Change Up Your Training With This Workout

By Pamela Mazzuca HBSc. Kin, Athletic Therapist  

With race season almost upon us, it’s your last chance to ramp up your training with a High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). By integrating a HIIT workout into your weekly routine you will be giving yourself an upper edge on the competition.

HIIT workouts are characterized by short bursts of intense exercise that is intended to increase your heart rate followed by a longer recovery period. Note that this is not a workout for the meek as it requires you to push yourself as close to your maximal effort as possible, which will not only improve your overall fitness but it will also help make you mentally tougher on race day.

The benefits of HIIT workouts are plentiful. As far as time efficiency, nothing compares. Most workouts are only 15-20 minutes long and they boost your metabolism during and AFTER your workout, allowing you to burn 25-30% more calories than steady-state exercise. They also improve overall muscle tone and your body’s ability to utilize insulin, which provides more energy to your muscles leaving less energy to be stored as fat, helping with weight management. Plus your parasympathetic activity (the part of your nervous system that slows down your heart rate, increases digestion and decreases stress) is also improved by HIIT workouts.

HIIT workouts are a great way to train both your aerobic and anaerobic systems in a single workout. During the short bursts of high intensity exercise you will work at 80-95% of your maximum heart rate, training your anaerobic system. This teaches your body how to maintain maximal effort, which is needed for power efforts such sprints and hills in a race. During the longer recovery periods your aerobic system kicks in, improving your overall endurance. When compared to unadorned endurance training, HIIT workouts are superior at improving your oxygen capacity during exercise (aka V0₂ max), which will help improve your PB.

So before you get too close to your next race, incorporate this HIIT workout once to twice a week to improve your cardiovascular fitness and athletic capacity.

HIIT Workout

10 minutes dynamic warm up – jogging, cycling, elliptical, skipping, jumping jacks

30 seconds – inchworm

60 seconds – walking or marching in place

30 seconds – burpees

60 seconds – walking or marching in place

30 seconds – lateral lunges

60 seconds – walking or marching in place