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Why You Should Add High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) To Your Workout paleo fitness exercise crossfit primal diet-min

Why You Should Add High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) To Your Workout

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What exactly is high intensity interval training?

High intensity interval training (HIIT) has become a bit of a buzz word in the Paleo community, but what is it? HIIT is a series of short high intensity workout intervals combined with short “recovery” intervals.

Instead of spending hours on the treadmill, a HIIT is far shorter, consisting of short bursts of very strenuous workout, broken up with recovery intervals. You might sprint for a minute as fast as possible, then recover for two minutes several times.

Why You Should Add High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) To Your Workout paleo fitness exercise crossfit primal diet-min

What are the benefits of HIIT?

1. You can burn far more fat in HIIT. After you complete a high intensity workout, your body burns more fat than if you were to run for 30 minutes at a steady pace.

2.  You push your heart and make it stronger because you are making it go to a limit that it won’t go to if you remain doing low intensity workouts.

3.  You will lose fat, not muscle.

4.  You can do it anywhere.  You don’t need a gym with lots of equipment.  You can just go outside and run.

5.  It’s challenging.  This is something you need to set aside time to do.  You cannot relax and watch a movie or read a book while you try to do a few sit-ups.  This requires your focus and commitment which will result you feeling better and help you to obtain good results.

Of course, it is important to not over do it.  When you engage in high intensity interval training it may be tempting to keep pushing yourself until you are working out for an hour or more and doing more intensity intervals than recovery intervals.

The conventional wisdom workouts, where people spend hours on a treadmill or cross trainer are “chronic cardio”, which is not the key to fitness that it might seem. Chronic cardio can result in muscular fatigue, oxidative stress and a stress generally on the body.

Crossfit incorporates HIIT in it’s WOD’s (workout of the day), this makes up just a small part of a class – and the actual activities making up the HIIT element are always varied.

Do you do HIIT? I’d love to hear how you workout, add your comment, below!

The Unexpected Way I’ve Improved my Training Performance paleo primal crossfit mindset gym fitness mental attitude-min

The Unexpected Way I’ve Improved my Training Performance

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Since I started considering the mental aspect to Training, I've found I can achieve more reps, better reps, faster reps and lift heavier weights.  It still amazes me how much of the hard work is down to my mind and not my body.

I thought I was doing everything well in my Training Sessions; I had the right mental attitude, the right pre and post workout Paleo nutrition and was focusing on good form in everything I did.  Well, almost everything…

I've been talking about the mental aspects of training at great length with a friend, who recently came along to an interval training session with me.  After the session he commented that he'd noticed in the rest between activities, my posture completely changed.  I would put my hands on my knees and look towards the ground.  I hadn't realised I adopted this position until it was pointed out, but after noticed that it was my default rest position after a high intensity set.  I also noticed when forced to pause a run by traffic lights, I’d also drop my shoulders and look to the ground.

I've been noticing a lot of other people in the gym adopt their own version of negative posture during their sessions too – sometimes even sitting down or lying in a heap on the floor!  It seems I wasn't alone.

The Unexpected Way I’ve Improved my Training Performance paleo primal crossfit mindset gym fitness mental attitude-min

“Slumped” positions like this enable the muscles to relax, which feels like a good idea, especially during a hard tabata session.  However, it’s logical that putting the body in this position signals that you are tired and resting.  When the rest ends a few seconds later, this is not an easy position to come back strong from.  In this position, lung capacity is significantly smaller, making it harder to intake as much oxygen as the body requires – making the rest period even less effective – and the following activities that much harder.

Since this revelation, it has been so easy to change my posture in the rest between high intensity activities.  As soon as I have finished my reps I stand up straight and tall looking straight ahead, never down.  I've found this posture makes me feels strong, focused and ready to get onto the next exercise.  It’s actually hard to think negative thoughts about being worn out and not able to lift any more when I adopt this posture.

How is your posture between sets?  Have you found changing how you stand – or think – has improved your performance?