4 Benefits of HIIT For Staying Active, Healthy and Fit

Regular exercise offers a ton of benefits. It helps us maintain a healthy weight, keeps our heart strong and healthy, improves our productivity, and it is very beneficial for our mental health as well.

Despite the many documented benefits of exercise, many of us still aren’t able to keep exercise as part of our lifestyle. For many, it’s because they simply don’t find the time due to their busy schedule. For travel-lovers (like me!), exercising can be a challenge since you always won’t have access to a gym or you’re simply too tired and exhausted after a long flight.

Fortunately, exercise does not necessarily need to be time-consuming as it typically is. Nor should you have a gym or equipment to be able to do your workouts. Some exercises can help you stay healthy and in shape even though you do it with relatively less and, yes, even if you’re just at home – and with no equipment! Some of these exercises can even be done anywhere. One of them is what is called “high interval intensity training” or HIIT.

What is HIIT?

Simply put, HIIT is a form of exercise where you alternate between high-intensity activity to moderate-to-low activity or, sometimes, even complete rest. These exercises are done in relatively less time, typically in 10-15 minutes. The goal of HIIT is to force you to burst out in such a small period of time while, at the same time, giving you the chance to take short breaks to allow you to recover for another high-intensity activity. Hence, it’s done in intervals until you complete the whole exercise.

If you never tried HIIT or haven’t incorporated it in your exercise routine, here are some reasons why you should check it out:

1) It’s great for travelling

One of the main benefits of HIIT is that you can do it anywhere. This means that if you love traveling, HIIT can be a great workout routine for you! You don’t need access to a gym to be able to do HIIT; you can simply do it inside your hotel room. You can also do it outdoors such as in a park or a beach.

2) You can do a lot with less time

 A typical workout routine lasts 45 minutes to an hour. On the other hand, a typical HIIT workout lasts 10-15 minutes, sometimes even shorter! If you’re a busy or on-the-go person, HIIT can be a better workout for you. And yes, if done correctly, HIIT can do a lot for you. Research shows that 10-15 minutes of HIIT exercises are healthier than 40 minutes of jogging!

3) You don’t need any equipment

 Just as you don’t need access to a gym to do HIIT exercises, you also don’t need equipment to do them. Again, this is great for travelers – you won’t want to carry dumbbells or kettlebells with you for your vacation trips! It’s also great for those who cannot or don’t want to invest in gym equipment at home.

4) You’ll burn calories even after the exercise

One of the best benefits of HIIT is it allows you to burn more calories – even after the exercise – compared to other aerobic exercises. One research (of healthy men) shows that those that did a 30-minute HIIT burned 25-30% more calories compared to those who did other forms of steady-state exercise.

HIIT is one of the best exercises you can follow or incorporate into your current workout routine. You can do it anywhere, it only takes less time to do, and you don’t even need equipment to get started – and can still be effective as a standard workout routine!