Why is L.I.I.T is the new H.I.I.T?
Before I start, this isn’t a big fuck you to the people in the fitness industry who love H.I.I.T, it is a progression of H.I.I.T that I have incorporated into my training and have seen great results from.
If you follow me on Instagram (@Temp_tation), you’ll know that I’m all about ‘LITness’ – the balance of lifestyle and fitness and alongside that, I have come up with a new terminology for a training principle… or is it new?
In order to balance your lifestyle with fitness, I very much believe in playing hard but working harder. If you want to go out and get drunk and eat pizza at the weekend, a few 20 minute HIIT sessions a week aren’t going to cut it. I believe that you need to work harder than you play so I am all about the hour long sessions whereby you are uncomfortable for the whole period. Again, this isn’t me not liking H.I.I.T training, because I love it and it has had it’s place in my training in the past but, I want to have as close to the best of both world’s as possible, which means going HAM (hard as a motherfucker) in the gym.
H.I.I.T is a principle which combines timed working periods with timed rests and the idea is that you work maximally which creates an oxygen debt while exercising. Subsequently, your body continues to burn calories long after the workout to try and get back to a pre-workout state.
I want to challenge that idea and that is where L.I.I.T comes in. It stands for ‘longer interval intensity training’ and it aligns to the type of training that CrossFit is. Instead of doing rounds of timed bodyweight exercises, CrossFit has a whole host of different training styles:
EMOM: every minute on the minute. This is the most similar to HIIT. You are given exercises to complete within a minute long period and the quicker you do it, the more rest you get.
AMRAP: this is probably my favourite and it aligns to my LIIT principles. It stands for ‘as many reps/rounds as possible.’ So again, you are given a set workout but this time you are trying to complete that circuit as many times as you can in a certain timeframe. Usually between 10-20 minutes, this training style makes you very uncomfortable and really works your cardiovascular system, as well as specific body parts. It usually involves weights as well so it really is a good all-round workout. You are trying to do as many rounds as possible so, rest is at a minimum but your work rate if maximal. You are competing against other people which is great for motivation and it really gets the calories burning. This will also create an oxygen debt so if you believe in the ‘after burn’ effect of HIIT, this is still present with this training style.
Tabata: again, this is similar to HIIT but it sees you getting more uncomfortable. Instead of 20-30 second spells with long rest periods, tabata is 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off so, you really only have enough time to transition between exercises – again, making the workout very uncomfortable, creating that ‘after burn’ effect and allowing you to burn more calories in a shorter time frame.
Going back to HIIT, a typical workout is between 20-30 seconds of working periods, followed by 30 seconds rest and typically lasts 20 minutes. This means you’re only actually working for 10 minutes max with each workout. Don’t get me wrong, it is definitely enough to create a deficit alongside and healthy diet, and it has worked for me in the past but, because I like the lifestyle side of life, I would rather be working out harder to enable me to burn more energy which in turn allows you to eat more. This is specific for a fat loss phase but also, if you were looking to gain size, putting a muscle under tension for a longer period of time and eating in a surplus will be a sure way to pack on the size, with adequate protein.
This is an advance training technique and definitely not one for the feint hearted but, if you want to have the best of both worlds (or as close to it as possible), you need to be putting more effort in at the gym.
I’ve only be doing CrossFit for a week but these athletes really are the fittest people in the gym. The combination of stamina, strength, conditioning and gymnastics really does make them rounded athletes and, quite frankly, absolute animals.
Give it a go next time your in the gym. A favourite example of mine is on the running machine; instead of doing 20 seconds of sprints followed by a 40 second rest for 20 minutes, try running at an uncomfortable pace for 6 minutes followed by a 2 minute walking rest and then repeat that twice. Not only will you burn more calories in a shorter period, you’re improving your cardiovascular fitness and as you get fitter and can run at a quicker pace over the 6 minutes, you’ll be burning more calories in the same time frame.
E.G. 6 minutes @ 16kmph with a 2 minute walking recovery @ 5kmph (X 4)
It really is a no brainer for me. Increase the length of the periods you are uncomfortable for and you will see far greater returns. LIT. Ness.