Why High Intensity Interval Training probably isn't right for you

I train busy people, who work hard, have stressful jobs & lives, travel lots and don’t get much sleep. It’s my job as their coach get them in shape and manage their energy levels so they can perform both in the gym and at work.

Exercise is stressful, and HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) is very stressful. Layering yet another stress into an already stressed out / elevated cortisol (stress hormone) life isn’t going to do you any favours.

Let’s look at the data:

HIIT is championed for a few reasons. One being EPOC (Excess Post Oxygen Consumption). People will tell you that you burn more calories after training as the reason to do HIIT. Which is true, at a base level. But the total amount of extra calories burnt is only a small percentage. Depending on the study you read it will be about 7-10% that’s not a lot of calories when you compare how many calories is in a can of Coke.

There is a limited number of calories you can burn in a session, I’m sorry to say your FitBit, MyZone or Apple Watch are wildly inaccurate. The calories burned in a moderate activity session vs a HIIT class will not be far off.

Also…

You didn’t earn the right to do it. Most people jump into HIIT training when they are pretty out of shape. Without putting in the months of training to build up a base to even be able to push themselves hard enough for HIIT. Just because your heart rate goes through the roof, does not mean your muscles are working at the levels required to actually get the benefits of HIIT.

And….

Often people are going to HIIT sessions in a class format where it’s a 45min class. If you were truly doing HIGH INTENSITY you would be tanked in about 4 minutes. I’m not saying you’re not working hard, it’s just not high intensity, you’re just getting fatigued. Then on top of that, it’s often done too frequently. If you’re tired from the previous day/s workout you are not working at high intensity, you’re just knackered and struggling to recover.

I’m not totally against HIIT, I just think a lot of coaches are trying to fool you into thinking it’s some miracle form of training.

The Rules….

You have to earn the right to do HIIT – build up a base of cardiovascular conditioning for a few months first.
Keep the activity low skill – complex routines where you jump around like an idiot ARE NOT HIIT. The second there’s a high technical component to your “HIIT” session it will be your joints and spine that take the brunt of work rather than your muscles.
Keep it short – most of the research is on very short bouts of all-out effort. Sometimes as short as 20 seconds. Gyms touting 45min HIIT classes could do with going to read some research. You’re basically doing a circuit class, nothing wrong with that, it just shouldn’t be marketed as HIIT.
Make sure you are rested – I would say no more than 1-2 x per week and plan your workouts accordingly so you have 1 full day rest before the session.
Get super strong – to be able to push your body to the levels required for HIIT training you should to be strong. The stronger you are the better your joints can deal with the forces placed on them.

There a defiantly benefits to HIIT training, you can read them here:

https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/hiit-is-changing-the-way-we-workout-heres-the-science-why-it-works/

The reality is, if fat loss is your goal, it takes more than just exercise alone. So HIIT just doesn’t play out from daily energy expenditure or from a risk vs reward standpoint.

If you’re super fit and strong and you love HIIT, then GREAT carry on. But don’t be fooled into thinking it’s an optimal form of training. It’s one of the hundreds of different forms of training. Most are no better, or worse than the another.

It’s just HIIT is currently on-trend.

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NEWSLETTER

An interesting fact: people’s rate of progress d

An interesting fact: people’s rate of progress during their first year of training has more to do with learning the skill than actual strength improvements.

This is also true during the first one to six weeks of a new training phase when an exercise is new, or you’re re-familiarizing yourself with it. After this period, you’ll notice a plateauing of the progression curve with load.

This plateau does not mean something is wrong. It’s exactly where you need to be. At this point, you’re working hard, close to your limit, creating a stimulus for your body to lay down new muscle fibres.

For those beyond their first year of training, it’s essential to get comfortable with a slower rate of progress.
Avoid changing your workouts just because you’ve reached a plateau in progression. Constantly swapping exercises means you’re always re-familiarizing yourself with new movements and never actually getting stronger.

Practice and patience are key to long-term progress.

📍 @lisbonstrong

This one of for all my fellow coaches who listen t

This one of for all my fellow coaches who listen to my podcast.

