What Is HIIT Yoga? Should You Be Doing It?

When searching for yoga styles, you can easily get lost in the options, which keep on adding through the years. But the bottom line is that these yoga styles vary in difficulties, requirements, and benefits.

The pacing of yoga styles can be slow, like hatha yoga and yin, or fast, like vinyasa yoga, which follows a dynamic sequence with flowing and smooth transitions of poses.

Then there’s HIIT yoga or high-intensity interval training. It is a yoga style that combines intensive and heart-pumping exercises and traditional yoga poses.

Imagine doing many burpees, mountain climbers, jumping jacks, and squat jumps. If you want to learn more about high-intensity interval training HIIT as strength training or you are thinking about attending a HIIT class or yoga session, read on.

HIIT Yoga – What Exactly Is It?

HIIT yoga is more than a quick cardio solution. It’s a combination of the traditional practice of yoga and high-intensity training.

It doesn’t necessarily mean that all explosive or strenuous exercises fall under HIIT. But when you add HIIT yoga to your workout, be prepared to give your all, challenge yourself, and push your capabilities beyond limits.

So what are HIIT workouts?

For yoga poses to be considered yoga HIIT, you must reach up to 90 percent of your maximum heart rate. High-intensity workouts are all about heart rates as they determine whether you are giving your best to your HIIT yoga class.

There are tiring exercises, such as jumping or running, but they can only be considered HIIT if you have reached the desired heart rate. This means that you can perform exercises or yoga poses more strenuously for them to be considered yoga HIIT since they are pumping your heart rate at its maximum level.

HIIT Yoga – The Advantages

Is it worth looking for yoga teachers and enrolling in a HIIT class? Yoga HIIT has its pros and cons. Here’s a look at the advantages of this type of yoga workout:

1. HIIT yoga boosts your health

This high-intensity exercise is good for your cardio or cardiovascular health. The movements making your muscles work hard will boost your physique and overall body wellness in the long run.

Yoga HIIT is a cardio and whole-body workout that helps build your muscles while increasing your lung capacity. The cardio-based flows, counter stretches, dynamic movements, and HIIT moves also help burn calories.

2. HIIT yoga urges you to step beyond your comfort zone

The high-intensity yoga classes and workouts will make you work harder and try fitness routines, training, movement, lunges, and flow you never thought you would ever do. In the process of challenging yourself physically and mentally, you will feel stronger and discover new endurance, tension, and energy.

As you benefit from your HIIT yoga classes and continue burning calories, you will realize how the workout makes a perfect complement to stretching and other full-body exercises.

3. HIIT yoga is exciting

You should give HIIT yoga fitness classes a try before dismissing the workout as exhausting. While the movements and increased heart rate will always pose a challenge, your yoga teacher will assist and guide you with the movements until you are ready to do the exercises at your own pace.

Instead of the challenge, you may want to focus on the health benefits of the training. Doing the same thing repeatedly in life and fitness workouts can become dragging and boring.

HIIT yoga will bring back the enthusiasm in the word exercise. It will make you look forward to coming to your yoga classes for training and trying exercises that boost your heart rate.

HIIT Yoga – The Disadvantages

HIIT yoga is good for cardio health, body strength, tone, breath, and balance. So what could go wrong with HIIT yoga workouts?

Here are some of the cons of trying HIIT yoga:

1. Overtraining is possible

HIIT yoga is typically done once or up to three times a week. Doing training on consecutive days is not recommended to give your body a chance for an active recovery.

However, HIIT yoga is a modified HIIT workout, so there is a chance to underestimate one’s efforts in the exercises. When committed repeatedly, it will lead to injury and fatigue.

When you reach this point in doing HIIT yoga, it means that you have overtrained. You may either look for a more qualified yoga teacher or classes or find other exercises that will make you feel better.

2. Combining yoga and high-intensity exercises can be confusing at times

Yoga is an established exercise form, and HIIT continues to make waves in the fitness industry. They both offer benefits and boost body health.

However, when yoga and HIIT are combined, the workouts and movements may become complicated. This is why finding reputable yoga classes with trained teachers is important if you are set on trying HIIT yoga.

Doing poses and transitioning from one yoga pose to the next may cause injury, incorrect form, and lack of proper engagement.

Also, yoga has taught you to exercise on a mat without wearing shoes. You can still do HIIT yoga on a mat, but you must wear shoes.

Training without proper footwear may injure your joints since they need cushioning and support.

3. You may experience training under yoga teachers without proper certifications

Not all certified yoga teachers are licensed to teach HIIT yoga classes. The high-intensity movements must be taught by trainers who have undergone and acquired certifications.

Yoga teachers may be well aware of the anatomy and alignment of the body, but the moves required in HIIT yoga need more training and understanding.

The Takeaways

HIIT yoga is challenging but offers many health benefits, specifically to your muscles and cardio. Trying the workout always has its cons, so you must proceed cautiously.

While the workout can boost your strength and health, improper training may lead to injuries. Make sure that you weigh the exercise’s benefits and consequences, and research the yoga studio and trainers before joining HIIT classes.

Try Sweatbox Yoga for your HIIT yoga practice. As Singapore’s top yoga studio, with capable and qualified trainers to lead you to safe yet effective HIIT classes and workout sessions.