What are the benefits of HIIT? One of the benefits is being able to burn a lot of calories in a small amount of time. HIIT stands for high intensity interval training. The main advantage of doing a HIIT workout is the efficiency of it being able to cut your workout time in half.

What are the benefits of HIIT? iStock-photo credit: Arsenii Palivoda
A HIIT workout consists of short bursts of intense exercise. It is a 30 minute or less workout. Some good examples of a HIIT workout are sprinting, jump roping, cycling, swimming, weightlifting, etc. These types of workouts will raise your heart rate while burning a high number of calories within a short amount of time. HIIT workouts are considered much shorter than traditional exercise programs.
Another big advantage of HIIT exercises is its incredible ability to help you burn calories after the workout. This is called EPOC, which is exercise post oxygen consumption, and this can help elevate your metabolism for hours after you exercise.
Numerous studies have shown that HIIT can help you lose body fat even during that brief period of 30 minutes or less. There are studies that have shown that people gained lean muscle mass with HIIT workouts.
Oxygen Consumption
It can also improve your oxygen consumption. In fact, there was a study where a group did 4 days a week of HIIT workouts for 5 weeks which improved their oxygen consumption by 9%. Studies have shown that HIIT workouts can reduce blood pressure and heart rate levels in obese and overweight individuals that have high blood pressure levels.
A study was done on people that did HIIT workouts for 12 weeks or less and it showed that their blood sugar levels dropped.
Some exercise examples of what a HIIT workout looks like:
• Sprint 100 meters and then walk back to the starting line and then sprint 100 meters again.
• Get on a stationary bike and cycle for 30 seconds at a high intensity rate. And then do a slow cycle for about 2 minutes.
• Jump on top of a small box for 30 seconds at a high intensity level. And then stand or walk for about 60 seconds to recover.
The Bottom Line is the benefit of a HIIT workout is being able to burn a high amount of calories within a short amount of time. The metabolism boost you obtain after the HIIT workout, helps to burn a high number of calories after the workout. Another benefit is its ability to decrease your heart rate and blood pressure levels in overweight and obese people.
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