you use only a little time HIIT can maximize fat burning. Due to the high physical load, hormones such as adrenaline and noradrenaline are released.
They promote the burning of fat. Especially abdominal fat (subcutaneous fat tissue) is reduced.
How the intensive interval training with HIIT works
The goal of a HIIT workout is to get your heart rate up. How you do that is up to you.
Either with body weight exercises, with equipment or even cycling and treadmill. Important are the load cycles.
A HII workout always starts with a short warm-up. It lasts 5 to 10 minutes. All exercises that prepare the muscles for the workout with a warm up are suitable for this.
A High Intensity Interval workout is always divided into two phases. These two are repeated throughout the entire HIIT workout.
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The high intensity phase in HIIT
For a predetermined duration you go to your Load limit. So training until really nothing more goes. These time intervals are short but very intense - which also explains the name of the training method. A high-intensity phase lasts depending on the training condition 30 - 60 seconds.
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The recovery phase of the HIIT workout
After that, you can take a breather during the recovery phase. You recover for two to three times the duration of the load phase. For example, if you do push-ups for 30 seconds, you will recover for at least 60 seconds.
In the High Intensity Interval Workout, this cycle is constantly repeated. The total duration of the HIIT workout is 15 to 20 minutes and consists of so many intervals like possible.
What you can watch out for: The high pulse rate creates a large oxygen deficit in the body. So panting and sweating are guaranteed.
That's why losing weight with strength training is better than any diet!
How do you train High Intensity Intervals and for whom does HIIT workout make sense?
The most important thing about the HIIT workout is that you really train to total exhaustion. That is, both in terms of puff and strength. You test your performance limits until it is really no longer possible without a break.
30 seconds of training is at least 60 seconds of rest. However, the break can also be shorter. It depends on your exhaustion. You only recover until you trust yourself to do the exercise again with 100%.
Who it as a sport Beginner with High Intensity Interval Training would like to try, must not be disappointed if it goes really bumpy at the beginning. The important thing is to keep at it!
The workout is geared so that you will soon be able to do more on the next training days.
However, a certain basic fitness should be present. If you can't do a single push up, you should first start to learn the exercises slowly. But do not worry, push-ups can be learned quite easily. :)
You can add HIIT intervals to the Strength training incorporate. And you can do this with circuit training, which consists of various exercises. For this purpose Squat, push-ups, Kettlebell Workouts on
Learn push-ups in just 7 steps!
What you need to keep in mind when doing HIIT exercises
Before you jump right in, you need to have a really solid foundation for such an intense workout. So at least Trunk stability and Coordination should be well given.
HIIT exercises are fast. Very fast. So you really need to be able to do the exercises correctly.
In the power phases, you really have to go full throttle and make a real effort. Get out of your comfort zone and get rid of your inner pig.
How long the HIIT workout should last
If you want to fight your body fat, you first have to look on the bright side. Instead of hours of cardio in the gym, you need no more than 30 seconds per session for HIIT. However, you should really plan for this and follow through.
However, the warm up and cool down are already included in the half hour.
How long your High Intensity Interval workout lasts depends on your goals and your fitness level.
You go to your limits. For beginners, this is often reached after 15 seconds. For professionals after 45 seconds. The number of intervals also varies. For beginners, 4 intervals will be enough. Professionals can also manage 12 high-intensity phases.
Who now believes after 2 weeks from a total beginner to a full professional to become, we must unfortunately disappoint.
Even though interval training is very intense and effective, muscles need time to build. You can support the body with protein-rich foods or recipes like ours delicious lentil fritters.
Mini HIIT workout plan for beginners
To give you something concrete to think about, we have prepared a small HIIT workout training plan for beginners.
Warm-up phase: 5 minutes
Load phase: 15 seconds push-ups with very high intensity
Recovery phase: 45 seconds
Total time: 20 minutes
Loosely and slowly go out or walk to lower the pulse again.
The body gets used to the stresses of intensive training relatively quickly. The training plan is adapted to this.
Try these awesome HIIT exercises!
What you need to know as a HIIT beginner
High Intensity Interval Training is very demanding! The training method was developed for high-performance sports. It brings fast and effective results, but also a lot of effort!
Therefore, it is important to perform the exercises really cleanly. Rather a few repetitions less but properly executed. Only then can you be sure that you will not injure yourself.
As a beginner, you will very quickly reach the limit of your performance. You will definitely need the breaks. They will seem very short.
Is a HIIT workout really more goal-oriented than other workouts?
Especially those who are looking for training methods to quickly lose fat will become friends with HIIT. Because we usually lack the muse to really do a fat-away training in the long term.
High intensity interval training is a highly effective and at the same time time time-saving way to train.
It is so effective because during the workout you go full throttle and let calories tumble. And after the workout you benefit from the afterburn effect, which also makes the fat pads fall.
Studies confirm the effect
Studies show that HII training revs up the metabolism. They also show that you benefit even 48 hours after the workout.
For example, the study brought "Physiological adaptations to low-volume, high intensity interval training in health and disease." of the Journal of Physiology, exciting findings. Study participants achieved the same progress with 60-90 minutes of HIIT workout per week as participants who invested 5 hours per week in endurance training.
Scientists at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota say in their Study published in the journal Cell Metabolism even that HIIT should even slow down the aging process of our cells.
There is a very simple formula here. Fat burning = diet + training
We have learned that HIIT improves our afterburn effect. However, that doesn't help much when we eat pizza afterwards.
If you want to build muscle and lose fat, go for protein-rich foods. You eliminate sugar and fatty foods from your diet.
Our conclusion
HIIT workout is ideal for those who want to quickly define their body. You need iron will for it, however, little time. The High Intensity Interval Workout is anything but simple, but it is more efficient.
Good luck for the training!
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