4 TIPS FOR YOUR FIRST HIIT WORKOUT
Moving your body is key to loosing weight and maintaining your health. Our bodies were meant to move! One of my favorite workouts is a HIIT workout, meaning High Intensity Interval workout. HIIT workouts provide a great way to burn fat and loose weight plus it helps strengthen you, and who doesn’t like to feel like a Super Hero! With this type of workout, you combine cardio with a strength training, whether you use weights or just body weight resistance exercises is up to you. Plus, these types of workouts can easily be done at home with very little to no equipment! You can easily google great workouts and find a Youtube video showing proper form as well as exactly how to perform each specific exercise.
These tips will help you start safe and go into your first workout with confidence!
Check-in with your Mindset.
If you show up and are scared, it’s going to show in your workout. You will be less likely to try a new exercise and you may feel intimidated which may lead to you not showing up again. Go in with confidence and that you are willing to give it all a good try!! Know that some of the exercises may be difficult, but with practice and as you gain strength over time, you will get better and better! Go in with the attitude that you can do it all!!
2. Talk with your instructor.
It is vital that you communicate with your instructor before class begins. If this is your first HIIT workout, if you have injuries, if you have limited capability with your knees or back, you need to tell the instructor. A good instructor will give you alternative moves that will protect the areas of the body that need extra are. If the instructor of your class does not do this nor pays any attention to you in your first class, go find a new gym!! Any instructor worth their while, will make sure to modify all exercises to suit each person in their class. This is so important, because I’ve seen new people come to workouts where the instructor didn’t come beside them to help them modify the exercise and they left injured or overwhelmed and never came back. Don’t let this be you! Take the initiative to speak to the instructor before the class starts.
3. Listen to your body
When you are in the class and the music is pumping and you see everyone else busting through each exercise and you feel ready to pass out, you need to listen to your body! Don’t get caught up in following the room. If something is painful, take it down a bit. If you feel like you are getting dizzy take it down a bit. As you get used to the workouts, you will start to be able to recognize the difference between muscle fatigue and actual pain. Don’t feel like you have to keep up with the class if something hurts. Make sure you stop!
4. Recovery is just as important as the workout
You are going to be sore the next couple days and that’s okay. When you try any new workout, typically you will have soreness along with it. That is normal. If it is constant, maybe you should think about breaking up your workouts with a good stretching class or yoga. Stretching, hydration and refueling with clean protein is key to recovery after a hard workout like HIIT! When you are pushing your body in these types of workouts, make sure you take time for proper cool down and stretching to aid in your recover so you are ready to HIIT it hard again the next class.