HIIT for Women Over 50

You may have read or heard about HIIT or High Intensity Interval Training, the latest fitness craze, and heard that it will burn fat and help get rid of the ring around your mid-section. 

Sounds great until you watch a video of a crazy, insane workout featuring sculpted bodies and note the smiles pasted on their faces while they drip sweat. On second thought, maybe not for you?

Wrong! HIIT is a relatively short workout, allows for modification, done 4x week, that gets results in how you look and feel. HIIT for women over 50 works. 

And the research shows that for women that are peri (the period before actual menopause) to post-menopausal, HIIT is an effective form of exercise to help you lose the fat that seems to be part of that physical change. 

Studies printed in “Menopause, The Journal of North American Menopause Society”, reported that researchers have found that HIIT workouts show measurable physical improvements. 

¹Nunes, etal reported in March,2019 reported that HIIT resulted in a greater decrease in adipose (fat) when compared to a traditional strength and cardio workout over 12 weeks.

²Jabbour and Iancu in the January 2021 issue found a significant improvement in oxygen consumption after 6 weeks of HIIT training regardless of fitness level. 

Both studies concluded that HIIT is a time-efficient and effective way to improve health and lose weight. (Oxygen consumption is measured to help determine general physical condition.)

Keep in mind that the workouts will improve your health and burn unwanted fat, but you won’t see changes overnight and no amount of exercise will outdo bad eating.

It sounds like I’ve lost my mind, but HIIT is easy to modify, just about anyone, yes you, can do a HIIT workout with little or no special equipment and get results.

I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to get crazy and you may impress people, especially your kids, when you tell them what you’ve been up to.

What is HIIT?

First, a quick rundown on what’s involved in a HIIT workout and why it works when the exercise program you are used to doing doesn’t work.

What makes this workout different and why does it burn fat better than other workouts?

You know that the extra fat that may have appeared overnight is not your imagination. You may be doing exactly what you’ve always done but your body has changed. What used to work for you in the past- walking, jogging, extreme dieting, may not be work now. 

You’ve suspected it has to do with your age, the change, menopause and you’ve nailed it!

The frustration of thousands of women has been heard and there are finally studies that prove we are not just crazy middle-aged women.

Studies done by numerous researchers including those mentioned previously, have zeroed in on the type of exercise will actually trigger fat-burning more efficiently than the standard “jog until you drop”.

I don’t guarantee you’ll get rid of the extra around your waste but it’s the most effective type of workout for burning fat.

All exercise programs must be accompanied by a good nutrition plan because no workout will make up for bad eating habits! This is really important with when doing HIIT because you must have quality gas in your engine in order to have access to the special sauce, or you will run out of fuel before the end of even a short workout.

HIIT Basics:

HIIT workouts begin with a 10-minute warm-up. Use a variety of moves to wake up upper and lower body. You can march or jog in place at an easy pace. Move side-to-side with hamstring curls. Do some front knee lifts, knee circles, arm circles, and easy squats.

All workouts should end with a cool-down period of at least 5 minutes. This is where you can stretch the areas that you focused on during HIIT or spend some time on trouble spots. 

The types of HIIT for women over 50 consist of short periods or intervals of exercise followed by short periods of rest and repeating that pattern for a pre-determined number of sets or rounds. The number of rounds depends on the exercises used and the length of the work intervals.

Here’s the secret sauce: HIIT is short and sweet (?). That’s what burns fat. But you can’t mess around when you’re suppose to be working. No Sandbagging Allowed! 

The work and rest segments can be as short as 10 seconds or as long as a minute. The workout gets more difficult as the work segment gets longer and rest gets shorter.

The exercises may be cardio such as marching or running in place or strength such as squats or planks. Both types of exercise are important for women over 50!

The exercises can be performed sitting in chair or as high stepping as you want to get! The options for the type of exercises available are endless. 

The best part of any HIIT workout, regardless of whether you are an athlete, haven’t worked out a day in your life, had no sleep last night or feel like you can conquer the world, is that the intensity of your work is determined by you on that day! There probably won’t be 2 workouts where those short bursts of activity are the same.

Just remember the secret sauce! (Work hard for a few seconds to trigger the fat burn.)

The Secret Sauce:

The effectiveness of HIIT for women over 50, and the fat burning result, depends on the intensity of the short work intervals!

