Welcome to the latest edition of Workout Wednesday! High intensity interval workouts are great for when you want an effective workout with little time. This treadmill HIIT workout can be completed in 20 minutes. It is great for both beginners and intermediate runners who want to improve speed, lose fat and gain fitness.
Always warm up before beginning any workout. This treadmill workout is eight rounds of 30 second sprints followed by 90 seconds of active recovery. I recommend HIIT workouts 1-3 times per week depending on your fitness level and experience with HIIT. If you are new to high intensity workouts, start with one time a week. Always allow 1-2 rest and recovery days in between high intensity days to allow your body to properly recover. Your body adapts (gets stronger, faster, etc.) during rest, not during the workout, so it's important to allow this recovery time to get the maximum results.
Ready to get started? After three minutes of brisk walking to warm up, sprint for 30 seconds at Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) of 7-9 (breathing should be challenging) followed by 90 seconds of slow jogging or walking (RPE 4-6) to recover before going into your next interval. You will repeat this cycle until you complete 8 total sprint rounds.
Cool down at the end of the workout by walking for as long as it takes to fully recover your breath.
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After 4-8 weeks of this workout 1-3 times a week you can expect to see improvements in your running speed and efficiency, provided you are resting appropriately.
In order to keep progressing you may find that your sprint speed intervals need to increase as you get stronger. Remember that we always want to challenge ourselves to keep improving. After several weeks If you find that the sprint intervals start to feel easier, that is a sign it is time to increase the speed. If you follow the RPE chart then you should be able to determine if you are working at the appropriate intensity. Everyone is different but you may find you need increase speed of your sprint intervals after about three weeks of regular interval work. Listen to your body.
Do you do HIIT workouts? I love them for both cardio and strength training. Give this one a try and let me know what you think.
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