You may have noticed a recent increase in HIIT gyms or High-Intensity Interval Training gyms popping up in your local neighborhood. Some big names that you may have seen or heard of are OrangeTheory Fitness, Row House, F45 and other boot camp style classes.

Because of their popularity, you may have a few friends who joined and are trying to get you to join with them. I want to help you figure out if these gyms are something that will be beneficial for you and if these styles of classes will help you reach your goals.

Let’s start by giving a definition of what HIIT training is. HIIT training is a style of workout where you work very hard for a short amount of time followed by some rest. It was designed to give you similar cardiovascular benefits in a short period of time as you would get from a longer period of less intense cardio. The key here is that your work periods must be short and intense.

Gyms that then took this model and turned it into a 45-60 minute full-on workout really missed the science behind HIIT training.

There are a few reasons I don’t like this HIIT training model and there are a few reasons I do like this model.

Let’s start with why I don’t like this model

Not everything is bad about HIIT though. There are a few reasons I do like the HIIT class model.

I am not saying that all HIIT classes are terrible or that everyone needs to stop right now. I just want to be clear that if your goals are to lose weight, get strong, tone up, and feel better about yourself HIIT training is not going to be your best option.

-Coach Pat