HIIT’ing it hard!

The Dark Horse way of upping your intensity.

Exercise has one purpose in mind; it is a stress to the body, which the body has to overcome. At Dark Horse we know that mastering the rowing mechanics can be that stressor when we are new to the machine, but as we start to become more proficient there comes a time we need to add a little more intensity to the workouts. By adapting to this stress, it pushes the metabolism through the roof, which will help with toning and fat loss along with increased cardiovascular and muscular fitness. There are numerous studies that indicate that high intensity training is more effective than traditional lower intensity training for increasing metabolic rate.

A study in 1993 tested post-exercise metabolic rate after a strenuous resistance training session and found that it was raised 11% two hours after training and 9.4% the next day. Another study in 1994 found that over a 15-week HIIT phase vs a 20-week steady state training phase that the high intensity group lost 14 mm of skin fold measurements whilst the low intensity group lost only 4 mm. In 2008 a study followed the same principles looking at high vs low intensity and found that the high intensity training groups lost 2.4 kg over a 20 week period where the low intensity group lost only 0.44 kg!

The Tabata 20:10 workout is the most popular of the HIIT training systems. Performed as 20 secs MAX effort work, 10secs rest for 8 rounds (4mins).

Want to make it more of a challenge? Complete Tabata training for extended periods of time. This is a sure fire way of firing up that metabolism and keeping it going for longer post workout. Remember we’re looking to keep that technique strong and only take the given rest time. If your looking to make it more intermediate add in a cheeky rest after each round (4mins) if needed!.

To set a HIIT session up like this for yourself, press the menu button on your Concept2 console,→ select workout → new workout → intervals time → – button → x5 > → + → hit the checkmark and your ready to go for repeating 20 sec intervals with 10 secs rest.

Who’s ready for a challenge this week then? 20mins of Tabata anyone? Post your results on social media and don’t forget to tag us with your efforts @DarkHorserowing.

Yours in training, education and HIIT’ing it hard!
Coach John

Photo by Chase Kinney on Unsplash