HIIT-Afterburn

tflyswagg
tflyswagg Posts: 52 Member
edited November 13 in Fitness and Exercise
A few days ago I posted a question, which seemed to spark up more of a debate than anything else. How much HIIT is enough/too
much? People were telling me that there is no way I am burning that many calories doing HIIT on an elliptical or doing any exercise on a machine. Does anyone else
who DOES do HIIT feel it works you out better and that your body continues to burn calories post workout?

Replies

  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    http://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article folder/epocarticle.html

    The afterburn is greatly exaggerated in comments. The science shows how hard it is to get even 100 calories of EPOC.

    HIIT itself is a good fat burning methodology. One problem is that many people don't get to the intensity levels required. Even for testing that wasn't "all out", participants needed to reach 95% of max HR during the intense portions. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100311123639.htm

  • tflyswagg
    tflyswagg Posts: 52 Member
    Thanks Brian this was extremely helpful. This week I am doing stair exercises anyways, I plan to change my type of cardio and other workouts every week so my body doesn't get used to one motion, should I just use MFP calculation for each workout as a general number. For instance, my 45 minutes of workout minus the intervals let's say its truly 28-32 minutes of workout and let MFP calculate it with what they have in there system. I don't have a heart monitor and how else would one calculate floor or stair exercises?
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    edited February 2015
    HRMs will GREATLY exaggerate the burn of any interval-type training. Don't go there.

    The easiest way to get a burn estimate is to go out and see how far you can run in that same time period. Then you can use

    miles run * body weight in pounds * 0.65 = calories burned

    which will give you an upper limit on what your body is capable of burning. An elliptical will typically be 60-80%, a stair master somewhat less.

    It's not perfect, but will get you close, and keep you from some of the truly preposterous numbers so many MFPers insist on assigning to their workouts.
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    http://prevention.sph.sc.edu/tools/compendium.htm

    To use the MET table ... use your weight in kg * the number from the table for the activity * duration in hours.

    Moderate effort elliptical has a MET value of 5.0 ... so for your roughly half hour workout would be 2.5 x your weight in kg.
  • tflyswagg
    tflyswagg Posts: 52 Member
    Mr. Knight I Live in Michigan i don't plan to run mile outside anytime soon but I'll keep that in mind if I get access to a indoor track.
  • tflyswagg
    tflyswagg Posts: 52 Member
    Thanks Brian
  • sofaking6
    sofaking6 Posts: 4,589 Member
    Kg or lb?
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
    edited February 2015
    tflyswagg wrote: »
    A few days ago I posted a question, which seemed to spark up more of a debate than anything else. How much HIIT is enough/too
    much?


    I'll just leave this right here.

    https://experiencelife.com/article/steady-state-cardio-vs-high-intensity-interval-training/

    I'll throw in the wonderful ending quote:

    "Gym-goers can be extremists. They don’t just like their group cycling classes or weightlifting workouts, they love them — so much that they’ll keep doing them even long after the workouts have stopped making them feel, look, or perform better. “The biggest thing we need to respect,” says Robertson, “is that it’s not one extreme or another. There’s a time and a place for both low- and high-intensity training. You just have to figure out how to put it together into one seamless, integrated package.”

  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    Comparing METs to your personal effort isn't a perfect system but it is less prone to exaggeration than HRMs for intervals.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    If it's 45 minute long workout it isn't really HIIT - it's just interval training.
    Not that interval training is a bad thing of course, as a cyclist I do interval training a lot.

    Lyle McDonald estimates estimates the EPOC from HIIT at 14%. But remember that's 14% of a fairly small number as really 20 minutes is the upper limit for true HIIT which should be using maximal effort. Steady state EPOC can be approximately 7% but that can be 7% of a large number depending on duration.

    Your question "how much is too much" depends on your goals, your recovery, what you are doing in your other workouts etc.

    By the way if I remember correctly your machine was giving 800+ cals for 45 minutes?
    Zero chance of that being accurate I'm afraid. You would need to be an elite athlete in their prime to have a chance of that. A Tour de France rider for example.




  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    edited February 2015
    The MET way is good. Only caveat is that heavier, out of shape people should fudge that number down, as it over-estimates in case of unfitness and obesity.

    But like the other method above, it will at least give you a reliable upper bound.
  • tflyswagg
    tflyswagg Posts: 52 Member

    sijomial wrote: »
    If it's 45 minute long workout it isn't really HIIT - it's just interval training.
    Not that interval training is a bad thing of course, as a cyclist I do interval training a lot.

    Lyle McDonald estimates estimates the EPOC from HIIT at 14%. But remember that's 14% of a fairly small number as really 20 minutes is the upper limit for true HIIT which should be using maximal effort. Steady state EPOC can be approximately 7% but that can be 7% of a large number depending on duration.

    Your question "how much is too muclmkh" depends on your goals, your recovery, what you are doing in your other workouts etc.

    By the way if I remember correctly your machine was giving 800+ cals for 45 minutes?
    Zero chance of that being accurate I'm afraid. You would need to be an elite athlete in their prime to have a chance of that. A Tour de France rider for example.




    Yes, my machine was giving me readouts between 800-850 calories. The workout was introduced to me on YouTube and the guy on there even says you can burn 800+ calories doing the workout. I am happy with the workouts he shows regardless of if the calories are incorrect. It motivates me, because it's like having a personal trainer in my living room, It makes me workout harder than I would without the video and I sweat amazingly! I know I'm getting my cardio in without doubt. I by no means am stating im actually burning what it says, thats why i am on here to see what others are saying but if I'm NOT burning 800+ calories then I am going to have to believe other people not doing more intense workouts like I am are burning 350+ calories on the elliptical in 45 minutes going at a less intense pace than I am. Months ago I would just start working up a good sweat after 25-30 minutes at a good pace. Doing this I'm drenched in sweat by that time.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    That you enjoy it and are motivated by it is great!
    Whatever the calorie accuracy it's certainly doing your fitness some good.
  • tflyswagg
    tflyswagg Posts: 52 Member
    Well I am hitting my macros everyday, someone mentioned eating back calories, I have not gone over 1200 a day and I am drinking half my body weight in ounces of water+ per day so even without the workouts I think my body would still be better off than if I wasn't watching what I ate or moving my body as much.
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