Fitness formula: HIIT + yoga

Date

08.19.19 More info+

For strength and stamina, hold restorative poses between intense bursts.

People often rest or stretch between HIIT intervals, but recovering with yoga poses can actually give you better results. That’s what Ozgur Alan, Ph.D., a Tier 1 trainer at Brickell in Miami, found in his latest study.

This strategy is already in practice in Athletic Yoga, in which you hold restorative poses between intense moves like burpees and mountain climbers. Serena Tom, a group fitness instructor at Equinox locations in New York City who teaches the class, sums up the benefits nicely: “Pairing HIIT and yoga can help you build lean muscle and stamina while giving you mental benefits like anxiety relief and better sleep.”

The physical advantages may be thanks to the isometric contractions that happen in your muscles when you hold a pose such as Downward Dog or Warrior, Alan explains. Those contractions lower your blood pressure and provide a gentle stretch that helps the muscles return to their optimal resting length, putting them in their strongest position.

Try it: Alan recommends adding one or more of the below pairs, all of which were included in his study, to your regular strength routine three times per week.

For each, do the strength move for 60 seconds at an intensity that raises your heart rate to 80 percent of your max (you should be breathing heavily). When the minute is up, hold the yoga pose for 60 seconds. That’s one set. Complete 4 sets.

Kettlebell goblet squats + Downward Dog

The strength exercise is quad- and glute-heavy. Following it with a subtle hamstring stretch and isometric contraction will keep those muscles from getting stiff.

Kettlebell goblet squat

Stand with feet wider than shoulders and toes turned out slightly. Hold a kettlebell in front of your chest with palms facing you and elbows by your sides. Keep your chest up as you squat, never letting your knees pass your toes. Lower until your knees are bent at 90 degrees, then press up to return to start. Continue.

Downward Dog

Get in a high plank with shoulders stacked over wrists and feet just as wide as your hips. Raise your hips so your body makes an inverted V, with arms and legs straight. Hold here, keeping heels on the mat if possible.

Medicine ball slams + Bridge

High-intensity slam activate the core and arms while Bridge pose engages the glutes. This offers balanced engagement in both the upper and lower body and the posterior and anterior muscles.

Medicine ball slams

Stand tall with feet just as wide as your hips and a medicine ball in front of your chest. Engage the core, bring the medicine ball overhead, and slam it on the ground in front of your feet, bending your knees for momentum. Catch the ball after the bounce, then return to standing and repeat.

Bridge

Lie face up on a mat with knees bent, feet planted on floor just as wide as hips, and arms at your sides. Press through your feet to lift your hips while keeping your feet, head, and shoulders firmly on the ground. Once your hips are in position, roll your shoulders underneath your back and interlace your hands on the ground beneath you. Hold here.

Kettlebell swings + Upward-facing Dog

After fatiguing the glutes with the swings, stretching the opposing hip flexors may help the glutes recover more quickly.

Kettlebell swings

Stand tall with feet slightly wider than shoulders and a kettlebell on the ground about a foot in front of you. Keep your back straight and hinge at the hips to grip the kettlebell, then swing it between your legs. Maintain a straight line from head to hips. Swing the kettlebell up to shoulder height, then between your legs again. Continue.

Upward-facing Dog

Lie facedown on a mat with elbows bent by your sides and palms firmly planted under your shoulders. Extend your arms to lift your upper body. Press the tops of your feet into the mat and raise your legs off the mat. Hold here.

Push-ups + Child’s pose to Cat-Cow

The first works the chest and core while the second stretches those muscles to return them to their strongest position.

Push-ups

Get in high plank with shoulders stacked over wrists, feet close together, and your body in a straight line. Keeping arms close to your sides, lower into a push-up until your elbows are bent at 90 degrees, then press up to return to start. Continue.

Child’s pose to Cat-Cow

Assume Child’s pose by sitting on a mat with legs bent, knees wide, and feet under glutes. Lean forward, resting your forehead on the mat with arms on either side of your head. Transition into Cat-Cow by rising onto all fours with shoulders stacked over wrists and hips over knees. Arch your back, lift your chin and chest, and draw the shoulder blades away from the ears. Then, round your back and release the crown of your head toward the floor. Return to Child’s pose and repeat.

HIIT workout: sandbell Tabata

Sculpt your core with sandbell Tabata.

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