Why HIT: Maximise Time and Results

By Kirsty Godso

There's a reason HIT is an integral part of my workout programming: it gets big results in a small amount of time. Not only is it efficient, but you can do a HIT workout anywhere, no equipment needed.

Adding HIT into your routine twice a week is enough to be transformative, yet protects you from burning out. It can produce a metabolic afterburn that will have you torching calories for hours post-workout. HIT is a great way to improve your cardiovascular fitness, improve overall body strength, increase lean muscle mass and burn fat.

Kirsty Godso

So what does this awesome workout look like? HIT, which stands for High Intensity Training, is where you work to your max effort for a short burst, recover and then repeat. This allows you to continuously spike your heart rate and to reach your max training zone. Rather than a workout that's a long jog at a steady pace, think of HIT as switching back and forth between an all-out sprint and recovering.

You've probably already thrown down some HIT in the form of Tabata, EMOM (Every Minute on the Minute) and Dropsets. These are all fun and effective work sets that get your heart rate up—and fast! The exercises for the max-effort sections that I use the most often in my workouts are burpees, mountain climbers, tuck jumps and push-ups. HIT workouts typically incorporate full-body exercises that challenge strength, plyometric ability and the cardiovascular system at the same time.

Kirsty Godso