10 Common HIIT Mistakes to Avoid For the Better Output:

High-intensity interval training is known to be the most effective workout framework used for burning fat, getting into shape, and gaining mass.

So far, researchers have explained that using HIIT will help you get quicker and better results as compared to any other method of training or exercising.

The best thing about the HIIT workout is that there is no hard and fast rule, you just need to follow a simple framework and this framework is suitable for all kinds of goals and all the exercises that you can ever think about.

You can use different cardio-based exercises to burn fat or you can use weight-based workouts for shaping the muscles of your body.

Moreover, you can use the same framework with various combination exercises that you can use for strength-based workouts as well.

Now that you know the importance of HIT-based workouts you might question if it is proven yet. Well, according to a study conducted by Harvard health back in 2017, a group of over 60 females was taken as a sample.

The study explained that with the help of HIIT-based workouts only, they were able to not only get rid of extra fat but also saw improvement in their body shape. The study clearly states that HIIT can improve your fitness.

Even with all this evidence, some people report that even though they have been working on and following a HIIT routine yet they never got the same results as most people claimed.

The best way to understand this discrepancy is to know that each body type is different and similarly the pain and the execution of the same exercise and same framework is also different.

With the help of this article, we will answer some of the most important questions about the effectiveness of HIIT training.

We will also look at some of the most common mistakes that can reduce the impact of HIIT training so you can avoid these mistakes as well.

What Is The Ideal Way Of Executing High-Intensity Interval Training?

The basic framework that you have to follow is to work out with full intensity and by the end of this full-intensity session, you will have a short resting period.

Usually, the time of high-intensity interval training is at least 30 minutes long and you have to switch between 40 seconds of workout and 10 seconds of resting time.

Usually, people don’t switch to resting time, instead, they reduce the pace of the workout instead.

Moreover, by adding the workout style of your choice and adjusting the time you can fully customize your whole workout framework as well.

You can use running, swimming, strength, or weight-based training of your choice to target the muscles you want.

Just like there are so many ways to change the HIIT-based workout and so many ways to make it more effective, there are also so many mistakes you can commit in the process as well.

Top 10 Common HIIT Mistakes to Avoid

Skipping Warm-Up

Skipping warm-up simply means that you will end up with an injury. Within high-intensity interval training since you will be pushing your body for more and singing at your full potential there is a high chance of injury so without a warm-up HIIT will not be very effective for you.

Exceeding the Interval Time Limit

The ideal time limit is to maintain the 4 to 1 ratio. So you will start with 40 seconds of intense workout followed by 10 seconds of resting time.

However, some people end up resting for 20 or 30 seconds at a stretch which eventually makes their workout extremely ineffective.

While planning your workout you have to keep the ideal ratio in mind otherwise, it will be a complete waste of effort.

Not Pushing Your Body Enough

Since it is an intense workout most people just stay within their comfort zone, barely moving their bodies. As a result of not maintaining an intensity level, you will not get the desired results.

Overdoing Workout

Overdoing a workout means you will be pushing your body beyond its limits. Eventually, this will cause injury and in the worst case, this might lead to permanent injury if not offered enough healing time.

To avoid this issue completely your focus needs to be on understanding the technique and ease into the workout routine rather than pushing your limits.

Selecting a Boring and Monotonous Workout

A boring and monotonous workout will limit the results. It will get you into a boring routine where you will not be excited about the workout anymore.

Most of the people who keep repeating the same workout end up only focusing on the same muscle group so the results are not very promising.

Selecting Technically Complicated Exercises

Technically complicated exercises take longer to understand and even longer to master. If you do not complete the workout based on the technique you will get the best results.

A simple example is to leave the crunch halfway or to avoid going deep when you are doing a push-up.

Technically you have to touch your nose while your core is tight and your back is straight, if any of these things are missing you are not working out properly.

Hitting Gym for Longer Time

Your HIIT workout should take no more than 30 minutes because after that you will become prone to injury after such an intense workout. So it is very important to limit the time and not push it too much.

Skipping Pre-Meal

Your pre-workout meal will get you to stay energized throughout the workout. With no pre-workout meal, you will feel drained, and eventually, you will lose motivation to complete the workout session as well.

Using the Same Workout Plan Over And Over

In most cases, people get a simple workout plan used by experts and they do not evaluate the progress and the needs of their body according to the workout plan.

In most cases, this workout plan is not even compatible, and in other cases, it’s not intense enough so you will not see the progress.

Not Ending With a Cool Down

Cool down is just the opposite of warm-up, when you don’t end up your high-intensity workout with a good cool down, yoga, or simple stretching, you will end up reducing the impact.

You will get more accumulation of lactic acid in your muscles and you will also feel more cramps.

Bottom Line

To sum it all up, it all comes down to the way you plan your workout. Since you will be choosing a workout that you like, there is a high chance that you will not understand the exercise technically.

