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

How Strong is Strong Enough?

How strong is strong enough? 

It's a question that is often asked by athletes, coaches and recreational gym users since we started lifting to get stronger. My answer to this is a simple question back to you, what do you need to be strong for? 

If you are a Strong Man/Women or a Powerlifter then you need to be as strong as you possibly can. A lot sports require a near maximal level of strength but not an absolute maximum as other factors such as endurance, skill and weight categories come into play that will impact the need or ability to achieve maximal strength. 

That being said, being strong definitely has it's benefits in everyday life as well as in a sporting context. Simple things such as carrying shopping or opening a jar of jam are easier, DIY tasks and general labouring are less of a chore! There are also many health benefits from being stronger too;

• A more robust immune system
• Greater bone density to off set osteoporosis
• Greater muscle mass for a higher metabolic rate
• Less risk for falling and injury
• Easier to get up after a fall (for the older individual)

There are some general guides that coaches use in order to get their athletes lifting to a level that will enhance their sporting performance and power output; I have listed these below (please note that this is just one of many variations to these guidelines and that these are minimum standards and are for your general information).

Back Squat:   Men 2 x BW       Women 1.5 x BW
Power Clean  Men 1.5 x BW    Women 1.2 x BW
Deadlift          Men 2.5 x BW    Women 1.8 x BW
Bench Press  Men 1.5 x BW    Women 1 x BW
Pull Up           Men + 0.5 x BW Women + 0.3 x BW

So, back to our original question and we must also consider what the goals of most recreational athletes and gym users are too? For most of us, being able to shift our own body weight i.e. chins and dips or lift our body weight on a barbell i.e. squats, deadlifts or bench press would be considered an achievement. 

CrossFit/HIIT/Grit type workouts and WOD's have certainly got Olympic type lifts and their variations into mainstream gym culture. More people are using free weights, especially barbells and this is a good thing. 

There is a downside to this set up though in my opinion, and that is that these workouts are mainly delivered in a class format that is quite set in it's delivery. This in itself is no issue for most people, in fact to large extent this is a key factor in their success. However, being able to set your own timetable and choose the workouts that suit your schedule is important for some, me included. 


With this in mind I have set up a Facebook Group that provides workouts, challenges and training plans along with some general lifestyle advice. This Group also allows for the sharing of knowledge, training experiences and workouts too. 

To find out more you can email me at tsilvester@getcoached.net or visit my Facebook Page Get Coached which has links to set up your membership to the Closed Group "The HIIT Works by 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