Anyone try Burst training? (HIIT)

Geekyfatgirl

I went out for Valentine's day to look for some cardio equipment. This guy told me that he was a gym trainer and had tons of clients, telling me there was a better way to get out of my cardio by training in the right heart rate zone. He said most gyms aren't as specific about the zones and said if you have an HRM, you can track when you're in the right fat burning zone. He explained if you are on cardio an hour a day not getting your heart rate up into the "carb burn zone" you'll end up burning all fat and give me the fat burning results. He swears by this and say people keep running and bringing their heart rate up to burn all sugars, not fat, and wonder why at the end they still look fat.

Then I went to do some extensive research, and I have half saying that is true, and another half saying "it's true but... the next day you burn all sugar." That's where this "burst training" comes in. People say the best way to lose body fat, is to over exert yourself for small short amounts of time and then relax for a few minutes, and to continue it with a few reps of this 'burst' exercise. They say you do the same with weights, rather than try to do so many reps, do as many as you can in 30-45 seconds, then rest for a minute, rinse and repeat. So my question is, has anyone done this High intensity training and seen results? Do you really only need to do 12-20 minutes of it every other day (3x a week) or is this something that people aren't giving you all the information correctly on? I want to try it to see how it would work with me. Heck, if I can do in 12 minutes what I could do in an hour, I'd go for it.

Please share your thoughts and stories!

Geekyfatgirl

I'm just curious to find out which is more 'effective' in terms of losing fat.

AllanMisner

What you eat and how much of it you eat will lead to fat loss/fat gain. So, with extra money, I’d say, buy better, more nutritionally dense foods. Now you can afford to eat better.

sofaking6

Everything I've seen recently has said that the HIIT training may burn a few more calories over the course of the few hours after your workout, but it's like....10 more calories or something pretty negligible like that.

The original intent of HIIT training is to increase your oxygen efficiency and help you work out *better* over time since you'll be getting more oxygen to your muscles with each breath (that's probably not the right way to say it but close enough for us lay-persons). So you really have to go all-out on the intervals in order to accomplish that.

With all that said, I've been doing HIIT workouts and I just plain like it as a format, the rest time is nice because I'm one of those with a mental problem that makes me half-*kitten* a lot of cardio. If you tell me to jump around for half an hour, I'm tired right away. But if you tell me to jump around for 20 seconds and then take a rest, I'm super into it. Mental!

So, no I do NOT think you can really do just 20 minutes of HIIT and get the same results as 2 hours of cardio. But I do think it can work well if it matches up with your personality type.

Geekyfatgirl

Thanks! Find this information helpful.

It's just so confusing when you see all these trainers telling you "this is what burns fat" "No this burns fat", "No eating carbs" "Carbs are good" "Don't eat these foods" "Eat foods in good moderation and stay in your calorie deficit" "Work out 3x a week" "Work out 5-6 times" It all starts to sound so confusing!

sofaking6

Two things to keep in mind as you get to learning:

1. Everyone trying to sell you something will lie. Don't *ever* listen to a salesperson about diet or fitness or health, they are the absolute most unreliable source. And frankly, this may offend some folks here, but most trainers I've met are just salespeople with good bodies.

2. Different things work for different people, but people tend to think that what worked for them will work for everyone. So one person may have had great success working out 3x a week and now goes around telling everyone that working out 6 times a week will never work. I'm sure that most of us here (myself included) indulge in this to one degree or another.

So yes, listen to other people's experiences, and try things out, but remember that you're unique in both mind and body and eventually will need to find your own way. And you can!!! People here will be very helpful as long as you never ever ask about a detox or cleanse.

KJoubert1966

^^^^^^ This chick is dropping some wisdom up in here ^^^^

knitapeace

sofaking6 wrote: »

With all that said, I've been doing HIIT workouts and I just plain like it as a format, the rest time is nice because I'm one of those with a mental problem that makes me half-*kitten* a lot of cardio. If you tell me to jump around for half an hour, I'm tired right away. But if you tell me to jump around for 20 seconds and then take a rest, I'm super into it. Mental!

