Time to HIIT it!

Time, is it the most valuable commodity?

Maybe, but let’s face it if we could bottle time we would never need to worry about not having enough time ever again. We seem to have less time than ever to do things despite having so many time saving gadgets and gizmos at our disposal.

Work, family, hobbies and various other commitments all eat into our time and something generally has to give. Most of the time it’s something that we know we need to do but don’t necessarily want to do (as it involves time, sweat and maybe a little discomfort).

Most of us as parents also find that we neglect ourselves in looking after our children, other halves and even our parents. But we forget that in order to do our best for those that are most important to us we must be fit, well and able. We must make time to look after ourselves a little, not feel guilty at being a little selfish.

If time is the limiting factor then it is essential that you make the most of the time you create for yourself, and I say create because that’s what you have to do. That your training needs are carefully prioritised and that a plan is put in place to ensure you cover all of your health and fitness needs. This may mean that you will need to workout in such a way that you combine several training goals and fitness components into short, distinct programmes.

HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and circuit type workouts like Crossfit and Metafit work well in this scenario. Strength gains, a metabolic boost, calorie afterburn, increased cardiovascular fitness as well as various health benefits are all achievable through HIIT. These are all possible from just a 20 to 30 minute workout.

A weekly plan should not be all HIIT though, some steady paced conditioning work and some strength training based around the compound lifts should also be included in your programme.

There are lots of free programmes and plans available on the internet. However, these will be either generic or copied straight from a high level athletes training blog post which would be unsuitable for most of us. For a time efficient programme to be effective it must be designed specifically for the individual, for you.

The HIIT Works by Get Coached is a closed Facebook group that provides generic workouts and challenges but can also provide bespoke programmes, coaching and lifestyle advice. To find out more you can visit my Facebook page Get Coached where you will find some example workouts as well as the links to set you up and register your request to join The HIIT Works by Get Coached.

If you have any questions or just want to find out more before you commit ten please feel free to message me via my Facebook page or email tsilvester@getcoached.net

Us Ageing Athletes

I have written several short articles as well as shared some good posts on training as we age. It is an important topic as we are living longer and learning more about how much we can still actually do as we age rather than follow old tradition and accept that as we age we become useless and decrepit.

This is quite a mindset change for those already in their later years, it’s not too late for this demographic but it is harder to make the necessary changes to mind and body. If those who are moving through their 40’s and 50’s now are not already active and training then it is time to get moving. It is not too late and changes can be made. Those who are even younger have more to lose and can also make greater gains. Any activity at any age is better than none, but the right activity for your age will be far more productive.

It is during our 40’s and 50’s that our lives tends to be the busiest in terms of work and family. Climbing the career ladder, running around after our children as glorified taxi drivers and supporting them as they move through their teenage years in growing up and studying hard.

Finding time for ourselves can be a challenge, and if we want to continue to be able to support our families and have the energy to progress our careers then we need to keep ourselves fit and healthy.

This can be different from the training we may have done in our 20’s when how we looked or how we performed in our chosen sport was the priority. Now we need to consider what we can still do as well as what our training and lifestyle goals are too. Keeping mobile, fit and healthy must come higher on the priority list than washboard abs and bulging biceps. That said, this is still possible too with the right training programme and determination.

As I’ve said before we lose muscle at an ever increasing rate as we age, our metabolism slows down and we take longer to recover during and from training sessions. With this in mind it is clear that there are certain training goals that should be part of the programme irrespective of the individual’s personal goals or preferences.

• Train to keep and gain muscle mass
• Take appropriate recovery and rest between exercises and training sessions
• Ensure appropriate nutrition for lifestyle goals and training aims
• Employ both steady state and high intensity conditioning training methods
• Listen to your body!

Training to maintain or gain muscle mass can be achieved by progressive overload of those muscles. That overload can be in the form of an increasing resistance or load, an increase in repetitions or a decrease in rest time. For high intensity conditioning Tabata or HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) would be most appropriate. This includes Les Mills Grit, Crossfit and Metafit type training.

Stretching and mobility work is essential as we age to maintain joint range of motion, Yoga and ensuring as full a range of movement as possible when exercising will help in this too.

There are some great Master’s programmes and groups out there, Crossfit does this well as do many bodybuilding and weightlifting clubs and organisations.

However, this may not be for you and you may wish a more flexible or bespoke approach. If you want more specific help and advice on any aspect of your training plan then please do not hesitate to contact me on tsilvester@getcoached.net or via my Facebook page Get Coached.

Why Do HIIT Workouts?

High Intensity Interval Training has become a popular, mainstream training mode that offers many benefits both for fitness and health.

“Why should I do HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)?”

I have written about HIIT workouts before, Olympic Lifts & HIIT and Train Less For More but here I want to go into a little more detail on what it will do for your body's fitness, strength and health.

Let’s start by defining what a HIIT workout is - High Intensity Interval Training involves short periods of hard work with short rest or recovery intervals in between.

HIIT has also been called HIIE (High Intensity Intermittent Exercise) or SIT (Sprint Interval Training) with this latter version associated more often with field sports conditioning or cardiovascular training.

HIIT is very anaerobic in nature and will certainly challenge you but it is a shorter workout in general than most set and rep type sessions.

“Can I build muscle doing HIIT workouts?”

