HIIT (or High-Intensity Interval Training) has been all the rage in the fitness world for a while now, and for a good reason. It burns fat, increases your cardiovascular fitness and is an effective way to build and maintain muscle mass.
However, to reap the benefits, you have to make sure you’re doing it right, and that isn’t always as easy as it seems. The truth is, there are lots of mistakes you could be making while getting a sweat on during your HIIT circuit, that could be sabotaging your fitness goals.
Luckily, we’re here to help, sharing some of the most common HIIT mistakes and how you can make sure you’re avoiding them.
It’s not intense enough!
The clue is in the name, but high-intensity interval training has to be intense! If you find yourself doing burpees for a minute, taking a 10 second rest and being able to go again, the truth is, you’re probably not working hard enough.
The purpose of HIIT is to push yourself to your maximum potential. That means that when you’re doing an exercise, you should working between 80-90% of your maximum heart rate. If you’re doing HIIT right, that rest period is going to be very much needed and be long enough for you to recover completely before going again. If that means making your ‘time off’ longer and your ‘time on’ shorter, that’s okay!
Better to do it right than waste your time, right?
Skipping weight training in favour of HIIT
Don’t get us wrong, there is a time and a place for HIIT, and if you want to build up your general fitness levels and burn fat, then it makes a great addition to your workout routine.
However, if your primary goal is to build muscle mass then ditching the weights in favour of HIIT is only going to slow down your progress. While HIIT is an effective way to add definition to help you achieve your desired physique, don’t totally neglect weight training.
You’re doing too much of it
You might think that doing a HIIT circuit every time you go to the gym is going to help you reach your goals sooner. However, the truth is it could actually be slowing your progress down. When done properly HIIT training is hard work and really puts your muscles under stress.
If you’re not giving them time to recover, you’re not only increasing your risk of injury, but it’s likely that you will burn yourself out. Make sure you’re giving yourself plenty of rest and recovery time – you deserve it.
Not making time to warm up
Making sure that you’re warming up before starting a HIIT workout is vital. Going straight into a high intensity circuit before increasing your body temperature and getting your blood flowing to the muscles, means you’re a lot more likely to get a muscle or tendon injury.
Getting injured is only going to slow down your progress - ain’t nobody got time for that.
Choosing a workout you don’t enjoy
Everyone might be talking about HIIT, but that doesn’t mean you have to do it. Yes, high-intensity interval training might come with a lot of health benefits, but so do other styles of training. If you find yourself dreading going to the gym or feeling unmotivated at the thought of a HIIT workout, then it might not be for you.
Not to mention, HIIT itself comes in loads of different forms.
Don’t want to be doing burpees every single session? We get you.
Check out some alternative exercises here. You might find that HIIT isn’t the problem, but rather the type of exercises you’re doing just aren’t quite right for you.
You’ll find that when you enjoy your training, you feel a lot more motivated and therefore are much more likely to hit your goals.
