What Are The Risks Of Doing HIIT?

By Russ Hollywood


While many exercise lovers adopt HIIT into their workout plans, very few take the time to prepare for their sessions accordingly. There are a couple of risks involved in using this popular technique.

Many gym users are simply too impatient to take the time to learn the potential risks before they try anything new. This is why there are so many people using supplements such as creatine who have no idea what it actually does, they're simply taking it because everybody else does.

Like all forms of training, interval training comes with a certain element of risk and it should be assessed before you attempt it. []

It would be silly to setup an interval program without first looking at the potential pitfalls. So here are the two biggest mistakes made with regards to this style of exercise:

1) What is the recommended frequency for interval training?

2) How can you avoid unnecessary injuries?

Following the old trend of thinking you need to hit the gym every single day is the number one reason for failure with this particular exercise style. This is all about the fact that you can get better results in half the time or less, so doing it every single day would defeat the whole object.

You may have heard that the top fat loss benefit of interval training is EPOC, also known as the afterburn. This is the process by which your body will continue to burn off more calories after your leave the gym. It lasts for up to fourteen hours in total, meaning you should allow adequate rest between each workout if you want to get the most from this desirable phase. Because of this recovery period it is recommended that you perform no more than three hit workouts in any given week.

Injuries are part and parcel of training but those performing high intensity interval training are a little more at risk than mos. This is of course down to the very intense nature of each workout and it usually comes to to people simply skipping their warm-up exercises in a bid to save a little time. If you went straight into sprints without warming up your muscles, you can say goodbye to your hamstrings!

To truly get the most out of the hiit method you must be prepared to look at the potential risks and not be blinded by the fat loss benefits. If you neglect your warm-up it's much the same as taking a whey protein or creatine product without taking the time to learn how to get the most from them. Simply put, you'd be asking for trouble.




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