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It’s important to recognise that step-downs and

It’s important to recognise that step-downs and step-ups are slightly different exercises. A step-up starts with both feet on the floor. You step onto the box, typically with a moment where your weight fully transitions onto the floor. In contrast, a step-down is more like a single-leg squat off a box. You reach down to the floor, touch it gently, and then return to the starting position.

Key Points to Consider:

1️⃣ Control the lowering phase: To avoid “falling” during the descent, lean forward slightly, take the exercise slowly, and use a box height suitable for your current strength level.
2️⃣ Avoid bouncing off the back foot: The goal is to delicately touch the floor without using the back foot to push off. To help with this, slide your foot down the box and point the toe upward, touching the heel to the floor first.
3️⃣ Be cautious when loading: While loading this exercise is common, I often see the movement “butchered” when people load it, especially with bars, causing the back leg to take over the work. Instead, I recommend focusing on the range of motion and gradually building up the step height over the weeks.

Increasing the step height provides greater tension stimulus and allows for better mobility expression during the workout.

As mentioned in the video, this is undoubtedly one of the best single-leg squat pattern variations. I strongly recommend programming it into your workouts for both strength and mobility benefits.

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You’ve probably heard it before: when strength t

You’ve probably heard it before: when strength training, you need to focus on progressive overload. This simple piece of advice can completely revolutionize your training but can also lead to some common issues. One of the biggest problems is that, in the pursuit of progression, people often compromise their form. When you lose form, you’re essentially shifting the focus of the load onto other muscle groups as your body compensates.

Here’s how to ensure your progression is doing what you think it’s doing:

1. Standardise Your Movement
Your first rep and your last rep should look the same, with minimal deviation in movement as you push through the final reps. This is particularly important when you’re aiming to build muscle. For example, if you’re performing a dumbbell chest press and trying to overload your chest, but during the last two reps, you shrug your neck to squeeze them out, the overload is now being shifted to your traps and anterior delts rather than your pecs. Standardized movement ensures the intended muscle is being targeted.

2. Have a Clear Strategy for Progression
Without a strategy, it’s easy to feel lost week to week. While tracking your reps and loads in a workout log is helpful, it’s equally important to record details like how hard your sets are (e.g., RPE or RIR) and have a plan for how you’ll progress. As much as the focus is to increase load or reps, you also need to think about how many sets you might do on that top weight. Should you back off more on the first set to allow the attempt to go heavier? What if your form broke down on the third set last week? A bit of strategy can go a long way.

#AndyVincentPT #SmarterStrengthTraining #trainsmart #avpt #onlinepersonaltraining #fitnessobsessed #FitnessGoals #healthyhabits #consistencyiskey

Had people telling you to lift heavy for 2-4 reps,

Had people telling you to lift heavy for 2-4 reps, rather than your usual 12? Well, lets clear this up!

#AndyVincentPT #SmarterStrengthTraining #trainsmart #avpt #onlinepersonaltraining #fitnessobsessed #FitnessGoals #healthyhabits #consistencyiskey

On top of your sessions, try to find time to inclu

On top of your sessions, try to find time to include a little bit more day-to-day activity too. You don’t need to put too much pressure on yourself to make huge changes here. Fifteen minutes every day adds up to 7.5 hours of extra activity a month. Small changes can accumulate, creating a platform to build on from there.

Working out is great. Setting aside three hours a week of purposeful activity to increase strength, improve flexibility, or enhance your cardio is essential to mitigate the negative effects of our increasingly sedentary lifestyles.

But make no mistake—your three, or even five, workouts per week are not enough, on their own, to do everything you need to improve your health and maintain your body weight if the rest of the week is spent sitting down.

We need to try and stay as active as possible outside of the gym too, which is a lot harder in the winter when it’s cold and wet. You’ve heard it before, but taking the stairs and parking further away from the shops all adds up if you can stick to it as much as possible.