If you can keep going forever, you’re not working hard enough for you. Or if you feel light headed, nauseous or can’t catch your breath you’re working too hard. 

By starting out a little cautiously you’ll get used to the work and will be able to adjust your intensity with confidence. Remember, you’re not trying to match the intensity of anyone else, not even your best friend. That’s the beauty of this workout, it’s totally yours.

So, how do you know when you’re working at the right intensity?

A smart watch or other heart rate monitors are great gadgets but not necessary unless medically advised and you don’t have to stop and take your pulse after each work interval.

There are 2 methods that can safely and effectively be used to determine intensity. They can both be used anywhere, anytime with any workout.

Both methods self-regulate, in other words, they will change daily with changes in how you feel, your energy level and changes to the workout. Most importantly, they teach you to listen to your body.

The easiest and incredibly accurate way to determine how hard you’re working is with the Talk Test.  

It consists of 3 rules to remember:

1. If you can sing a song or hold a conversation with your workout buddy during the work interval, you’re not working hard enough. Pick up the pace, both of you.
2. If you can’t breathe or are gasp out a word, you’re over doing it. Slow down!
3. If you can speak 2-3 words at a time during the interval, you’ve hit the sweet spot. You should be breathing a little hard.

RPE, or Rate of Perceived Exertion scale can also be used with no special equipment. 

On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being “no effort” and 10 being “extreme effort” you can assign a rating to the work you’re doing. The intense interval should fall in the 7-9 range. This scale also changes day-to-day with how you’re feeling.

Intervals:

Now that you understand the concept of intensity, let’s talk about the intervals. As I mentioned, the workout will become harder as the work segments get longer and the rest segments get shorter. 

Beginners can start with 10 seconds of work followed by 20-30 seconds of rest, completing 4 sets. As the work gets easier, increase the work and/or decrease the rest or increase the number of sets to 8. The work to rest ratio should not be less than 2:1 with the optimal timing being 20 seconds work to 10 rest for 8 sets. 

This ratio has been studied by physiologists worldwide and has become known as Tabata timing after ³Japanese scientist Dr. Izumi Tabata, whose team compared interval workouts of using various intervals and rest periods to hour-long continuous workouts.

Their results found that 4-minute interval workouts 4 times a week burned more fat while building strength than the hour-long workouts done 5 times a week.

I personally like the idea of 4 minutes.

The research team finally determined that the most effective interval timing was 20 seconds work to 10 seconds rest for 8 sets. This became known as Tabata and is now used to describe just about any HIIT workout using 20/10 intervals.

There are many options for length of HIIT intervals and the number of sets besides the famous Tabata that will get very good results. HIIT workouts generally keep the same pattern throughout the sequence or circuit so you can concentrate on the intensity of the work. 

Check out some other HIIT options like 30/20/10 or Fartlek that you may want to try to keep things interesting.

Pick Your Poison:

Now for the exercise options that are used for HIIT.

Just about any exercise will work!

Most HIIT does involve a cardio exercise or cardio exercise alternating with strength moves. The use of cardio only will usually increase the intensity and therefore limit the length of the work. As intensity grows the length of the interval needs to decrease.

I’ve included a list of my favorite HIIT exercises to use for both cardio and strength. I generally use simple moves so you can master the exercise easily and concentrate on the intensity. I also include no-impact options for many of the cardio exercises as well as options for exercises like push-ups (argggggg) and squats.

Beginner Format:

Here’s what a beginner format for a HIIT workout might look like:

• If I choose jumping jacks (or low-jacks) for the cardio move, I will do jumping jacks for 20 seconds followed by 20 seconds of rest and repeated 4 to 8 times.
• Or if I want to add squats as a strength move, I can do jumping jacks for 20, rest 20 (set 1) followed by 20 seconds of squats and 20 seconds of rest (set 2) before repeating the jumping jacks.
• Repeat for a total of 4 to 8 sets. 

The workout gets a harder as the work gets longer, rest gets shorter or more sets or rounds are added.

Gym or Home?

Finally, your options for where you do your HIIT workout range from live classes at a fitness center to online videos, live-streaming classes or do-it-yourself. Each has its plusses and minuses.

Let’s take a look at live classes that may be offered at your local gym, recreational center and online classes, whether pre-recorded or live.

The beauty and the beast of live classes is that the instructor, hopefully a certified trainer or group fitness instructor, chooses the exercises and the of work/rest intervals and the number of sets for the class. The instructor may alternate between different exercises or stay with 1 for all sets.

