What Are The Risks Of Doing HIIT?

By Russ Hollywood


Today we are going to be looking into HIIT to help you get more from your workouts. Too many fitness enthusiasts suffer unnecessary setbacks in the gym because they are not taking the time to weigh up the possible risks beforehand.

Whether it's using creatine supplements without researching, or trying weights without learning the correct technique, the gym can be a dangerous place if you don't learn the ropes.

Before you try something as intense as interval training it would make sense to look at the things which other people get wrong and ensure you learn from their mistakes. []

While it's primarily seen as an excellent way to lose weight, high intensity interval training can also become a negative influence on your training if you fail to use it correctly. The two main areas we will be looking at here are as follows:

1) What is the recommended frequency for interval training?

2) How can you avoid unnecessary injuries?

Do not make the common gym mistake of presuming that more means better. In fact, your body needs adequate time to recover from each workout you perform and it is during these rest periods that your muscles grow bigger and stronger. If you choose to cut these rest periods out of your schedule and train every single day you run the risk of damaging your results rather than helping them.

With the interval method, the results do not happen when you are in the gym working out. They occur after you have left. Your body will continue to burn off calories, more specifically body fat, at almost 27% higher than the usual rate and this period lasts a mighty 14 hours. Some call it the afterburn effect, but to fitness professionals this is known as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption. If you go back to the gym before you have allowed time for this vital recovery period you hinder your own results, so keep your hit sessions at a maximum of three per week.

Injuries are also quite common with interval training. This is down to the explosive nature of the exercises being performed and it usually comes down to participants neglecting their warm up period. Under no circumstances should you try to perform this type of physical activity if you are not sufficiently warmed up.

For the sake of taking 5 minutes to warm up before they perform hiit many people could avoid unnecessary injuries. However, much like those who take products such as creatine without reading the guidelines first, many people are too impatient and end up paying for it in the long run.




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