Six weeks into a new workout and I’ve made up my mind. The HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) is here to stay. First, posting a blog that details my workout sessions is not the reason. I would imagine most people’s assumption would be that this blog would give me extra motivation to go to the gym. Honestly that’s not the case.

I could speak all day about the factors that may have affected the quantity of workouts I conducted the last several weeks. There will always be life going on that will alter your schedule. For me, that has been a great benefit of adding the HIIT. I definitely notice that the quality of my workouts outweigh the quantity. I don’t feel the need to go to the gym or run six days a week. There’s no point when I can get better results from going three or four days a week.

In addition to the better quality, my body has an overall feeling of being healthier. That is not because I’ve been eating healthier. Part of the affect of life on my schedule has meant eating out a great deal lately. In closing, I feel that if working out less and eating more unhealthy can still have a positive impact on my initial goals, i should continue the routine. Ofcourse, I will commit to a plan for eating better and changing up my routine on a regular basis. Implementing HIIT’s in the least should improve how you feel. Give it a shot if you’re up to the challenge, just make sure to bring the intensity.

It’s the final week since I’ve changed my workout routine by implementing high intensity training. Unfortunately, it’s been a busy summer and I haven’t been able to keep my routine on a a schedule as much as I’d like. For instance, yesterday was the first time I worked out in five days. Although that wasn’t ideal for me, it did show me a few things about the improvement to my overall fitness.

For yesterday, I conducted a HIIT which several weeks ago would have been a more noticeable struggle after five days off. My workout lasted for thirty-five minutes and consisted of nearly two miles of sprints. I felt like I could have gone for an hour but, I didn’t want to over-do it. In the end, I finished up with six sets of pull-ups and six sets of dips. I’m excited to give my final assessment on my overall opinion and experience of the HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) workout.

Today is Thursday, and so far this week has been fairly light on workouts. Yesterday I ran four miles outside in a heat index of one hundred degrees. A few weeks ago that would have been a difficult run but, yesterday was a different story; I’m going to have to credit the HIIT’s with that. One more benefit I can add to the list.

Since I don’t have much to add for this week so far, I will go into a little more detail on today’s workout. First, I began with a two minute warm-up run and fifty jumping jacks to get my blood flowing. I then did six sets of squats using a pyramid routine. For those not familiar I will explain what that is. Start off with a weight you can manage to do ten good repetitions with, then for the next set, add weight and go down to eight reps. Work your way down to your max weight with two reps. There is no exact science to conducting a pyramid but, that’s the way I like to. I’ve read it’s the best way to improve your strength.

For today I still wanted to get a HIIT workout in so that’s what I finished with; just a shorter version. I usually don’t do a leg workout prior to running so it definitely slowed me down. However, it was a change from my normal routine which is always a good thing when you’re trying to improve your overall fitness. In short, the HIIT today consisted of only push-ups and planks for forty-five seconds each with no rest in between, followed by a forty-five second rest, then jogging a lap around the track, no sprints. After the squats, fifteen minutes of that was plenty. For tomorrow I will focus only on conducting a HIIT and attempt to go for my longest time yet, forty-five minutes.

I’m four weeks in and it’s obvious to me that HIIT workouts have benefits. I still have a few more weeks to decide whether or not I want to keep them in my routine. Also, if I do, I’m not sure if my body can handle the intensity for an extended period of time. It’s clearly evident all the articles I’ve read on HIIT’s are true. These workouts will make a difference, and if you’re doing them properly, don’t do them two days in a row. I can also see why so many athletes have cycled them into their routines.

My best advice for anyone wanting to begin “HIIT’ing” is to make sure to hydrate plenty before and after. I think that has been one of my biggest issues to this point. These particular workouts will require a huge amount of energy expenditure in a short period of time. If you don’t hydrate properly, then expect not to recover well. that has been my biggest problem. Other than that, I’m loving the way I feel and hope to see further improvements over the next few weeks.

Day 1 (Monday)- Instead of starting off the week with a HIIT ( High Intensity Interval Training) I went with a nice little 3.6 mile run around the block. After a two day break I was under the impression this run would be a cake walk. The terrain had another idea; it planned to murder me. I’ve never really liked hills, but the ones in my neighborhood especially annoy me. I usually like to set a constant pace, but anyone who runs a hilly area can tell you it’s easier said than done. I know how to pace; I just refuse to accept the fact I need to slow way down when I’m running uphill. Needless to say the 27-minute wore me out; good start to the week.

Day 2 (Tuesday)- After yesterday’s easy run it was time for another HIIT. Today’s would consist of sprints with no exercises between. I timed them so each sprint was a half lap on the indoor track or 15-20 seconds of sprinting for me; followed by about one minute of a slow walk…repeat. I did that for a grand total of 12 sprints or 20 minutes. I felt great until the last few sprints, and even then I was feeling fine. The sprints I’ve added to my HIIT’s along with switching up my overall daily routine has definitely made a noticeable benefit to my sprinting. I feel like I’m running smoother and for longer periods of time. Just for good measure I finished the day with four set of push-ups, five sets of pull-ups, 5 sets of straight bar arm curls, four sets of bent over rows, all with a 30-second rest between sets.

Day 3 (Wednesday)- Crucial to anyone workout routine is making sure to engage your core on a regular basis. Today seemed like a great time for some highly efficient squats. The great thing about squats is how many muscles are being worked all at once; it’s the same thing with sprinting. I did six sets of squats with five sets of pull-ups between each set. Followed by five sets of military press and four sets of push-ups. Overall nice workout, once again getting easier by the week to conduct these workouts compared to a HIIT.

