The Evolution of HIIT Workouts

I love being wrong, no seriously!!! Now Jessica may tell you otherwise when it comes to our home life, but when it comes to the gym I do. Why? Why would anyone like to be wrong? Really it comes down to the fact that being wrong actually to me means that I am growing. I don’t even consider it being wrong as much as I do think about it relating to me growing as a professional and lifter. If there was anything I could point to in my career being more wrong about it would be how I used high intensity interval training (HIIT). I’ve long told the story that I was kinda a “problem student” because even when I was going for my degree in Exercise Science, the idea of fat burning zones, and the value of aerobic exercise was much higher. Even though I presented my professor with all the research, changing how people do things can be tough. However, with the influence of the internet, HIIT is all the rage. Yet, I was like most people, I thought harder was going longer, resting shorter, etc. After all, if 30 seconds of hard work is good, wouldn’t 40 be better, and 50 even more so?! These types of HIIT Workouts might be tough, but are they productive? Once you learn real HIIT you will know the answer.  That is where I am lucky to have great mentors and friends like renowned strength coach, Robert Dos Remedios (Coach Dos). Yea, you have heard that name a lot here because he has had a big influence on how we make DVRT better and how I now look at HIIT workouts. What Coach Dos told me about real HIIT workouts made me go back and look at the research and honestly, some common sense. HIIT workouts aren’t just for getting a good sweat or burning calories. This type of training can be ultra powerful for building strength, power-endurance, and other fitness qualities we don’t typically think of when we discuss HIIT workouts. Three big take aways from Coach Dos’ work have not only changed how I perform HIIT workouts, but dramatically improved the results I get from them.

1. It is called HIGH intensity for a reason. To get the amazing results in fat loss, VO2Max gains, and strength, you gotta use high intensity, not kinda hard intensity. The problem with going above 30 seconds for an interval is that your intensity drops. Sure, it is fatiguing and you breathe hard, but think of this….

When you have a 30 second interval, how fast you move, how much you can lift is dramatically different than let’s say 15 seconds. If I gave you just 15 seconds to go as hard as you could, the speed and load would both go up big time right?! So in fact, we should be looking to reduce our work times to progress people because that equates to higher, more intense efforts. Now, you are probably thinking that isn’t enough time to do the work and way too long to rest right? I’ll tell you, having done this for over a year now that is anything but the case. You don’t go kinda hard for 15 or 20 seconds, you go ALL out!!! When you do that 40 or 45 seconds seems to fly by! 2. HIIT workouts are just about using light weight or jumping around aimlessly. You can build some pretty impressive strength if you use HIIT workouts right! In fact, it was Coach Dos that brought to my attention the importance of power-endurance. Sure, everyone talks about how much they can lift once, but real world strength is about repeating high level efforts over and over again. It is THIS quality that lends people to being successful in sport and real world activities. Most people turn HIIT workouts into aimless “cardio”, but it shouldn’t be. According to Coach Dos you want to use a load that you can hit between 6-8 reps in for that 15 seconds or 8-10 in 20 seconds. That means you have to move, you have to be proficient, you have to be strong! 3. The good stuff happens during rest. We have a saying in fitness that you make progress out of the gym, not in it. Why? That is when recovery occurs and it is how well you recover from a workout that determines the results you get. The better your recovery, the better the result. So, doing 40 seconds of work and 20 seconds of rest or 50 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest causes such incomplete rest that not only does the intensity drop too much, but you don’t get the benefits of recovery. Why is recovery so important? Research shows with HIIT workouts that both for hormonal reasons and exercise post-oxygen consumption (EPOC) you actually make the most progress during the rest interval. That is why so many HIIT workouts are really unproductive fatigue sessions. They don’t understand the science and how to create more effective workouts via HIIT. This is why I was SO excited when Coach Dos was willing to put together a comprehensive program combining his metabolic resistance training (MRT) with our DVRT system. We wanted to deliver the best way to implement and benefit from HIIT workouts. Today is the day, not only the first of 2018, but the first of getting real results from your hard work. I am proud to announce 80 workouts, a year’s worth of training, and the most effective way to train that will be the future of functional training. Our brand new DVRT MRT program. For a limited time you can save 30% on this incredible program that integrates kettlebells, bodyweight, suspension exercise, and of course Ultimate Sandbags. See how you will experience the very best of all these tools in such a comprehensive system. Use coupon code “newyear” HERE now to get the program that will change how you train not only in 2018, but from now on! Get a sneak peek below!