We all have experienced the hectic pace of the holiday season and know it’s often your run or other workouts that get pushed to the side to make time for work and family obligations.
HIIT (high intensity interval training) may just be your solution this winter to still fit in quality workouts. HIIT can equal or even exceed the cardiovascular training benefits from more traditional moderate intensity continuous exercise, (i.e. your daily easy run), but does so in much less time. You can complete a great HIIT workout, including warm-up and cool-down, in 30 minutes!
HIIT does this by inducing metabolic adaptations that increase the ability of your muscle cells to utilize oxygen, which maintains or even improves exercise performance. The trick is all in the name—your intervals need to be of high intensity to be effective. Think equivalent to “hard” or “very hard” exertion levels (8/10 to 9/10 or 5k to mile race pace efforts). Some HIIT workouts even require “supramaximal” efforts—similar to an “all out” sprint. The interval length can vary from just a few seconds for “all out” efforts to a few minutes for “hard” intensities. The work is then followed by a recovery period which also varies in length from < 30 seconds to several minutes.
HIIT training is not limited to running workouts. You can get a great workout on a stationary bike. At Grandma’s house with access to neither? Calisthenics work as well.
Here are some ideas to get your started:
Include at least a 5-10 minute warm-up and cool-down for all activity.
Run Outside or Treadmill HIIT Workout: Run 4 x 4 minutes at 8/10 (5k) effort with 60-90 seconds of recovery between each effort.
Stationary Bike HIIT Workout: 20 seconds “all out” / 10 seconds recovery, repeat x 20.
Peloton devotees may recognize this 2:1 ratio as “Tabata”, named for the research scientist who first studied this form of HIIT training. The “all out” efforts can be a combination of RPM and resistance.
Calisthenic HIIT Circuit: 3 sets of 40 seconds on / 20 seconds off:
Snowshoe HIIT—alternating running hard for 1 minute / recovery for 1 minute x 8
What if, despite your best efforts, you miss a few days anyway? That’s ok! It takes 5-7 days of not exercising at all to see a decline in cardiovascular fitness. Muscular strength takes even longer—about a month to see a decrease in force production. You may have seen studies reporting a faster loss of fitness, but these studies focus on subjects on complete bed rest. As long as you are not acutely ill, just participating in your usual activities of daily living will maintain your fitness for several days.
Most of us also benefit from the mental and physical recovery and increased motivation afforded by a few days off. Fitness generally returns more quickly in previously trained people once regular workouts are resumed. And keep in mind, something is always better than nothing, even if that means just walking the dog after dinner.
So try your best to stay active this holiday season and consider using HIIT when time is limited. Stick with training through the winter months and you just may find yourself feeling Invincible come spring and All Fired Up to set a new PR!
The information provided in this article is for educational purposes only and does not substitute for professional medical advice. Consult a medical professional or healthcare provider if you seek medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment specific to your individual situation.
This article originally appeared in the The Connection, TCM's weekly e-newsletter. Subscribe here.
Kristen Gerlach, PT, PhD, is a physical therapist who specializes in working with runners. If you haven’t guessed, she is a Pat Benatar fan and remembers running many of her early miles with Benatar’s “Greatest Hits” playing in her Sony Walkman. Kristen is one of the team of Motion Experts TCM has gathered to help its subscribers and participants get the most out of their running. Have a question for Kristen: [email protected] or website: instridemnpt.com.