What happens when you do High-Intensity Interval Training?

An increasing number of people are becoming fitness freaks by the day. It is not a surprising thing as they take to social media to post about their workout and eating regimes, educating and subsequently inspiring others to do the same. This could be one of the reasons why the High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is becoming popular.

This specific kind of workout involves short bursts of intensive movements followed by periods of active recovery and has been a top fitness trend for quite some time now. Each and every workout style has its benefits, do you know what you get when you do HIIT? Do it with the correct technique and you will burn more calories than other types of workouts.

A couple of things that happen to you instantly which you will notice is that your heart rate increases and you use up a lot of oxygen. It is natural because this type of workout is that much grueling. It is like if your heart rate has not increased, you are not having an ideal HIIT workout session. As your muscles require more oxygen your heart has to pump more blood.

This is in sync with using up more oxygen as it is required to burn more calories, more fat in your HIIT session. Your internal oxygen stores get used up rapidly and you breathe more, faster to get in more oxygen for your body. Other things that happen during a HIIT training are:

Your circulation improves

While performing exercises, your muscles contract & expand and this boosts blood circulation in your body. HIIT allows nutrient-rich blood to reach every part of your body, your cells evenly. The capacity of the blood vessels to dilate increases along with a better wall function. Thus, your body gets in an optimal condition.

Your muscles tear

Yeah, it basically happens with every kind of workout, but in HIIT, it is a bit different. The workout creates little tears, micro-tears in your muscle fibers which cause soreness. Within a day, the muscles will start paining because of the release of plenty of chemicals by White blood cells for repairing. But don’t stop it just yet, else it will start paining more. The only solution is to continue with your HIIT; the muscles will continue to break but the pain will go gradually.

Your brain releases feel-good chemicals

Your HIIT training will make your brain release the feel-good hormones called Endorphins. It is a great mood booster for anyone. Have you noticed any positive change in your mood after a HIIT session? Though your usual gym exercises also do that, equal time of HIIT training releases more of the endorphins.

Your core temperature increases

We all know that our usual body temperature is about 98 degrees Fahrenheit, but it goes up with a high-intensity workout. You exert a lot of energy to do HIIT which produces heat inside your body. It is why you sweat a lot.

Your Brain’s memory increases

Regular HIIT sessions will make your brain sharper and smarter. It is responsible for increasing the size of the hippocampus, a small part of the brain that is associated with learning and memory. Another reason for the skeptics to consider HIIT!

If there are any other changes apart from these, which you suspect aren’t good for you; then there is something wrong in your workout performance or technique. The High-Intensity Interval Training is demanding but it also gives that much amazing results, improvements and changes to your body than any other usual form of exercise.

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