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High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

HIIT is a demanding form of exercise that will increase your heart and lung capacity. Your heart is a muscle, and its capacity is increased by short bursts of high intensity exertion. The beauty of HIIT is that it is performed quickly, and then you are done. It does not waste time like long-distance jogging. It does not damage joints through needless repetitive use injuries. And unlike endless running, it does not cause muscle catabolism. Instead, the short intense bursts tell your body to store more fast energy in your muscles and less slow energy in your fat cells.

Strength training also enhances heart capacity. HIIT, however, is more effective at developing the type of energy bursts needed for many types of sports, as well as sprinting and fighting. The proper goal is to become fit and functional in many different ways. That is why the LiftforHealth program offers diverse forms of exercise from slow strength training, to steady muscular endurance, to fast HIIT and explosive training.

The key principle of the LiftforHealth program is that weightlifting is king of exercise. So use weights when performing HIIT. Create a series of exercises, and treat each exercise as one station on a circuit. I do each exercise for anywhere from 20 seconds to two minutes. (20 seconds is like a long wind sprint, while two minutes is comparable to a period in a high school wrestling match.) You can vary the routine. Use either lighter weight dumbbells at times to emphasize endurance and cardio, while using heavier weights at other times to develop strength along with endurance.

Presented below are three routines - 1) Medium weight dumbbells with rhythmatic motion, 2) Heavy dumbbells with steady movement, and 3) Heavy bar that is slower and painful

Medium Dumbbell HIIT Workout (Routine 1 - emphasizes speed and exposiveness):

1 - Marching Dumbbell Presses: Hold a dumbbell in each hand. Begin marching with your knees coming almost waist high in a rhythmic movement. Raise your left knee and press the dumbbells overhead in an explosive manner. In sort of a skipping motion, bring your left knee down and raise your right knee as you press the weights overhead a second time. Continue to alternate between raising your left knee and your right knee as you press the dumbbells. If you are using heavy enough dumbbells, after about 20 to 30 seconds, you'll be exhausted. (Or you could lower the weight enough to go for a full two minutes.) Either way, you will feel the stress.

2 - Jumping Dumbbell Armpit Rows: Take a rest. Now this time, repeatedly raise both dumbbells toward your armpits. With each repetition, do a slight jump (without actually leaving the ground since you want to protect your knees). Again, go anywhere from 20 seconds to two minutes.

3 - Springing Dumbbell Squats: On the third set, do fairly fast dumbbell squats. While holding the dumbbells at your sides, go down as far to the ground as you can, and then spring up until your legs are extended, and you are on the tips of your toes. (As before, don't leave the ground for the sake of your knees.)

4 - Swinging Dumbbell Squats: For the fourth set, do more squats. However, as you squat down, swing the dumbbells in a forward lateral motion until your outstretched hands reach shoulder height. Do this only if you have good control of the weights. The last thing you want to do is slam a dumbbell into your knee. I also find that I can lean farther back in the squat position than if I weren't holding the dumbbells in front of me. Think of yourself as a teeter totter. Your hips are the fulcrum. Your back and shoulders are balanced on one end and the dumbbells are balanced on the other end.

5 - Springing Dumbbell Calf Raises: With the fifth set, hold the dumbbells down by your sides as you do springing calf raises. Basically, you lift your heals, roll towards the balls of your feet and your toes, and then spring upward by shoving off of your toes.

6 - Dumbbell Shoves: Stand comfortably and hold the dumbbells in front of you close to your chest. The dumbbells are going to be straight up and down. Shove the dumbbells forward as you bounce up and down.

Heavy Dumbbell HIIT Workout (Routine 2 - emphasizes endurance against heavy resistance):

This is more of a lower body routine, but it will work the upper body because you are holding heavy dumbbells throughout. This second routine doesn't involve the bouncing and rhythmic movements of the first routine. Rather, it consists of steady movement against strong opposition. Although the movement is not as fast, it will push you hard and leave you winded.

Since you need strong opposition, don't use little sissy weight dumbbells. The little baby weights that you might use while reading a magazine or watching TV would totally defeat the purpose of this routine. Make these dumbbells heavy, heavy enough to put strain on your entire body. Mind you, not so heavy that you can barely lift the weights, this is still an HIIT routine, not pure strength training. You should be able to perform the movements 20 to 40 times, but the weight should be heavy enough to leave you exhausted. Heavy enough that you feel like dropping to the floor in a heap.

1 - Dumbbell Squats: Hold two heavy dumbbells in each hand at your sides. Now, do full squats all the way down and up. These are not springing squats as in the first routine. Just straight up and down without jumping or bouncing. If you do these until your thighs burn, you will definitely be winded.

When using heavy dumbbells, watch your form to avoid straining your lower back. Keep your back straight with a slight arch. Never round your back. It will also help your form to pull your shoulders back as you hold the dumbbells.

2 - Dumbbell Calf Raises: This is not a HIIT exercise in that it will not leave you winded. However, if you are going to work your quads, you also need to work your calves. Hold two heavy dumbbells in each hand at your sides and do calf raises. I've been using Hampton dumbbells, which have curved handles. The curved handles increase the tension on my forearms, which causes my forearms to feel the burn. This is great because I'm getting a good forearm workout in the process.

3 - Dumbbell Swings: Stand with your legs far apart and hold one dumbbell between your legs. You can hold the dumbbell with both hands or one hand. Swing the dumbbell up towards the sky and then swing it down between your legs. This is similar to a kettlebell swing, but done with a dumbbell. It will work your whole body. You will notice in particular that it works your glutes and hamstrings. If you want to emphasize the glutes and hamstrings, bend your knees slightly as you go down. Also, during the downward swing, go down far enough to try to look through your legs at the wall behind you.

Now repeat all four sets.

EZ Curl Bar Hack Squats (Routine 3 - combines moderate strength training with the ability to gut it out):

1 - EZ Curl Bar Hack Squats: I like using an EZ Curl bar for this exercise. The four foot bar takes up less space than an Olympic size bar, but I can still load enough 45-pound plates to make it reasonably heavy. While the bar is sitting on the ground, stand with your back to the bar. Squat down and grab hold of the bar, which is behind you and underneath your thighs. Stand up with the pressure of the lift on your quadriceps. Keep your back straight and don't lift by bending your arms. Squat back down until the weight plates on the bar touch the floor. If you have trouble holding the bar because of sweaty hands, try wrapping latex dish washing gloves around the bar to improve your grip.

2 to ? - Repeat EZ Curl Bar Hack Squats:

Lower body exercises such as the Hack Squat are extremely demanding because not only are you working your legs, you are working your upper body by holding the heavy weight. Several pushups, for instance, will work your arms and shoulders, but not leave you winded. Ten heavy Hack Squats, however, will leave you breathing heavily. So choose a weight that you can lift approximately ten to fifteen times, and do several sets. Since you are lifting heavy, be aware of your limits. Too many sets will leave your lower back feeling sore or even injured.

Whether you have done the first, second, or third routine, you are now done. Good job. If you have to do just one more thing, do a few squat thrusts (aka burpees).

In just a few minutes time, you have put yourself through the wringer, felt the burn, built up your heart and lung capacity, and even developed some explosive strength and muscular endurance.