Friday, September 25, 2009

HIIT

Today I had a much-needed day off, so Olivia and I picked up where we left off and headed to the mall for some good ol' mall-walkin'. Unfortunately, Rebekah and Avery couldn't make it because of illness (get better soon, Rebekah!!) but we had a good time. We did a wonderful 3.1 miles. Usually when we walk solo, we tend to walk a tad slower and far less than when Rebekah and I can chat away. In order to combat this, I did something called HIIT (high intensity interval training). It's super easy to do and is a wonderful way to pump up any workout. Essentially, you specifiy interval lengths pre-workout (time-based OR distance-based) and spend the longer interval really pushing yourself to exercise harder (think, totally out of breath and/or unable to maintain a conversation). Then, take a shorter interval and go at or below your normal pace; this gives your body a chance to recover before the next burst. Today, I chose to speed walk for .5 miles, maintaining a speed of 3.7 - 4.0. Then, for .3 miles (the jogging stroller pedometer only goes to the tenth spot), I would walk at a speed of no more than 3.5. What's wonderful about this is that by focusing on the intervals and not the whole, the workout tends to go by much faster (mentally and actually), so we did the 3.1 miles in about 45 - 50 minutes.

There's a science behind why HIIT works, but I couldn't begin to explain it. If you would like to know more, go to the following articles from Runner's World. Enjoy and good luck!

Lactic Lift-Off

Beyond the Burn

The Science of Speed

Mix Up Your Routine with New Types of Workouts

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