Moreover, not all the exercises you choose will be ideal for high-intensity training, and in most cases, people focus on increasing the reps and not only on mastering the technique.

Eventually, they end up with an injury or they give up easily. Unless you don’t know about the workout completely or you have practiced it, the workout will not be effective for you.

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 Top 6 Tips to Achieve Your Ideal BMI:

Ever wonder why a 70 kg woman is considered slightly overweight while a 70 kg man might seem quite fine? Well, a simple way of understanding this is that your weight doesn’t define if you are healthy, you need to gain weight or you need to adjust your diet. If you want to live a healthy life you will have to consider different things.

Although most health experts will tell you just by seeing if you are overweight, this is not very accurate.

Over the years health experts have designed a scientific method that will help you know if you fall into the healthy weight category or if you are overweight and obese.

This method of calculating health considers all the basic variables like your race, age, gender, and height so your weight can be seen based on these variables.

With the help of this write-up, we will mainly look at some of the most important reasons you will need a standard BMI process. We will also look at the ways of calculating the BMI and finally, we will see how you can reach your ideal BMI if you work out or adjust your diet.

Why Do You Need A Standard BMI Process?

Standard BMI or the body mass index is not just linked with our weight. It is a common misconception that you are overweight based on the number you see when you stand on a weight machine.

This is mainly because people of different ages, races, and gender have different weight-based thresholds.

When you look at people of color you will see that they have a bigger structure, they are relatively taller and so you will see that with the same weight they will look skinny.

On the contrary, when you see people of Asian origin, they are relatively short so when they gain a few pounds they instantly look fat. Apart from this, baby fat is not considered as bad as adult fat mainly because you are active when you are young so shedding the fat is very easy.

On the contrary, when you reach a certain age specifically after your 30s you will see that your body changes, metabolism slows and you will get into a very passive lifestyle. This is when you will need to focus on your diet and workout in general.

Generally, you will see that people who stay lean and live a healthy life expectancy that will not gain weight even when they enter their old age, the shift in metabolism, however, drags them to the overweight section of the spectrum.

To make sure you maintain your ideal BMI throughout your life, you need to start by calculating your BMI.

How to Calculate BMI?

To calculate the body mass index of an individual you need their age, gender along with their height, weight, and race. Based on these details you will then add it to the formula and you will get your BMI.

Then you will get to see this BMI on the health-based spectrum and eventually, you can evaluate if you ate healthy or overweight. 

To calculate the formula you can either use an online calculator or you can just follow the formula for calculating the BMI. You will get to divide the weight of an individual by the square of their height.

Now that you have a value, you will then look at the spectrum based on age, gender, and race. The weight is usually added in pounds whereas you will get to add the height in feet.

If you are a child your BMI score will fall differently on evaluation as compared to the adult. A simple example is that you will be seen as underweight if you score below 18.5 whereas if you exceed 30.0 you will see declared obese.

6 Tips for Achieving Your Ideal BMI

Focus On an Active Lifestyle

An active lifestyle will mainly help you in shedding weight however if you think you don’t need to focus on an active lifestyle if you have a healthy weight or you are underweight, this might be another myth.

When you choose an active lifestyle, you will be able to cut the fat, your muscle mass will improve, and eventually, you will be able to see improvement in your body shape as your body will become more defined with much better shape.

Don’t Try Crash Diets

Crash diets usually make you lose weight in one go. However, the body shuffles to starvation mode which eventually leads to shock compensation.

When you get back to the normal diet, the body starts to gain much more weight within a very limited time.

Avoid Sugar

Sugar is very important for brain function however when you eat a lot of sugar this gets deposited in your body especially when it is processed.

This can harm your body and eventually you will gain weight as well.

Rely On 15 Minutes Cardio

15 minutes of cardio is very important because even if you have a desk job where you stay seated in the same place, just 15 minutes of cardio will be good enough to help you stay fit and healthy.

Reduce Salt in the Diet

Most people limit sugar intake but when it comes to salt, they never think about it. The main issue is that salt will help you retain a lot of water weight so you will feel bloated throughout the day even when you don’t eat anything.

Watch Your Portion Size

Portion size matters a lot if you eat the same quantity of food but with more frequency and smaller portions, you will not gain weight.

This is the reason you will see people planning for portion size, even restaurants offer controlled portion sizes for people on diet.

Bottom Line

To sum it all up, BMI will save you the hassle of thinking that you are overweight when you just rely on the scale.

It will also help kids and youngsters or people of color know how their body is different so they don’t end up getting generalized by all.

Moreover, people who simply follow the meal plans available online will also realize that not every workout plan or diet is ideal for you, they also need to know that every body type is different so following a single meal plan will not be ideal especially when you want your desired results.

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