HIIT for fat burning/shredding

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uwouldluvme2
uwouldluvme2 Posts: 188 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm doing HIIT tonight in addition to my strength training. Gonna run on treadmill at 7.0 for 30-45 seconds and then walk at 3.5 for a minute. I'm wondering if 20 minutes is long enough or should I go longer (30-45 minutes)?

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  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
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    20 minutes would be a good workout. 30-45 would be a better workout (if your goal is calorie burn). While I LOVE HIIT and do it often, there is nothing magical about it. It may burn a slight bit more than steady state, but the "after burn" claims are often over exaggerated pretty heavily.

    That being said, is 7mph a balls out sprint for you? If it is, that's fine, but it seemed kinda slow for a HIIT session in my opinion. The point of HIIT is to go full on, not just a faster pace. If you are new to running or really short, I apologize for the assumption.
  • uwouldluvme2
    uwouldluvme2 Posts: 188 Member
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    Hornsby wrote: »
    20 minutes would be a good workout. 30-45 would be a better workout (if your goal is calorie burn). While I LOVE HIIT and do it often, there is nothing magical about it. It may burn a slight bit more than steady state, but the "after burn" claims are often over exaggerated pretty heavily.

    That being said, is 7mph a balls out sprint for you? If it is, that's fine, but it seemed kinda slow for a HIIT session in my opinion. The point of HIIT is to go full on, not just a faster pace. If you are new to running or really short, I apologize for the assumption.

    Thanks. It's a faster pace. I wouldn't say it's an all out sprint, although I am winded after about 30-40 seconds. So the goal is to be running extremely fast and then slow it down? Not just faster than normal?
  • queenofpuppies
    queenofpuppies Posts: 189 Member
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    I had a friend tell me I should do HIIT for 10 minutes past the point where i thought I was going to throw up and die. maybe a little dramatic but the point is to push push push. If thats 20 minutes great, if its 45 awesome.
  • jacklifts
    jacklifts Posts: 396 Member
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    HIIT is pretty taxing. Start slow, like 10-15 min. See how it goes. Then add minutes as you can. While traditional tabata is all-out, I'm not sure you really have to do that to reap the benefits of HIIT. Good luck.
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    edited November 2015
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    uwouldluvme2 wrote: »
    Hornsby wrote: »
    20 minutes would be a good workout. 30-45 would be a better workout (if your goal is calorie burn). While I LOVE HIIT and do it often, there is nothing magical about it. It may burn a slight bit more than steady state, but the "after burn" claims are often over exaggerated pretty heavily.

    That being said, is 7mph a balls out sprint for you? If it is, that's fine, but it seemed kinda slow for a HIIT session in my opinion. The point of HIIT is to go full on, not just a faster pace. If you are new to running or really short, I apologize for the assumption.

    Thanks. It's a faster pace. I wouldn't say it's an all out sprint, although I am winded after about 30-40 seconds. So the goal is to be running extremely fast and then slow it down? Not just faster than normal?

    I sprint at 10-12 for as long as can - 45 seconds to a minute, and then back down to 6mph or 6.5. Break times vary on how long I want the session to be. Sometimes that's 20-30 minutes (questionable on whether it should even be considered HIIT), down to 5-10 minutes ( A true HIIT session in my opinion)
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    True HIIT is/was designed to increase the fitness capacity of already very fit individuals as you get to a point where fitness progression is very slow. Most people who think they're doing HIIT really aren't doing HIIT.

    As far as the claims of fat just melting off and after burn, etc...most of that is highly exaggerated...HIIT is a fitness thing, not a diet thing.
  • uwouldluvme2
    uwouldluvme2 Posts: 188 Member
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    jacklifts wrote: »
    HIIT is pretty taxing. Start slow, like 10-15 min. See how it goes. Then add minutes as you can. While traditional tabata is all-out, I'm not sure you really have to do that to reap the benefits of HIIT. Good luck.

    Thanks!
  • uwouldluvme2
    uwouldluvme2 Posts: 188 Member
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    queenofpuppies wrote: »
    I had a friend tell me I should do HIIT for 10 minutes past the point where i thought I was going to throw up and die. maybe a little dramatic but the point is to push push push. If thats 20 minutes great, if its 45 awesome.

    Interesting. No, don't feel like I'm going to throw up. I should probably be going longer.
  • uwouldluvme2
    uwouldluvme2 Posts: 188 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    True HIIT is/was designed to increase the fitness capacity of already very fit individuals as you get to a point where fitness progression is very slow. Most people who think they're doing HIIT really aren't doing HIIT.

    As far as the claims of fat just melting off and after burn, etc...most of that is highly exaggerated...HIIT is a fitness thing, not a diet thing.

    I have reached somewhat of a plateau and want to take it to the next level. Thanks. I really appreciate the advice/suggestions. I'm probably one of the ones thinking I was doing HIIT...clearly wasn't. I will be going forward though ;-)
  • uwouldluvme2
    uwouldluvme2 Posts: 188 Member
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    Hornsby wrote: »
    uwouldluvme2 wrote: »
    Hornsby wrote: »
    20 minutes would be a good workout. 30-45 would be a better workout (if your goal is calorie burn). While I LOVE HIIT and do it often, there is nothing magical about it. It may burn a slight bit more than steady state, but the "after burn" claims are often over exaggerated pretty heavily.

    That being said, is 7mph a balls out sprint for you? If it is, that's fine, but it seemed kinda slow for a HIIT session in my opinion. The point of HIIT is to go full on, not just a faster pace. If you are new to running or really short, I apologize for the assumption.

    Thanks. It's a faster pace. I wouldn't say it's an all out sprint, although I am winded after about 30-40 seconds. So the goal is to be running extremely fast and then slow it down? Not just faster than normal?

    I sprint at 10-12 for as long as can - 45 seconds to a minute, and then back down to 6mph or 6.5. Break times vary on how long I want the session to be. Sometimes that's 20-30 minutes (questionable on whether it should even be considered HIIT), down to 5-10 minutes ( A true HIIT session in my opinion)

    Wow! That's impressive. I don't think I'm there (yet), but I do think I should be increasing my speeds now that I have more understanding of what I'm supposed to be doing. Thanks again

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