Most HIIT Workouts Are Not Really HIITs.
High-intensity interval training made the headlines in the 2010s with one specific claim: short periods of hard work can provide the same aerobic benefits as longer jogging or cycling. But the HIIT videos you can stream today have little to do with the original model, and many aren’t worth your time.
Before we start to break down the difference, I want to make something clear: if you enjoy doing HIIT videos and they are part of an exercise regimen that makes you really happy, keep doing them . I’m not trying to take what you love.
But if you do them because you think this is the best way to achieve your goals, or because a trainer or influencer tells you that they will burn a ton of calories or increase your loot, we need to sit down and a little intervention.
What is HIIT?
High-intensity interval training became a buzzword after scientists noticed that people were better at taking the Wingate test every time they took it. The Wingate Protocol encourages people to pedal with all their might with great resistance for a decent 30 seconds. Then you rest for four minutes and do it again.
After further experimentation, the researchers found that the benefits they observed, including increased aerobic fitness, could be caused by other rest / work combinations. The Tabata Protocol, again performed on a research grade stationary bike (they call it a “ergometer”), is 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest, repeated for just four minutes.
This is not a workout that people do for fun. Everyone I saw told about this experience, said that it was a complete agony . Scientists often point out that people can rarely force themselves to be strong enough to reproduce these protocols on their own.
So Martin Gibala, one of the researchers who popularized the concept of HIIT, worked to find a version of the protocol that normal people could do on their own, and that would not leave them in such a dire state that they would be afraid to return. His conclusion: one minute of work / one minute of rest was the ideal place , and you could do it while cycling, jogging, or other aerobic exercise. Interval training has become popular, which uses different work / rest intervals.
How do I compare new HIIT videos?
The term HIIT hasn’t just been watered down; he mutated.
When it started, HIIT was focused on getting more results in less time, so it has earned a reputation for being more efficient, perhaps even surpassing things like jogging. And since HIIT doesn’t need a bicycle, trainers supported this idea and began to apply this term to literally everything they could think of. Bodyweight squats? Curls of arms for biceps? Of course, why not. As a result, HIIT these days means more than “training with a timer that counts down the time in the corner.”
The popularity of HIIT grew over the years as the isolation began and then skyrocketed. If you are a coach or influencer trying to come up with something that can be easily removed, you are likely to gravitate towards home workouts without equipment. And to make them seem exciting, you call them HIIT.
I suspect the “HIIT” label in bodyweight training should translate to “good enough.” Yes, you do a few lunges in the living room, but the coach wants you to think that this is as good as anything you can get in a boutique studio or full-service gym. It could be better.
Empty promises
You can tell how far these workouts are from real HIITs based on the promises they make. They say they will improve your VO2max , which was one of the benefits noted initially? They won’t – usually not. Let’s do a quick rundown:
Do they burn a lot of calories? Not necessary, but it depends on the training. The longer you work out and the more out of breath you are, the more calories you burn. In truth, 20 minutes of HIIT often doesn’t burn more than 20 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise like jogging.
Do they burn more calories after exercise? In theory, your body continues to burn calories after a hard workout. But there are two caveats: first, this is only important when the workout is really intense. Second, after a hard workout, your body often wants to save calories for the rest of the day, so things even out while you’re lying on the couch. Even Gibala said that the afterburning was greatly exaggerated.
Do they help you lose weight? Diet matters more to weight loss than the amount of exercise you do, let alone the specific form. Exercise may help a little with the “calories burned” in the equation (assuming it doesn’t make you hungry, which sometimes happens), but now we’re back to a reality that HIIT training doesn’t have. no particular benefits in burning calories.
Do they build muscle? Maybe a little, but they won’t give you loot / weapons / whatever you dream of. Repetition of light weights often will only build muscle if you’re going to fail, which means you need to rest for a minute before doing another exercise with the same body part. If your HIIT workout allows it, great! But pretty soon you will be strong enough that the workout won’t make your muscles grow. You really need to train with more and more weights if you want to build muscle.
How do I know if a HIIT video is really good?
First, ask yourself why you are filming a video. Are you looking to improve your aerobic fitness? Then assess if after watching the video you really catch your breath and if it gives you enough rest so that you can do it again. Do you want to build muscle? Then assess if the video is really challenging your muscles.
As I mentioned above, sometimes we do a HIIT video not for a specific result, but because we like to move our body and we like the movement in the video. This is good and good, and it definitely counts towards the 75 to 150 minutes of exercise you should be doing on a weekly basis . But if you have specific goals, look for the best ways to achieve them. Chances are there is something more suitable for you than another “HIIT” video.