HIIT and Strength Workout Video (you can do at home)
40 seconds on, 20 seconds of rest
Benefits of High Intensity Interval training:
HIIT is one of my favorite favorite exercise strategies. It consists of periods of hard work followed by rest. They’re short periods of work and rest. You can do these workout at home or at the gym. The workouts can be weighted or bodyweight exercises only. You can also do HIIT on a stationary bike to minimize impact.
There are TONS of benefits of HIIT (check out this podcast episode with the master) but some include:
– Increased size and density of mitochondria. These are the fat burning firehouses in our cells that promote a healthy metabolism.
– Increased speed, strength, power, and performance gains. HIIT is an excellent way to train your body to be more powerful for explosive movements, faster for running and sprinting, and stronger for heavier strength training work.
– Cardio health! HIIT trains our heart to work more effectively and can increase aerobic capacity. It can possibly help with blood sugar levels, blood pressure, and cholesterol.
– The workouts are SHORT and sweaty, and you’ll likely burn a lot of calories compared to steady-state cardio in less time. I would warm up and do HIIT for 15-25 minutes max. If you’re working hard, you won’t want to do longer than that. The fact that these workouts are super short makes it more realistic to catch a quick workout when you’re crunched for time.
Can you do HIIT while pregnant?
I would definitely check with your doctor before making any fitness changes, especially if you’re currently expecting. In general, if you’ve been doing high intensity intervals leading up to pregnancy, I would say that interval-style workouts are still ok but here’s the kicker: the goal is completely different.
Instead of trying to get to that “breathless, working your booty off, aiming for max heart rate” point, you’ll want to just do gentle intensity increases while minimizing the impact. (For all of the exercises above, I include low-impact modifications in the video!) During pregnancy, I don’t recommend using heart rate as an indicator of exertion, but instead go by perceived exertion (how hard do you feel like you’re working?? Don’t push it!) and the talk test. You should be able to say your entire address while you’re working out.
All in all, I think that pregnancy is the perfect time to focus on maintaining your activity level instead of adding time or intensity to your routine.