Overall for the week I tried to switch up the exercises as much as possible, not to get too bored. To reiterate, I’m loving the difference I’m noticing in my sprints, feeling 10 years younger. Three weeks in and so far I notice my body feeling stronger even though it looks the same and my weight is stable. Like I said a couple of weeks ago, for me I tend to eat healthier when I’m more active which is probably the most important thing I can gain from all of this.

Day 1 (Sunday)- For this week I started off with a slightly more simple HIIT. Last week was not good for me. I don’t know if it’s my age or the fact that I’m pushing myself too hard, but I did not recover well at all. There’s also the fact that I donated blood half-way through the week so that didn’t help either. For today I changed up my routine in hopes of not having a repeat of last week. I decreased my HIIT duration to eighteen minutes, but this time instead of being finished for the day, did five sets of pull-ups and dips afterwards. Much like last week I felt the urge to pass out shortly into the workout, however, ending sooner definitely improved my recovery and I actually felt great while doing the pull-ups and dips.

Day 2– Monday was an easy 3.6 mile run around my neighborhood. It’s amazing how compared to a HIIT, a normally moderate workout now seems easy, and so soon. I say this because even though 3.6 miles to some people is a walk in the park, add in the fact that most of the run is uphill and it was a hot and humid day, that run was anything but easy.

Day 3/4– Tuesday was a rest day although I can honestly say it didn’t feel needed. Wednesday was another HIIT almost identical to what I did on Monday. Eighteen minutes consisting of sprints, burpees, push-ups, jump squats, mountain climbers, and planks. This time the dizziness and shortness of breath came on rather quickly, five or six minutes into the workout which felt like I was regressing from how I felt earlier in the week. There are so many factors that come in to play with these intense workouts though; diet, sleep, hydration, stress. Additionally, I feel my body is still adjusting to the frequency at which I’m putting it through these more vigorous exercises. One good thing to note is the fact my recovery was once again timely.

Day 5– Thursday was the exact same exercises I did the previous day for my HIIT, minus the sprints. Instead of sprinting I went with a jog between exercises and I felt like I was floating, like I could sustain for hours. A benefit of conducting these HIIT’s was finally being felt. I’m excited to see what progresses in the coming weeks. Just for good measure I ended the visit to the gym with five sets of barbell squats; pyramiding the weight.

Day 1 HIIT (Sunday)- For the first day I decided to go with a workout similar to what I’ve been doing, only more intense. In order to do that I had to turn my normal jog into a sprint. Also, I have to add that I use my gyms indoor track, which makes it easier to conduct a HIIT requiring sprints. My exercises between the sprints consisted of 2-3 of the following for approximately 25 seconds each: planks, push-ups, mountain climbers, jump squats, jump lunges, burpees, and jumping jacks. When complete, I allowed a 30-45 second rest, then repeat. I kept this up for 25 minutes with each set taking just under 3 minutes. The most difficult exercise by far has got to be the sprints. When I was done I felt exhausted but, recovered rather quickly.

Day 2, Weights (Monday)- As mentioned in my first post, it’s not recommended to conduct HIIT’s back-to-back. I went with simple exercised and moderate to semi-heavy weight…for me. My routine included 6 sets of dead lifts with pull-ups between each set, 5 sets incline bench, 4 sets dumbbell bent over row, then 6 sets of weighted dips with pull-ups between. Due to the fact I only used moderate weight I required less recovery time between each set, allowing me to complete this workout in less than 50 minutes. Honestly, compared to the HIIT on day 1, this workout was a breeze as I barely broke a sweat.

Day 3, HIIT (Tuesday)- I just want to start off by saying that this workout was brutal. I did the exact same workout as Sunday but, had completely different results. The first couple of sets were fine and then, there it was, that feeling no one wants when they’re exercising, lightheadedness. Before, during, and after each sprint I thought there was a significant possibility of passing out. But, I continued and surprisingly was able to hold in my lunch long enough to finish. Recovery time…still in progress.

Day 4, Rest (Wednesday)- Perfect day to donate some blood, exercise highly discouraged.

If you’re like me when it comes to fitness, you’re goal is not to look like a model or athlete. My main goal is to maintain a healthy body fat percentage, and keep a decent amount of muscle mass. I’m by no means a physical fitness guru, but it’s important enough for me to always be researching and attempting new ways to improve. Ultimately, I try to focus on a routine that is interesting to me and fits my schedule. For me that involves running, heavier on body weight exercises, and overall a 30-45 minute time period.

The most recent workout routine I’ve gotten into is HIIT, or (High Intensity Interval Training). I was actually doing my own version of one without realizing it. Then, one day I read an article about these so called high intensity fitness routines and noticed several similarities to what I was doing. What stood out most to me was the benefits these intense workouts have. These benefits include increased fat loss, muscle gain, and increased cardio endurance over a typical moderate workout conducted in more time. The other great concept to a HIIT is you can use just about any combination of exercises as long as you follow the two most important rules: You have to put in at least 90% when you’re in go mode, and allow a short time to rest in between each set.

Since I just started with the HIIT’s and haven’t been doing them exactly as intense as I could, I haven’t noticed any change. For the next several weeks I will be incorporating a HIIT into my fitness routine 3 days a week, with 2 days of a more moderate workout in between. I will also allow myself 2 days per week for rest. I will generally keep my diet the same but, naturally I will probably want to eat healthier. So, in my next post I will go into further detail of my routine, as well as go more in depth about any positive or negative results I may be seeing.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton