HIIT - treadmill training

CanadianMag

Last night I tried to do something different, rather than run for 5k I do 3 times a week. I did some HIIT on the treadmill and I really enjoyed it, when I was done I felt like I had an awsome work out - even up until today. There appears to be soo much data on how to do them I got confused.
-This is what I did.. I would love feedback on what needs to be done to make it more harder. Do I eliminate the rest time, or run faster, or run longer? Also, on the rest time, do a walk fast? or completly stop. It appears every one has a different spin

- 5 min warm up walking at 3.5

- Sprint 8.2 for 30 seconds
- Walk 3.7 for 90 seconds
-
Repeated for 15 minutes

5 min cool down walking 3.5


My last 2 sprints got my HR up to 191!! That is slighly above my max - but I felt like I could handle it. I was winded by not dead.

jemhh

I think this is a good question but I would say good luck getting an answer There are a ton of different opinions on this. I do something similar like this:

warm up 10 minutes (5 minutes isn't enough for me)
30 seconds - run at 8.something
30 seconds - stand on rails
repeat the 30/30 nine times for a total of 10 minutes of intervals
cooldown walk

sjaplo

I think the key is to get your heart rate up into a zone that is almost anaerobic, so if what you're doing works - go for it.

I warm up for 4min at 6.5 and then run intervals of 2min at 7.5 and 8, back to 6.5 in between.

CanadianMag

I think you answered my question. " getting to a anaerobic state"

sjaplo

Good - as it gets easier, you either go faster or longer!

sydneycampb3ll

I have a question for you all since you seem to be HIIT veterans I was just wondering if there are more benefits to HIIT than endurance cardio, i.e, running at a moderate level for 45-60 minutes as compared to the maybe 15-20 minutes of HIIT? I am sure there a number of varying opinions but I've always heard that you need to have an elevated heart rate for 30+ minutes to burn stored fat, and anything under burns your daily calories. I definitely feel like I'm working harder doing HIIT type workouts, but because it's shorter it never seems like I've done enough to burn some serious calories. I am new to all of this so I apologize if I have any wrong information!

sjaplo

This is a pretty good article for comparing the two. If you are using time as your metric, then HIIT is more efficient. But they both work and I guess it depends on what you enjoy doing.

http://www.ideafit.com/fitness-library/hiit-vs-continuous-endurance-training-battle-of-the-aerobic-titans

tulips_and_tea

Personally, I don't stop completely on the rest periods. I just slow down. However, as you said, and as others such as jemhh posted, stopping is necessary. The key is to keep increasing your sprint intervals, but keep your rest periods, of course. It's a great way to workout efficiently, but you have to always remember to keep pushing yourself and never let it get easy.

chunkytfg

Try adding some incline into it also. My Run coach as part of my circuit has me doing

17kph@0% 60secs/30sec rest then 3x(15kph@8%/15sec rest)

I then go onto a bit of plyometric lifting and box jumps but shows a ogg way of mixing it up. After the incline sprints I find the flat faster ones almost easy!

CanadianMag

chunkytfg wrote: »

Try adding some incline into it also. My Run coach as part of my circuit has me doing

17kph@0% 60secs/30sec rest then 3x(15kph@8%/15sec rest)

I then go onto a bit of plyometric lifting and box jumps but shows a ogg way of mixing it up. After the incline sprints I find the flat faster ones almost easy!

17??? Holly crap! good for you.

chunkytfg

Cheers. Couldn't even imagine holding that for any length of time but it is helping with running efficiency when I slow down. My coach is a 400m hurdler so runs at about 30kph! the treadmill doesn't even go that fast! lol

you don't need to use the speeds though but the concept makes for a very good variation. basically hill repeats but on a treadmill. Dont be worried about having to remain on the treadmill for the whole time though. I spend more time stood next to it than I do sprinting on it!

Foamroller

OP, listen to your muscles. Use grid of rules just as a starting point, adjust to YOUR body and training level.

Remember that lactate threshold is not fixed, it can be trained to a higher level.

Set mini-goals and challenge yourself regularly and you'll see big progression

I second as above posted that changing the incline (and workout routine) sometimes is very good. Cause it helps prevent repetitive use of same muscles.

Common sense goes a long way.

TRIAL AND ERROR FTW

Azdak

sydneycampb3ll wrote: »

I have a question for you all since you seem to be HIIT veterans I was just wondering if there are more benefits to HIIT than endurance cardio, i.e, running at a moderate level for 45-60 minutes as compared to the maybe 15-20 minutes of HIIT? I am sure there a number of varying opinions but I've always heard that you need to have an elevated heart rate for 30+ minutes to burn stored fat, and anything under burns your daily calories. I definitely feel like I'm working harder doing HIIT type workouts, but because it's shorter it never seems like I've done enough to burn some serious calories. I am new to all of this so I apologize if I have any wrong information!

Different workouts have different benefits. It shouldn't be an "either/or" choice.

First let's get the whole "fat burning" idea dismissed. During exercise your body will shift the mixture of fuel substrates (mostly fats/carbs) according to the duration and intensity of the workout. And the body is always using a mixture of the two--it doesn't "switch" from all of one to all of the other. However, the type of fuel used during exercise has NO effect on stored body fat. Trying to maximize "fat burning" during a workout is pointless for losing weight.

Endurance workouts will usually burn more total calories than HIIT, even if you count the so-called (and often overstated) "afterburn". HIIT workouts are superior for increasing your max fitness level which allows you to work harder during all your workouts and this burn more calories.

Including both in your routine is what I usually recommend.