Last updated 16:55, Friday, 21 March 2008

THIS week, David Little will be looking at high intensity training, high intensity interval training and tabata intervals.

Firstly, what is high intensity training? It could be applied to almost anything you do, but high intensity training applies mostly to weight training and its principles.

When I say its principles, I mean it tests everything that you may know about weight training.

You normally perform any exercise generally with a warm up set and then maybe perform four sets with a progressive weight.

High intensity training goes straight for the jugular, you overload the body with a heavy weight and you perform the exercise in slow motion making your body feel every inch of the workout.

At the point when your muscles are fatigued, you can hold the weight at contraction and also perform a negative rep where you get help.

What benefit will this give you? Because of its intensity you will find that you can only perform a certain number of reps and from a time perspective it will take a lot longer to complete a set.

The nature of its exercise and controlled movement on your muscle fibres will ensure maximum growth after the workout. It will develop a stronger and firmer physique because you are lifting very close to your one rep max.

For how long should I perform high intensity training? You should look to perform this as part of your training programme but don’t use it everyday. High intensity training is called that for a reason and if you wish to maximise its potential you need that rest in between days.

What high intensity exercises can I perform? You can use any resistance exercise you wish. It’s always beneficial to you to have a training partner so he can assist you on the negative reps. Performing dumbbell chest press, bench press, dumbbell curl, squats and lateral raises are considered good exercises.

How slow should I perform the exercises? I have written an article before on 3-2-1 tempo, the motion used in high intensity is similar but slower.

It should take you 30 seconds to complete one rep so ensure you work it on that basis.

Will this build muscle or tone? This will build muscle because of the weight you are lifting and the tempo in which you’re lifting it.

Do you recommend this for beginners? No, not initially because beginners need to place a foundation of strength and muscle before trying this type of training. I would only recommend this after six months of good training.

What kind of foods should I be eating to help me benefit more from this training? You should be looking for a slow releasing carbohydrate food before training and after training you should try and eat a good portion of protein and a small portion of carbs. The protein will help build the muscle and the carbs will replace reduce glycogen stores that creates energy.

Many people confuse this with circuit training, please don’t because circuit training generally has a large number of stations that offer different exercises. Think of high intensity interval training as blasting your body for five minutes at a time using different exercises to do so. A good example is the training that Ultimate Fighters do. An example workout could be one minute punching on the bag, oneminute burpees, one minute sprawl up and sprint, one minute skipping and finish it off with one minute medicine ball slam. You then rest for one minute and start all over again. With a reduced rest you are constantly increasing your Vo2 Max (how fit you are and how long you can go for) and for people that want to lose weight and tone it increases your metabolism and burns calories.

How many times a week should I perform high intensity interval training? It depends entirely on you and the programme you have undertaken, but try and perform it three-four times a week. Get rid of your boring 20 minutes on the treadmill and perform these inside.

How long should I spend on high intensity interval training? Intervals should be no longer than one minute and in total anywhere between 15 minutes to an hour would be sufficient.

Will this build muscle? It will help reduce fat across your body and at the same time increase tone. However don’t be shocked to see an initial increase in muscle, that’s your body adjusting to what is happening.

Can I perform this on both weights and cardio? Yes performing HIIT on cardio machines mixes your training up nicely but don’t stick to one machine, pick five different machines and perform a minute on each. Using weight and cardio machines is a good way to do it also. Just remember that variety is the key when it comes to high intensity interval training, think of different exercises every time you train and you will fulfill every aim you desire.

What are Tabata Intervals? Tabata Intervals consist of 20 seconds at high intensity then 10 seconds rest; repeat this eight times which gives you a total of a four minute workout. They are a high intense workout that will increase your fitness and leave you gasping for breath at the end.

Can I perform anything using the Tabata principle? Yes its very similar to HIIT just ensure that the exercise you pick is enough to blast your body for four minutes.

What’s the very best Tabata interval you can perform? I’ve mentioned it before in past articles but nothing beats Tabata Intervals on the versa climber.

Is this better than the other two training methods? This is completely different if you wanted to use all three at the same time and incorporate that into a six week programme then you will find with correct eating your body would change dramatically. Tabatas are good because of the short duration and if you are squeezed for time one night then you could be in and out in four minutes. How good is that?