Sounds like every Fitness Blender HIIT workout I've ever done, like, ever. "Twenty seconds?! I can do ANYTHING for 20 seconds!!" Pant, pant. "Wait, my 10 second rest period is over??? What kind of timer is that lady using anyway???" Pant, pant.

I love HIIT for indoor wintertime workouts but I'm looking forward to my outdoor runs once the weather becomes tolerable.

sofaking6

KJoubert1966 wrote: »

^^^^^^ This chick is dropping some wisdom up in here ^^^^

Aw thanks, man

knitapeace wrote: »

Sounds like every Fitness Blender HIIT workout I've ever done, like, ever. "Twenty seconds?! I can do ANYTHING for 20 seconds!!" Pant, pant. "Wait, my 10 second rest period is over??? What kind of timer is that lady using anyway???" Pant, pant.

I love HIIT for indoor wintertime workouts but I'm looking forward to my outdoor runs once the weather becomes tolerable.

ROFL I started with a Chris Freytag HIIT dvd (which is awesome btw if you're looking), then tried some FB ones - at first I couldn't figure out why they were so much harder but finally I realized, most of theirs are 40 seconds on/20 seconds rest! That couple is in seriously good shape.

TBargar101

I've been following a weekly cardio routine that incorporates HIIT. The routine is based on max HR. 80% of the total weekly minutes is at 50-70% of max HR (high volume training), 10% of the weekly time is at 70-80% of max HR (maximum steady state training), and then 10% of the weekly time is a HIIT interval routine. My HR exceeds 90% of the max during the HIIT routine, but is not steady obviously. I read that an interval HIIT routine should not be started until the total minutes of cardio reaches 200 per week. The only way I can do this is with a HR monitor. It also helps that the cardio equipment at my health club senses the HR transmitter and displays the HR. I've also weight trained on alternating days. This has worked for me as I've lost body fat and maintained muscle tone.

Geekyfatgirl

sofaking6 wrote: »

Two things to keep in mind as you get to learning:

1. Everyone trying to sell you something will lie. Don't *ever* listen to a salesperson about diet or fitness or health, they are the absolute most unreliable source. And frankly, this may offend some folks here, but most trainers I've met are just salespeople with good bodies.

2. Different things work for different people, but people tend to think that what worked for them will work for everyone. So one person may have had great success working out 3x a week and now goes around telling everyone that working out 6 times a week will never work. I'm sure that most of us here (myself included) indulge in this to one degree or another.

So yes, listen to other people's experiences, and try things out, but remember that you're unique in both mind and body and eventually will need to find your own way. And you can!!! People here will be very helpful as long as you never ever ask about a detox or cleanse.

Oh wow thanks for that! I kind of figured that the sales guy was just trying to get me to buy his machine and give me "tips" that will help me lose body fat for good. It's just so hard to really figure out what would work for me, I've tried so many things so I always try and do extensive research. I will keep trying to figure out what my groove is, thank you for your wise words!

Geekyfatgirl

TBargar101 wrote: »

I've been following a weekly cardio routine that incorporates HIIT. The routine is based on max HR. 80% of the total weekly minutes is at 50-70% of max HR (high volume training), 10% of the weekly time is at 70-80% of max HR (maximum steady state training), and then 10% of the weekly time is a HIIT interval routine. My HR exceeds 90% of the max during the HIIT routine, but is not steady obviously. I read that an interval HIIT routine should not be started until the total minutes of cardio reaches 200 per week. The only way I can do this is with a HR monitor. It also helps that the cardio equipment at my health club senses the HR transmitter and displays the HR. I've also weight trained on alternating days. This has worked for me as I've lost body fat and maintained muscle tone.

Oh interesting. I was wondering if I wanted to do HIIT, if I would have to train to do that, as in getting my cardio up first. I do some cardio circuit training on my weight training days, and it usually has me pretty winded. One full circuit of 5 moves for 30 seconds, 2 minute rest, and repeat for 3 reps. If you don't mind me asking, how do you calculate your HR Max% ? Does it go by your age and what your resting heart is? I think I have seen a few calculations on how to do it, but there's been so many out there. I might just try a little bit of everything and see how it goes, because I really do want to lose my stubborn body fat.