I often wonder if fitness industry messaging will

I often wonder if fitness industry messaging will ever change. Moving away from six-packs and summer shreds, and focusing on what really matters: long-term health. Training should literally be for life. It’s not something you pick up and put down every time you’re looking to lose fat or get ready for summer. It’s something we should all just consistently do.

It doesn’t have to be overly Instagram-worthy. Not everyone who works out is training to have a six-pack.

Personally, I find it much more impressive to see older adults who have trained for their lifetime or who have picked up exercise later in life and are getting stronger, fitter, and more flexible, while above all improving their quality of life.

And a shout out to both my in-laws for training hard and proving that you don't stop because you get older. You get older because you stop!

@atomichealthandfitness
@breezehill4
@sueoz19

Diet Breaks > Cheat Meals 🎧 Subscribe and List

Diet Breaks > Cheat Meals

🎧 Subscribe and Listen wherever you get your podcasts
📺 Or watch the episode on my YouTube Channel

#AndyVincentPT #SmarterStrengthTraining #trainsmart #podcast #fitnesspodcast #strengthtrainingpodcast #avpt #onlinepersonaltraining #fitnessobsessed #FitnessGoals #StrengthRetention #CheatDay #CheatMeal

Single-leg squats are a fantastic strength exercis

Single-leg squats are a fantastic strength exercise and a great way to challenge your mobility. However, they can often feel like a significant jump in difficulty, which is why it’s important to have regressions that provide a step-by-step approach to building up to them. In this video, I walk you through how I like to progress my clients toward mastering the single-leg squat.

Note: This video does not cover supplementary mobility work for areas like the ankles and hips, which can be an excellent complement to this training protocol.

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📍@lisbonstrong

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#FitnessTips
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The barbell, when paired with a landmine attachmen

The barbell, when paired with a landmine attachment, opens up a world of exercise variations. But what if your gym doesn’t have a landmine attachment, the landmine is already in use, or it’s attached to a rack that’s occupied? In this video, I’ll walk you through some of my favorite alternative setups for the barbell, so you can perform all the exercises you love without relying on a landmine attachment.

📲 SAVE - to try using these in the gym
👍🏼 FOLLOW - for more exercise tutorials
🏷 TAG - your training buddy who needs to start using these

📍@lisbonstrong

#StrengthTraining
#MobilityMatters
#RangeOfMotion
#JointHealth
#FunctionalStrength
#FullBodyWorkout
#MovementQuality
#FitnessTips
#MobilityTraining
#TrainSmart
#BodyweightTraining
#InjuryPrevention
#PushUps
#PullUps
#FlexibilityTraining
#StrongerEveryDay
#FitnessGoals
#GymEfficiency
#WorkoutInspiration

A good few of you asked this in my recent weekly Q

A good few of you asked this in my recent weekly Q&A, so here is my guidance on what to do about your fitness over the festive break.

#AndyVincentPT #SmarterStrengthTraining #trainsmart #avpt #onlinepersonaltraining #fitnessobsessed #FitnessGoals #healthyhabits #consistencyiskey

It baffles me that the narrative around resistance

It baffles me that the narrative around resistance training increasing injury risk still circulates.

First of all, injuries occur in almost all sporting activities. Injury rates in running are higher than in resistance training, and when you look at sports like football, rugby, and tennis, injury rates are significantly higher. And maybe check out the injury rates in skiing 🤯

Strength training is about increasing the amount of force your tissues: muscles, tendons, and connective tissue, can tolerate. Of course, doing daft things in the weights room can lead to injury, but that’s true of anything.

The rate at which you progress load and volume is the key consideration when it comes to injury risk. Slow, progressive increases focusing on movement quality and understanding proper form are essential. It’s also important to respect that some exercises, like RDLs, deadlifts, and back squats, involve axial loading on the spine and should, therefore be progressed slower.

But, If you’ve never exposed your joints to forces greater than a light weight, what happens when you slip on ice or catch an edge while skiing? Your chances of avoiding injury in these situations are far greater if you’re a weaker individual.

So, can we please stop perpetuating the idea that strength training leads to injuries? The total opposite is true.

You’re far more likely to get injured if you’re weak and frail.

@lisbonstrong

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