Your Daily HIIT Could Be Hindering Your Progress
There is a lot of talk about HIIT, or high intensity interval training, in the fitness space. But, what really is HIIT?
HIIT is quick bursts of work at a high effort/intensity followed by slower work or rest. For it to be considered HIIT, there must be rest times built in.
Examples of HIIT: sprints, plyometric circuits, tabata circuits
High Intensity Interval Training can have a lot of benefits. However, it puts a lot of strain and stress on the body because of the high intensity nature of it. Intense exercise can lead to elevated levels of cortisol in the bloodstream and heightened symptoms of physical stress, even when exercise is not being performed.
But wait, what is cortisol?
Cortisol is a hormone that is released in response to stress, including exercise. The release of cortisol activates the sympathetic nervous system, generating a fight-or-flight response. Cortisol is responsible for physiological changes, such as the quick breakdown of fats and carbohydrates and a rise in blood sugar for immediate energy, and repressing the immune system to focus the bodies’ energy on the potentially life threatening task at hand. This boost is meant to fuel your muscles to respond to a threatening situation. However, when we have constant high levels of cortisol, our body is constantly in fight or flight and preparing for a threatening situation.
What happens to our body with high cortisol levels?
The problem with cortisol is that when our body has too much of it — either because of physical or mental stress — it floats freely in the bloodstream, causing negative symptoms to creep into your everyday life. High cortisol levels can result in:
rapid weight gain, often unevenly distributed to the abdomen
mood swings, which can present as anxiety, depression, or irritability
weakened immune system & recurring illness
increased blood pressure & blood sugar levels
So if HIIT burns a lot of calories and you need to burn calories to lose weight, why is it hindering my progress?
Stressors can come in many shapes and sizes. They can also be good stressors and bad stressors. Exercise is a good stress on your body, while lack of sleep is a bad stress on your body. However, our bodies and cortisol levels cannot differentiate between good stress and bad stress. The body only sees stress. Therefore, any amount of stress on the body will increase our cortisol levels. If you are constantly stressed because of things going on at home, work, or even have relationship stress, it isn’t beneficial to add another layer of stress on your body. When you add HIIT (another stressor) you are actually doing your body a disservice. Your body isn’t able to process through these stressors and will stay in fight or flight mode. As stated previously, this has a myriad of results that aren’t typically what we are looking for from exercise, and can result in weight gain.
So what can I do if I have high cortisol levels?
You can 100% still workout! Working out is a stress reliever (mentally), even though it is putting stress on your body (physically). When you have high cortisol levels, it is important to work on low impact exercise routines and focus on keeping your heart rate low. This would include weight lifting with longer rest times or LISS – low intensity steady state– exercise. LISS is cardiovascular exercise in which you do aerobic activity at a low-to-moderate intensity for a continuous, and often extended, period. This means you are focusing on keeping your heart rate lower, so that you don’t add another stressor to your body.
Examples of LISS:
Treadmill incline walks
Stairmaster
Steady biking
Walking
Yoga
Pilates
I totally understand that this can all be hard to navigate and confusing when starting out. Having a coach in your corner to help make sure you are navigating your hormone levels is always beneficial and I’d love to connect — DM me on insta and let’s chat!
xxx,
Coach Kaitlyn
