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HIIT 101
“The high intensity level of HIIT enables you to increase both your aerobic and anaerobic endurance while burning more “adipose tissue” (fat) than ever before.”
Anaerobic Energy System
Anaerobic means "Without oxygen." The anaerobic energy system is what provides energy in all out efforts of up to 1 minute. For the first 10-30 seconds of high intensity work, the phosphate pool is depleted, after that; glycolysis and lactic acid are involved in the effort.
During 10-30 second bursts, there is a very small amount of lactic acid produced. Rest periods of 30 seconds to a minute will provide complete recovery of the Adenosine Triphosphate -Creatine Phosphate (ATP-CP) system. During efforts of more than 10-30 seconds, a large amount of lactic acid is produced and such efforts are extremely taxing on both the athlete's muscles and their Central Nervous System (CNS).
Aerobic Energy System
Aerobic means "With oxygen." This energy system is utilized during prolonged exercise over a period of at least 3-4 minutes. As long as there is enough oxygen to provide energy, the fatigue that you experience will remain at a low level.
This is the reason why many track and field athletes train at higher altitudes where there is less oxygen. By training at high altitudes, they can increase the number of red blood cells which will help them to perform for a longer period of time with little to no fatigue throughout.
The first principle to losing fat is caloric deficit. We do this by eating less calories or by burning more calories or both. HIIT and steady state cardio helps you create this caloric deficit by:
• Burning Calories
Your body uses stored food as fuel for cardiovascular exercises and every day activities of living. The higher the exercise intensity the more calories you'll burn. This is not exactly rocket science, but rather a time tested and well documented evidence based fact.
• Increase Metabolic Rate
Your body will burn more calories at rest hour’s post cardiovascular training. This is the post-workout after-burn or EPOC.
What’s most important, you need caloric deficit to lose fat, which can be accomplished without cardio, through dieting & weight lifting alone. The trade off is, dieting and lifting alone requires a great deal more time in the gym and usually takes a longer time to see the kind of results most people are looking for.
High Intensity Workout:
75-80% MaxHR = 14 calories per minute
60% of those calories are burning fat tissue
Low Intensity Workout:
50% MaxHR = 7 calories per minute
Fat loss via Cardio

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