Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Lopez, and Britney Spears are huge fans of the super trendy HIIT workout, which stands for high-intensity interval training. HIIT involves grueling but short workout bursts with active recovery training. But Eric Salvador, head trainer at Fhitting Room, says that people make these common 6 mistakes when trying to shred and sculpt their bodies.
You’re Taking Way Too Long
The whole point of HIIT workouts is to go “all out” for a few minutes and then rest. But they’re also supposed to be short. Most routines vary anywhere from four to six minutes where you give it your best and go full-speed, but then you’re supposed to rest. At most, you might be able to do 10 minutes, and that includes resting time. You can tell if you’re doing HIIT if there are intervals of intensity. Fhitting Room head trainer Eric Salvador warns you to watch out for fake workouts that are promoted as HIIT.
You’re Not Warming Up First
You have to warm up regardless of what type of exercise you do. This prepares your heart and your muscles for a workout. But it’s even more important to warm up for a HIIT workout because the sessions are short and intense. That means you have to spend even more time warming up because you’ll be pushing your body to the extreme. You certainly want to avoid causing your heart to spike right away.
You’re Resting And Not Upping
For your HIIT session to work, you have to up your intensity. If you’re resting during your average workout, you’re not really doing HIIT. You have to include the high-intensity work and the intervals. Once the intensity starts to diminish, you’re just working out and resting for half a minute. But how do you know if you’re not doing it right? Simple. If you didn’t sweat or feel like you absolutely challenged your body to the max, then you made a mistake at some point. You have to feel as though you couldn’t possibly do any more before hitting the resting phase. That being said, know your limits and keep your heart rate in check.
You Aren’t Resting At All
Resting when you should be working is bad. But not resting at all can also mess up your HIIT session. Going at full speed and challenging yourself is okay during the short intense workouts, but then you need to rest. If you don’t give yourself that time to recover then the effort you put in the session won’t be quite as effective. The more intense your workout gets, the more you will need to take a break and rest. Once you get fitter, you’ll need less time to recover.
You Implemented Isolation Work
Your HIIT session isn’t the time for you to do isolation work. Isolation training is better suited for when you want to target a specific area of your body, and you’re better off doing so in a machine at the gym. It’s designed to make you do a controlled routine. But with HIIT, you’re supposed to feel uncomfortable so you’ll use full body movements. The results will carry over to your everyday activities like climbing the stairs or carrying your bags from the supermarket.
Finally, You Do HIIT Way Too Often
HIIT is a great addition to your workout routine, but you shouldn’t overdo it either. The benefits of these HIIT sessions decrease when you injure or exhaust yourself. You need to give your body time to rest. You can’t just do HIIT every day without giving your body time to recover. Try doing HIIT three or four times a week. Start out slow and then ramp up the intensity when you’re ready. And if you get bored in between, go for a swim or take your dogs for a walk. That way your HIIT sessions will be a total hit!
