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It stands for high intensity, interval training. To some, it sounds like just another fad, touted on infomercials and on slickly produced web sites, all with the aim to get your money. To others, it is the perfect remedy to a weight loss plateau or to break a slump. And for still others, it can mean the difference between cardiovascular disease and good health. Research has proven it: HIIT training is effective on a number of levels but best of all, because it is so intense, it is a quick workout.
A McMaster University study took two groups of people and then put them through the HIIT training challenge. In the first group were sedentary but healthy people. The second group were all middle aged and older, diagnosed with some form of cardiovascular disease. Both groups were made of both men and women. To start, researchers had each perform tests to check for their maximum heart rate as well as peak power output. After getting those numbers, both groups were directed to exercise using only HIIT training which consisted of one minute of the high intensity training, aiming for 90% of the maximum heart rate and then a one minute recovery period. That is repeated in cycles for twenty minutes.
Maureen MacDonald, an associate professor of kinesiology at the university said that despite concerns of pushing the unwell group that hard, there were no heart related problems during the course of the study. In addition, that group said that they actually liked working that hard. Those people, all previously diagnosed with various heart conditions showed a "significant" improvement in the health of their blood vessels as well as increased functioning of their heart in general. For the sedentary but healthy group, the benefits of HIIT training included better insulin sensitive which improves the way that the body deals with food. Better sugar regulation means that there is likely to be less weight gain as well.
In addition to the McMaster study, a number of other research studies have looked at the benefit of this type of training as well. The College of New Jersey conducted a study which showed that people who maxed out their efforts in the first half of their workout tended to lose more weight, on average, up to 23% more than those who worked at the same pace for the entire workout. Another study, this one from Laval University in Quebec showed that HIIT training could burn as much as three times as much fat as traditional workouts.
