In the Fitness section of the Daily Burn (4/18/17), we found an excellent article called Design Your Own HIIT Workout with This Perfect Formula” by Mallory Creveling. In it, she says, “Science and experts alike say high intensity internal workouts reign as fitness royalty. Touted as a top-notch method for weight loss, improving your VO2 and even helping you run faster, it’s no wonder this approach to exercise holds such high wellness honors.”

“Of course, just like any workout you do over and over, the routine can get stale. That is, until you learn the foundation of HIIT Workouts and then switch it up every time you go to break a sweat. Trainer Adam Rosante, creator of Two Week Transformation and author of Super Smoothie Revolution, breaks down the basics so you can turn up the benefits.”

HIIT Workouts: What You Need to Make It Work

“The foundation [of HIIT] is a series of intervals of intense activity, coupled with intervals of less-intense activity or complete rest,” says Rosante. “its popularity can largely be attributed to its efficiency. HIIT’s a great way to get fit in a short amount of time. But the key is to ensure that the high-intensity intervals are truly performed at your highest intensity.”

How do you know if you’re HIIT-ing it hard enough? Rosante says to go at 80 to 95 percent of your maximum heart rate during the work intervals, and 60 to 65 percent during your rest periods. (To find your max heart rate, just subtract your age from 220. Then take the percentages from there.) If you don’t have a heart rate monitor, push hard enough through the work intervals that you’re sucking wind,” Rosante says. “The key is to ensure that the high-intensity intervals are truly performed at your highest intensity.”

“You can do a HIIT workout with almost any exercise, from plank hip dips to jumping jacks. It’s more about intensity than the specific movements. Rosante often alternates between a lower and upper body moves, or a lower body and total body exercise. The alternation forces your heart to pump blood out to the muscles in a much higher volume, which, naturally, means your heart rate is significantly elevated,” Rosante explains. “When you boost your heart rate like this, you disrupt your metabolic pathways in such a way that they’re scrambling to return to normal long after the workout has ended. This concept of burning calories and blasting fat even after you stop is known as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption or EPOC.”

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