You don’t have to plan out your HIIT workout, just follow the leader!

Here’s the caveat. Even in a class, where the instructor is calling the shots, you can make alterations to your workout.

No problem with a recorded class or on-line. But in a live, in-person class you should make modifications that will not affect the rest of the class.  You can ease up or rest early if the work interval is too long or ask for a modification or different options for an exercises you cannot perform.

Be aware that live HIIT classes will vary on the amount of craziness involved so ask about the format of the particular class you’re interested in or ask the instructor what options are available and who the typical class participant is.

A mix of people with varying fitness levels is a good place to start if considering a live class.

If you’re just starting HIIT you may find a room full of 20-year-old hardbodies a bit intimidating. Same goes when the class consists mostly of old pros with few newbies. We can get overly competitive trying to keep up and then need a week to recover.

HIIT is a great workout to do on your own or with your workout buddy. Just remember HIIT for women over 50 works because of the secret sauce! 

You will have to do a little pre-planning. You’ll need a list of exercises and the length and number of intervals you want to complete. Keep it simple! Think intensity rather than complicated.

HIIT can be done with no equipment or you may need some basic equipment depending on the exercises you choose. Mats, hand weights, bands and tubing are inexpensive and don’t take up much space.

HIIT can be done in a relatively small space as long as you can extend your arms and legs in all directions. Figure in hopping or jumping space if you that’s your thing. My students and I have used bedrooms, family rooms, decks, hotel rooms, and the front yard.

And you’ll need a timer of some kind, something that signals to you automatically so you don’t have to keep an eye on the time. You should not use precious time watching the clock. 

Most smart watches will work. Many have interval workout timers. 

There are several apps available as well. I’m a fan of the Seconds Pro app. It allows me to build and save different timers, can be used with stored music and can also speak or give an audible signal when it’s time to change from work to rest.

To design your basic HIIT workout:

1. choose 1 or 2 exercises
2. the timing you want to use
3. the number of sets or rounds you want to complete
4. Now crank up your motivating tunes, turn on the secret sauce mindset, hit the timer and GO! 

The biggest mistake people make with HIIT is working during the rest period!

Turn up the effort on the next work interval instead. I promise you will feel this workout!

How Often Should You Do HIIT?

As a woman over 50, research shows that 4 workouts per week is the optimum, using a combination of strength and cardio workouts. The other days of the week are not for lolling on the couch! Walk, bike, jog, garden for rest or recovery activity days. 

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommend that adults should participate in moderate exercise 30 minutes, 5 days per week or intense aerobic exercise 20 minutes, 3 days per week.

As women over 50, we can do the work but our cells need more time to recover from our workouts. HIIT could be your choice for all 4 workout days if you are using a variety of formats and exercises. I have my clients complete 2 HIIT workouts per week and 2 strength workouts. 

No matter where and what type of HIIT you choose, concentrate on the intensity of the work phase in order to get the best results from your workout. 

Notes:

• Consult your physician before starting HIIT training or any exercise program.
• Menopause: ¹Effect of high-intensity interval training on body composition and inflammatory markers in obese postmenopausal women: a randomized controlled trial. Nunes, Paulo R.P. MS¹; Martins, Fernanda M. MS¹; Souza, Aletéia P. MS¹; Carneiro, Marcelo A.S. MS¹; Orsatti, Claudio L. PhD¹; Michelin, Márcia A. PhD³; Murta, Eddie F.C. PhD³; de Oliveira, Erick P. PhD^1,4; Orsatti, Fábio L. PhD^1,2 March 2019 – Volume 26 – Issue 3 – p 256-264
• Menopause: ²Comparison of performance and health indicators between perimenopausal and postmenopausal obese women: the effect of high-intensity interval training (HIIT). Jabbour, Georges PhD¹; Iancu, Horia D. PhD² January 2021 – Volume 28 – Issue 1 – p 50-57
• ³Effects of moderate-intensity endurance and high-intensity intermittent training on anaerobic capacity and VO2max I Tabata ¹, K Nishimura, M Kouzaki, Y Hirai, F Ogita, M Miyachi, K Yamamoto
• Med Sci Sports Exerc.: 1996 Oct;28(10):1327-30. doi: 10.1097/00005768-199610000-00018
• ⁴Trending Topic | Physical Activity Guidelines