Absolutely! Have you seen some of the Crossfit athletes? These guys are in good shape and the majority of their workouts are HIIT based. As long as your muscle is put under appropriate training stress to overload it with resistance of some kind then it will adapt and grow. HIIT will not elicit maximal hypertrophy, to achieve this you will need to follow a specific training programme with good appropriate nutrition as well.

Progressive Overload is a training principle that has been around and understood for a long time. Milo of Croton, a 6th century Greek wrestler lifted a newborn calf onto his shoulders and repeated this every day as the calf grew until some 4 years later Milo was lifting a bull!

This is a story that is often used as an anecdote to progressive loading and can be applied to traditional strength and hypertrophy training as well as HIIT and Crossfit type workouts.

“Can I get fitter as well as stronger doing HIIT workouts?”

Definitely! HIIT will place a huge demand on your cardiovascular system as well as generate large amounts of lactate. This will increase lactate tolerance and raise your lactate threshold too; both of which are important for improving anaerobic fitness.

Using resistance such as barbells, dumbells as part of your HIIT workout will help increase your strength endurance, boost your metabolism and increase your calorie burn!

"What are the health benefits?"

HIIT workouts have been shown to help reduce the risk of metabolic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular and coronary artery disease as well as atherosclerosis. There is also evidence that HIIT can increase arterial elasticity which decreases with age.

“Should I only do HIIT workouts?”

Not necessarily, you can as there is enough variety in HIIT to ensure you don't get stale, bored or stop adapting to the training.

However, HIIT can also be incorporated into a strength or endurance workout plan as well and in fact will add considerably to both. It is an extremely versatile way to train as the equipment you use varies, there are body weight options if travelling for business or pleasure and you don't need a huge amount of space for most of the workouts!

“How will I stay motivated if they are so tough?”

The great thing about most of the HIIT workouts is that they have some sort of target. This is usually in the form of working out for a set time i.e. 40s work 20s rest for 10 sets so you know of you have to keep moving during the work efforts; another example would be having a set number of reps to complete as quickly as possible for the given exercises i.e. 15, 12, 10, 8, 5 of each exercise.

Seeing your times come down or your reps increase will keep you motivated as it shows you are definitely getting fitter and stronger!

So you can see that there are many options, variations and benefits from HIIT workouts and that you don't have to make many changes to your current workout plan in order to incorporate them.

To find out more about HIIT and how to plan your training Get in touch with me on tsilvester@getcoached.net or to get more HIIT workouts and challenges subscribe to my closed Facebook group The HIIT Works by Get Coached via my Facebook page Get Coached

Olympic Lifts and HIIT Workouts

I’ll start by saying I know that I’m going to upset some purists on both sides of the fence!

Sorry guys but this is already out there in classes and workouts, I am just giving my views and opinions on how the Olympic Lifts can be used within HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) type workouts.

Grit by Les Mills, Crossfit and various other HIIT or circuit class's use variations of the Olympic lifts in their programmes to great effect. Crossfit in particular uses barbell exercises very well and has made the more traditional lifts popular again.

So let's put this in perspective here, for those of you that feel putting these lifts into a class is a disgrace then consider this; the majority of the people that attend these classes are not looking to lift seriously (in terms of loading up the Olympic lifts or competing) and just want a good whole body workout that leaves them feeling challenged and satisfied at the end of the class. Those that are lifting for sporting gains will seek out a qualified Strength & Conditioning coach and those looking to be competitive Olympic lifters will join a weight lifting club to get expert coaching.

So why are these lifts becoming more popular in mainstream health clubs and included in gym workouts and classes more frequently?

Well the various elements of the Olympic lifts and the full lifts themselves are whole body, multi-joint compound movements that engage a lot of fast twitch muscle thus having a high calorific expenditure, a big metabolic boost effect, high EPOC (Excess Post Exercise Oxygen Consumption) as well as various other health & fitness benefits. They are fast, explosive and energy sapping; ideal for a HIIT workout!

• Multi Joint - The movement uses more than one joint in the body i.e. the squat involves the ankle, knee and hip joints
• A Compound exercise is an exercise that elicits multi joint movement such as deadlifts or military press
• Fast twitch muscle fibres are our high energy muscle fibres that enable powerful, fast movement.
• Our metabolism is the rate at which our bodies use energy or calories. Our BMR (Base Metabolic Rate) is the energy we use to live, digestion, breathing, heart beats etc
• Activity increases our metabolic rate as does an increase in muscle mass. Our metabolism can remain elevated for several hours after intense activities
• This is also linked to EPOC where intense activity has increased our metabolic rate and as such the amount of oxygen required by the body post activity
• HIIT can reduce the risk of metabolic disease such as diabetes,  cardiopulmonary and cardiovascular diseases
• HIIT can decrease age related arterial stiffness
• HIIT can increase insulin sensitivity
• Correct technique is still crucial, this will ensure that the exercise is safe and effective. Even with a lighter load there is a risk of injury (as with any exercise) if executed poorly.

The benefits are fantastic though, having coached Grit, delivered S&C to various athletes up to Olympic and Paralympic level and used them in my HIIT Works programmes I can assure you of their effectiveness.

I hope you found this motivational?

There are several options for you to find out more/get more from your HIIT workouts;
You can you our HIIT Works closed Facebook group @TheHIITWorksbyGetCoached or email me at tsilvester@getcoached.net or go to www.getcoached.net/the-hiit-works
Well there you have it, enjoy and unleash your inner athlete!