Lyndsey Forfar is studio manager and head trainer at F45 Vauxhall (
f45training.com/vauxhall)
The skills you need to be a good runner can be finetuned in a HIIT workout. HIIT workouts use timed intervals, combining short bursts of high intensity exercises with lower-intensity exercises or rest. In the high intensity periods, your heart rate reaches at least 80 per cent of your maximum rate and then recovers quickly and decreases in the rest periods.
Tabata training, which uses the format 20 seconds of work/10 seconds rest, is one of the most effective ways to increase stamina and fitness. You’re moving in quick blasts, with a short time to recover, forcing your body to move again when it is still tired. Lower-intensity exercise doesn’t test your heart rate or lungs in the same way. It keeps your heart rate at about 50-70 per cent. When we run, our heart rates are in more similar zones to HIIT workouts.