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What is HIIT? Aerobic workouts that involve alternating short intervals of high intensity activity and periods of rest/active recovery (or low intensity activity). Unlike long endurance runs/aerobic workouts, the workouts for HIIT are not about how long they last but are based on the intensity level.
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American College of Sports Medicine, ACSM (2014) states that, “As a good subjective indicator, the work interval should feel like you are exercising ‘hard’ to ‘to very hard’”.
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Repetitive cycles of alternating between the different intensities can last for up to or less than 30 minutes. More benefits produced with less time achieving versus moderate intense workouts (Howard, 2015)
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Correlated Health Benefits: According to ACSM (2014) HIIT can do the following:
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Overall aerobic/anaerobic fitness
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Improve heart and blood vessel health (blood pressure, cholesterol)
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Reduction in body weight and abdominal fat (no loss of muscle mass)
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Example Exercise: One of the benefits of HIIT is that it can be done without the use of an exercise machine, for example program incorporating intervals of sprinting/running for a few seconds followed by a recovery period of walking
PLYOMETRIC EXERCISE
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What is Plyometrics? Involve short intervals of high intense movements such as skipping or jumping. The end result for plyometrics is an increase in power (combo of strength and speed) due to working/stretching the muscles’ elasticity (more power in a stretched rubber band vs. an un-stretched (McNeely, 2007).
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Correlated Health Benefits (Ratini & Robinson, 2016):
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Increase in muscle power and strength.
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Increase flexibility of muscles.
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Overall positive effects for better balance and agility.
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Example Exercise: Repeating sets of jumping squats, one-legged jumps (switching legs), side-to-side jumps, and front-to-back jumps (an additional challenge of burpees).
SOME OF THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF EXERCISES
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High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
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Calisthenics Exercise
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Plyometric Exercise
Something You Should Know Before You Start
•Ensure that you meet with your primary care provider before beginning any workout regiment.
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•The Centers of Disease Control recommends for adults 18-64 years old one of the following amount of exercise per week:
•150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity & muscle-strengthening* activity (2+ days/wk)
•75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity & muscle-strengthening* activity (2+ days/wk)
•Combo mix of moderate/vigorous-intensity aerobic activity & muscle-strengthening* activity (2+ days/wk)
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•Muscle-strengthening: As per CDC full body workout of all major muscles.
Creating an exercise goal that is S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, timely) could help with seeing progress and maintaining schedule.
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REFERENCES
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Centers of Disease Control. (2015, June 4). How much physical activity do adults need? Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/adults/index.htm
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Gaz, D. (2017, January 20). Body-weight Training: Ditch the dumbbells. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthylifestyle/fitness/
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Howard, B. (2015, November 29). High-Intensity Interval Training Offers a Short, Sweet-and Effective-Workout Routine. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from https://www.wsj.com/articles
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Jalene, S. (2017). Exercise Adherence Lecture [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from University of Nevada, Las Vegas Web Campus: https://webcampus.unlv.edu/
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McNeely, E. (2007). Introduction to plyometrics: Converting strength to power. National Strength and Conditioning Association’s Performance Training Journal, 6(5), 19-21.
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Ratini, M., & Robinson, A. M. (2016, April 13). Plyometrics. WebMD. Retrieved from http://www.webmd.co
CALISTHENICS EXERCISE
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What is Calisthenics? Exercises in which you perform various movements using only your body weight. No equipment is needed and workouts can be performed in anywhere/anytime.
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Movements may be active (i.e. push-up) or static (i.e. plank stance).
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Correlated Health Benefits (Gaz, 2017):
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Improve and maintenance of muscular endurance/strength.
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Boost in metabolism.
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Increased flexibility (more movement/range of motion vs. exercise machine.
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Example Exercise: Arm, chest, shoulder, and back workout: Do as many repetitions of wide armed push-ups, shoulder length push-ups, and diamond push-ups.
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One of the several reasons as to why many do not exercise is “perceived lack of time” (Jalene, 2017).
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Set aside specific days and times solely for the exercise (mornings, lunch, after work…).
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Creating an exercise goal that is S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, timely) could help with seeing progress and maintaining schedule.