Can HIIT help you hit your goals?

Posted on 12 August 2014

We spoke to Herman Kotzé, a doctor of sports medicine at Mediclinic Stellenbosch and the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport, about the benefits of high-intensity interval training (or HIIT).

I’ve heard a lot about HIIT. What is it exactly?
Those letters stand for High-Intensity Interval Training. It’s a form of exercise that involves short bursts of very high intensity activity. It’s proven to be more a more beneficial form of exercise than a long jog or a long, slow type of cardio training.

I’ve heard about something like being used in Tabata and CrossFit. What does it actually look like?
I’ll give you an example of what I personally do. At the gym I’ll get onto a rowing machine, then row at 90 to 95% of my maximum exertion for 30 to 40 seconds. Then I’ll rest for a minute. Then I’ll repeat that whole sequence again for five or six of those intervals. Depending on how much time I have, I’ll do two or three sets of that.

What does that do?
HIIT does two things: firstly, it gets your heart rate up; and secondly, it boosts your metabolism into the Red Zone, where it’s working at its peak.

So instead of grinding away on an exercise bike for hours, you’re talking about short bursts instead… right?
Right. Exercising like this increases your metabolism to a very high rate, and that helps your body to continue to burn fat after you’ve stopped exercising. If you go for a jog at 60%, your heart rate will only reach about 60% of its maximum, and your metabolism won’t go into the Red Zone. But that’s what you want: you want it to go into that Red Zone so that your body burns the fat.

How can I work HIIT into my exercise routine?
I’ll give you an easy way of doing it, where you don’t even have to go to the gym. It’s very practical, and you can do it virtually anywhere. Find a road near your home where there’s a slight incline. Sprint from one lamppost to the next one, and then you walk back to the first lamppost again. Then just repeat that. Here you’re getting short bursts of 20 to 30 metres of high intensity, then you’re resting for about a minute, and then it’s 20 to 30 metres of high intensity again. The reason I’m making you go from lamppost to lamppost is that they’re usually about 30 metres apart. The slight incline in the road adds to the workload, which also impacts the intensity of your training.

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The information provided in this article was correct at the time of publishing. At Mediclinic we endeavour to provide our patients and readers with accurate and reliable information, which is why we continually review and update our content. However, due to the dynamic nature of clinical information and medicine, some information may from time to time become outdated prior to revision.