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Enlightenment

Quick & Dirty: High Intensity Interval Training

4/5/2021

10 Comments

 
“I don’t have time.” That’s the truth many of us choose to hold on to when it comes to going to the gym, attending spin or aerobics classes and playing madalas soccer. While others will start dishing out life philosophies🗣️ of how you make time for the things you want, I on the other hand understand that jumping up and down won’t recharge your ZESCO meter when it starts beeping. I get it. Exercise shouldn’t take up a significant portion of your day unless of course that's how you make your coins💰. For those that don’t have the time I want to share a few quick ways to improve physical conditioning and general health through high intensity interval training (HIIT).

HIIT - What is it?
High intensity interval training is exactly as the name suggests; it involves alternating between intense activity (maximum effort) and resting periods for a set period of time or until exhaustion.

How can you implement it?
Select any activity of your choice and perform a 1:2 ratio of activity to rest for at least 10 minutes total and at most 20 minutes total. For example, exercise intensely for 20 seconds and rest for 40 seconds. Repeat 10 times for a total of 10 minutes. Chapwa.

Recommended HIIT exercises:
Jump rope
Quick and easy to do with minimal equipment. Jump rope hard for anywhere from 20 seconds to 1 minute and rest for double the amount of skipping time. Repeat for as long as you can tolerate for a period not exceeding 20 minutes.
     
Boxing 😤 🥊
Chanel your inner savage and remove your chifukushi on a punching bag for anywhere from 20 seconds to 1 minute and rest for double the activity time. So, 20 seconds Mike Tyson, 40 seconds umuntu ku tusha. Repeat 10 times and you're done!

Explosive body weight exercises (star jumps, high knees, jump squats, burpees, push-ups)
Select individual exercises or mix it up in a circuit - whatever you feel like doing. You just have to do something for anywhere from 20 seconds to 1 minute and rest for double the activity time. So, get busy for 20 seconds, rest for 40 seconds. Repeat 10 times. No equipment is required and you can do these from virtually anywhere.

Road Cycling/Stationary Cycling 🚴🏾‍♂️🚴🏾‍♀️ 
If you own a stationary bicycle or a road bike get on it and ride hard for anywhere from 20 seconds to 1 minute and rest for double the amount of time. Repeat for as long as you can tolerate for a period not exceeding 20 minutes.

Road Running/Treadmill Running/Sprints 🏃🏿‍♂️🏃🏾‍♀️
Run hard for 20-60 seconds and rest for 40-120 seconds. Repeat for as long as you can tolerate for a period not exceeding 20 minutes.

Seven (7)
Download the 7 App and follow the instructions. It’s free and effective. 7 minutes of guided interval training and you’re done. Stick to a maximum of 3 circuits.

Core principle: Stick to a minimum of 10 minutes and a maximum of 20 minutes. Go hard for 20 seconds to 1 minute and rest for double number of active time. Fitter individuals can opt to match the activity to rest periods in a 1:1 ratio for a more challenging HIIT session. Remember to warm up for at least 5 minutes prior to engaging in HIIT training to prime your body for the intense workout and help avoid injury.

Tip: Download the Seconds Interval Timer HIIT app from the App Store. It’s free and will help you keep track of the active and non active phases of your interval sessions.

The benefits of interval training are vast and the suffering you’ll have to endure will be short lived. Give it a shot if you don’t have more time to commit to exercise but wish to maintain some level of physical conditioning. Doing something no matter how small is always better than doing nothing.

Push yourself —> Rest —> Repeat
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10 Comments
Maluba Mwila
4/5/2021 08:21:51 am

Thank you for this post Mr Majula. I especially like the ending where you state that 'doing something small, is better than doing nothing at all'.
What exercises would you recommend for the 5 min warm up, before the HIIT workout?

Reply
Roadrunner Zambia
4/5/2021 09:42:18 am

You’re welcome my brother! Always happy to see on here!

Doing something, anything, no matter how small is worth a whole lot more than doing nothing. Common fitness advice is 30 minutes this, 30 minutes that and that can make people feel like if they don’t reach the prescribed time then it’s all for nothing. That’s just not true.


For a warm up I always encourage doing the same movements at a lower intensity that you will later perform at a high intensity. For example, if you’re tackling the jump rope HIIT session then your warmup would be easy jump rope for 5 minutes. That way you’ll be warming up the exact muscles that you’ll be looking to punish shortly after the warmup. A warmup should always be something that gets you ready for action so try to initiate similar movement patterns.

Reply
Given Majula
4/5/2021 08:43:13 am

You had me at rest for 40 seconds 👀☺️

Reply
Roadrunner Zambia
4/5/2021 09:46:29 am

😂 then this blog post is just right for you! The busy people among us and mildly interested in working out crowd 👉🏾 the ‘double-up’ rest time should keep you motivated!

Reply
Mwaka Mtonga
4/5/2021 12:43:07 pm

Insightful! I have been doing HIITs in 30 second intervals and 10 seconds rest time. I do it for 25 minutes in total 15% of it is warm up and another 15% for cool down stretches. Is this variation in timing detrimental at all?

Reply
Roadrunner Zambia
4/6/2021 04:53:24 am

Good to know:)

Nope, not at all. You're fitter than most and what you're doing now is simply operating at the level you're supposed to be operating at. Impressive stuff! The workout and rest time ratios outlined above are 'general' guidelines and in your specific case I'd only really be interested in whether you can sustain the intensity during all the working out phases of your HITT with the current lower resting times. Always make quality a priority in your workouts by maintaining the intensity throughout.

Reply
Chileshe
4/7/2021 06:31:01 am

So is the intensity of the intervals more important than the actual number of pushups or skips? All along my targets have been 100 pushups for instance

Reply
Roadrunner Zambia
4/7/2021 07:12:38 am

Yes, exactly! Prioritize intensity over fixed repetition goals. Motivation for fixed targets such as 100 push ups tends to fade with the passing of time and you'll often find that if you don't feel like doing the WHOLE set of 100 then you won't even bother to start! And with that your whole exercise program collapses.

With interval training you don't have a set target except for time spent exercising plus intensity is self-regulated so go as hard as you can manage. You just need to move your body for 10-20 mins. That's it. Just do a little more than nothing.

Reply
Chileshe
4/7/2021 08:35:05 am

Much appreciated Nick! This is very helpful

Christine Mwambazi
4/12/2021 01:23:42 am

jumping up and down won’t recharge your ZESCO meter when it starts beeping. Loving how humorous your posts are! favorite part was doing something is better than doing nothing and that is definitely what I needed to hear to silence the excuses!

Reply



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