Are you looking for a training system that offers you a challenge? High-intensity training has become the second most popular training system in the world. HIT can get you into shape quickly and increase your strength, explosive power, and stamina.
High-Intensity Training Explained
HIT involves raising your heart rate to its maximum capability and then holding it there for a period of time by completing exercises designed to improve your work capacity in the gym. High-intensity training techniques involve taking a series of movements or exercises and performing them in rapid succession with as little rest as possible in between exercises and sets.
The Fitness Benefits of High-Intensity Training
High-intensity training will take your physical fitness to the next level. Increasing your work rate while reducing your time on the gym floor will increase your strength, stamina, and endurance while improving your explosive power. Here are three examples of HIT workouts you can use to achieve your fitness goals.
Examples of HIT Workouts
#1 Sprints and Sled Pulls
This is a simple workout that will yield tremendous results. Start the workout by loading a prowler sled with some weight (the amount depends on your current state of physical fitness), then complete a suicide sprint with the sled for 40 to 60 yards. As soon as you cross the finish line, turn around and complete two back-to-back wind sprints to the start and back again. Rest for thirty to sixty seconds before starting the next set. Complete eight to ten rounds of this exercise and try to keep the total workout time under thirty minutes.
#2 Run Hills and Squat
Take this workout to your local park or high school. Find an area with a steep embankment or hill. Start your workout by sprinting up the hill as fast as you can and descending slowly. When you return to the bottom, complete one minute of bodyweight squats and then rest for thirty to sixty seconds before beginning the next hill sprint.
#3 Tabata Sets
Tabata sets are a physically demanding form of high-intensity training. The workout consists of six to eight exercises performed in succession, with no rest in between the exercises. A typical Tabata workout would include exercises such as; squats (bodyweight or free weight), burpees, barbell floor press, jumping jacks, Olympic lifts or other calisthenics.
Pick six exercises you enjoy and then perform as many reps as you can in one minute. When the minute is up, move onto the next exercise with no rest. Once you have completed all the exercises, rest for thirty to sixty seconds until you recover, then start another round for another five to seven rounds.
Monitor Your Progress
If you need to lose body fat, then combine HIT with a weight-loss program and lose weight in a month, without losing any muscle mass and retaining your strength. Buy a cheap notebook and make it your training and diet journal. Record all of your workouts and meals in this book and then examine the data at the end of six weeks. The data should let you know what you need to change in your workouts and meals to keep progressing to your goal weight.
