For an athlete, a Training Plan is a list of tasks to achieve and maintain a specific goal. But for a Personal Trainer, it is a guide on how to help their athlete reach those objectives.
There are many ways and strategies to achieve these goals, one of the best known being HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training). It is a strategy that brings both aesthetic and health benefits to athletes, contrasting with lower-intensity training sessions that have longer rest periods.
That is why this question sometimes arises:
- High-intensity training or lower-intensity training?
- What are the real advantages?
- And age? Can it be an obstacle?
To answer these and many other questions, BOOMFIT spoke with Luiz Eduardo, a fitness professional who uses HIIT to help many athletes improve their lives.
“Set real goals, eat properly, rest well!”
When we started the conversation, we asked Luiz why he liked HIIT: "It involves various intense exercises with short rest or recovery periods, unlike traditional training where we take longer breaks and reduce intensity", he explains. A HIIT workout is planned considering the athlete's goals, total workout duration, types of exercises, interval structure, and ultimately monitoring results and adjusting because “a HIIT workout is tailored to each case”: “Each person is unique and has their own limitations”, he emphasizes. Exercises that can be included in this type of training include tire flips, box jumps, mountain climbers, burpees, and battle ropes, which are part of Luiz's "top 5" for this workout style: “I try for my clients to do a bit of everything, but in some cases, regressions are necessary until we reach the desired movement”, he advises.
The professional says he applies this method mainly because of the effects it brings to the athlete in terms of “health and aesthetics. For me, the main benefits are fat loss, improved aerobic and anaerobic capacity as well as cardiovascular capacity, time efficiency, and versatility”, he highlights. Additionally, the EPOC (Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption) effect in HIIT is “beneficial for those looking to lose weight”.
But are the results really faster than a "normal" workout? Luiz assures that “yes, if we are talking about weight loss”, but it all “depends on the kind of results the client seeks”, with athletes being motivated by “the results this type of training brings”. However, the professional always stresses the need to balance both types of training across sessions: “In my opinion, the ideal is to combine both training types within the same program [plan]”.
Contrary to what some might think, age is also not a barrier for this type of training: “HIIT can be beneficial for older adults, provided it is adapted to their needs and physical conditions”, resulting in “many benefits” as long as training is introduced “safely and gradually”, always opting to “monitor heart rate and increase rest periods”.
Furthermore, recovery time after a HIIT session, whether for senior or younger athletes, is essential for muscle recovery, allowing fibers to “repair and strengthen, resulting in increased strength and muscle mass”, and helping in “injury prevention”: “Allowing the body to fully recover between training sessions can improve overall performance, making upcoming workouts more effective”, the professional emphasizes.
At the end of our conversation, we asked Luiz what advice he would give athletes wanting to start high-intensity training. His answer was direct: “Besides always advising people to seek specialized professionals, the advice I leave is ‘set real goals, eat properly, rest well’!”
Final considerations
For Luiz, HIIT is the preferred training method and should be combined with lower-intensity training, adapted to each athlete according to a purposeful plan.
We cannot stress enough that “each athlete is unique” and that is why it is essential to seek a qualified professional with the right training and equipment to give the necessary boost to training.
If you are looking for equipment for your workouts or sessions, BOOMFIT is a trusted brand and the daily choice of more than a thousand Personal Trainers.
Happy training!
