Benefits of [Aqua] HIIT

In our last blog, we covered the concept of heart rate variation in the pool. Some of you responded: “Ehh, that’s great, but does it really matter?” Today, we will review guidelines for physical activity, the benefits of high intensity interval training (HIIT), and the methods we recommend for monitoring heart rate & intensity in the pool… that’s where your “Aquatic Heart Rate Deduction” may come into play!

Health.gov published guidelines for physical activity based on age, and here’s a summary:

• Adults should do at least 150 - 300 minutes a week of moderate intensity (or 75-150 minutes of vigorous intensity) aerobic activity per week, preferably spread throughout the week.

• Additional benefits are gained by working out more than 300 minutes a week; however, any movement is better than no movement.

• Adults should also do full body muscle-strengthening activities of moderate or greater intensity at least 2 days a week. Older adults should incorporate balance training, too.

Sounds straightforward enough, right? But we know you’re wondering… If I have the luxury of time, does the intensity actually make a difference? And the answer is YES. If you’re capable of high intensity workouts (you’re not recovering from an injury, have no underlying cardiac conditions, etc.), we encourage you to incorporate some HIIT into your regular routine.

“Cardio,” or cardiovascular exercise, is often referred to as aerobic exercise. The aerobic system uses oxygen to provide you with sustained energy over long periods of time. But you also have another system, the anaerobic system, which is equally important. Anaerobic exercise uses stored energy in the muscles and fat (instead of oxygen) to provide you with intense bursts of energy lasting less than 2 minutes. HIIT is considered a type of anaerobic exercise.

Improving your anaerobic fitness is associated with many health benefits, but it can also make everyday activities easier. You use this system when you reach down and lift a heavy bag of groceries, get up from the floor, and stand up from a chair. By training your anaerobic system, you’ll notice improvement in your ability to hike or bike up a steep hill and climb stairs, and your pickleball game will improve, too. The anaerobic system is also responsible for emergency-response reactions, like jumping out of the way of an oncoming vehicle or attempting to avoid a fall.

HIIT has three other major benefits compared to steady-state aerobic exercise:

• INCREASED CALORIE BURN. HIIT burns 25-30% more calories than traditional aerobic exercise and requires approximately half the time to do so.

• INCREASED METABOLISM. You will continue to burn calories for hours AFTER your workout is finished.

• IMPROVED BLOOD SUGAR REGULATION. HIIT is better than continuous aerobic exercise when it comes to enhancing insulin sensitivity, which is particularly important if you’re at risk for Type II Diabetes.

Have we sold you on HIIT yet? HIIT consists of short bursts of high intensity exercise followed by recovery periods. A typical HIIT session is somewhere between 4 minutes and 30 minutes in duration, and the general guidelines are to start with 2-3 HIIT workouts per week (more is not better; your body needs time to recover!).

You might not be able to do HIIT on land (sprinting, stairclimbing, plyometrics), but HIIT is easy to do in the water! You can start by including some interval training with your “usual” pool exercises. This could be in the form of a simple Tabata (20” max effort, 10” rest x 8 rounds for a total of 4 minutes) with your favorite exercise, like bell punches or deep water bicycling. Choose an exercise that’s relatively straightforward but that you can do fast and with great effort. And remember, to truly boost your anaerobic fitness and get the benefits of HIIT, you need to push into that “vigorous” zone.

How can you tell if your exercise is “moderate” or “vigorous?”

• HEART RATE.

  • Per the American Heart Association, moderate exercise is 64-76% of your max heart rate; vigorous exercise is 70-85% of your max heart rate.

  • Per the CDC, moderate exercise is 50-70% of your max heart rate; vigorous exercise is 77-93% of your max heart rate.

  • If you read our last blog, you know that your heart rate is going to be different in the water, so you will need to calculate your Kruel Aquatic Heart Rate Difference if you’re going to rely on heart rate.

• THE TALK TEST.

  • If you can sing, this is light intensity. If you can talk easily but cannot sing, this is moderate intensity. If your breathing is heavy and you cannot speak a full sentence, this is vigorous intensity. (You may have heard us say, “If you’re talking, you’re not working hard enough!”)

• THE MODIFIED BORG SCALE.

  • This is our preferred method for aquatic fitness, and we rely on this scale when teaching group classes. Most “vigorous” intervals would be performed at an 8-10, with “recovery” intervals at a 4-6.

Image found at: Exertion and Exercise Safety: What You Need to Know - AlphaNet

If you’re interested in HIIT, but you’re still not sure how to best incorporate it into your workouts, you can trust the pros to guide you! At Anderson Aquatics, we currently offer three classes that have a strong HIIT focus: Aqua HIIT (a deep water only class), S’WET, and Water Warriors. These 50-minute classes consist of a long warm up and cool down, strengthening exercises, and about 30 minutes of HIIT. We do, however, incorporate some interval training into all of our classes (except Yoga). If you’re in need of more customized guidance, you can schedule a 1:1 personal training session, and we will design a program that’s perfect for you!

Do you meet or exceed the guidelines for physical activity? Do you include “vigorous” exercise in your regimen? If so, is it in the pool or on land? Have you tried an Aqua HIIT class? Do you use a heart rate tracker or the Modified Borg Scale to monitor your intensity? We would love to hear from you!

Content provided on this website is for informational and educational purposes only; it does not constitute providing medical advice or professional services. Always seek the advice of your physician regarding your health conditions and prior to initiating an exercise program.