There has been a lot written recently about high-intensity impact training (HIIT) and the possible benefits that it can bring to health and fitness.
However, there is a great deal of misinformation about the approach as well – any claims that it is a ‘miracle’ way to approach exercise, or that it represents a shortcut to the body of your dreams – should be treated with caution. Just remember the adage about things that appear too good to be true…
A recent article in the Daily Express suggested that two minutes’ training per week would be enough to help people get fitter. It was a badly-worded article, but the basis of the research in the report is very sound.
We would absolutely stress that this is not to be taken lightly – the two minutes they refer to is likely to be spread across a longer session, for example up to 10 sprints, with one minute rest between them. It is certainly no short cut as that 12 minutes’ worth of exercise will be much harder than the 30 minutes previously recommended.
We absolutely advocate HIIT training, along with an active lifestyle, and we use this form of training all of the time on camp, altered only by the rest periods determined by how fit the participants are.
What is crucial to stress is that it must be done as part of an active lifestyle and that additional forms of exercise are also crucial, but by adding two HIIT sessions into a weekly exercise schedule, we believe people would see benefits.
The high-profile example of BBC TV presenter Andrew Marr, who suffered a stroke while taking part in a HIIT session, was a case in point and shows that HIIT should only be attempted by people who know what they’re doing.
However, this is absolutely not meant to scare anybody off – and we really believe that, for many people, and in the hands of experts, HIIT can be an incredibly effective way of achieving your fitness goals.
For more information about HIIT and the way we use it at Northern Bootcamp, please feel free to get in contact with us.
