What's your HIIT routine?

themeaningofthemorning

I've been doing 20 second sprint/30 second walk at 8.5mph/3.5mph for 10 minutes, but my trainer wants me to increase this to 9mph/4mph

I'm just concerned that walking at 4mph will keep my heartrate too high and therefore negate the whole point of HIIT? Or am I totally wrong and stupid?

DavidDV78

No 4 mph will not be too much. I do 11-13 mph for sprint and 5-7 for rest cycle for 30 minutes with a 5 minute warm-up and 5 minute cool down

MeanderingMammal

Fifteen minute warm up running at 6mph, then ten times 20 seconds at 11-12mph 20 at 6mph followed by another 15 minute cool down at 6mph.

Alternative is five times 400 metre intervals at 10-11mph 400 at 6mph or three times 1km at 9-10mph with three minutes at 6mph.

themeaningofthemorning

Ah ok I see people are doing much quicker rests than I am, so clearly I'm doing ok.

I should mention I'm super short, though, so 10-11mph is something I'd have to work up to, and honestly I don't know if I could ever get there for more than 10 seconds

gmallan

I'm a big fan of bike HIIT or just running outdoors. Don't find the treadmill very effective for HIIT.

With my bike routine I like to mix up the interval lengths. Last week I did 8 x 20 on 10 off, 8 x 20 on 1 min of squats and 10 x 1min on 1min off. Killer workout

MeanderingMammal

Ah ok I see people are doing much quicker rests than I am, so clearly I'm doing ok.

I should mention I'm super short, though, so 10-11mph is something I'd have to work up to, and honestly I don't know if I could ever get there for more than 10 seconds

It's worth putting it in the context of your reasons for doing high intensity work. For me it's about improving my running speed and ability to work at anaerobic levels, so it works in conjuntion with tempo and long duration moderate intensity work. If you're not doing the tempo work or long duration work then the differential between recovery and high intensities needs to be greater to allow for recovery.

I'm, as upthread, not a fan of hamster wheels, so I train outside so end up with some hill work alongisde the intervals.

themeaningofthemorning

I was definitely thinking of moving my HIIT to the track near my house. I can't stand being in the gym during the summer (though it is a necessity during winter because it rains the whole time here).

But I do know that I'm getting a great workout on the treadmill, regardless of real ground being apparently "better", because I am completely depleted afterwards.

MeanderingMammal

...though it is a necessity during winter because it rains the whole time here.

Why would that matter I live in England...

But I do know that I'm getting a great workout on the treadmill, regardless of real ground being apparently "better", because I am completely depleted afterwards.

I don't see it as better, but very different. I find gyms as a whole to be incredibly boring, particularly for long sessions. I struggle with 10 minutes on a treadmill, never mind two hours.

Again going back to the point about the purpose of the session. For me intervals also help with acceleration, which is entirely down to me when I'm on the pavement. On a machine I'm stuck with the pace that it can accelerate at, which given the transition in a 20 second interval, isn't fast enough.

90anvv

I prefer to do my HITT training at the track, you can run at 100% intensity vs a preset speed on a treadmill. Also treadmills take time to get to speed and slow down from speed. I will either do tabata training at the track or run full out for 100 meters then jog 100 meters and do that for 6 laps.

themeaningofthemorning

It matters because I am seasonally affected! So when the weather is bad, my performance worsens. And it worsens even more if I'm expected to be outside. So it's better for me to be inside on a treadmill in a motivating environment than it is to be outside in the grey, rain, and cold!

themeaningofthemorning

My goal for HIIT is... I don't know! My trainer has me doing it because, according to her, it is better for fat loss and not as likely to be catabolic as steady-state, long-distance running (which I love to do and still do once a week). I guess my goal is to lose fat as quickly as healthily possible and maintain muscle as much as possible at the same time!

MeanderingMammal

Note the smiley...

fwiw I have a feeling that your trainer might be on the HIIT bandwagon, the whole "burns fat faster" is a gross over simplification. Essentially it helps improve V02 Max and the ability of the system to convert fuel at higher intensities, so in activity it becomes easier for the body to access fat stores. That's a slightly less gross over simplification. The whole catabolic thing isn't particularly useful, contrary to what so many HIIT only advocates claim, long duration moderate intensity doesn't eat muscle until you're doing very long sessions repeatedly without refueling adequately.

Back to my original point, in its own right HIIT doesn't do much, but when coupled with other training it improves fuel conversion when doing other sessions, such as your long slow run, or resistance training.

So by increasing your speeds you should start pushing up your intensities, which is what drives the capacity improvements. What you should be seeing from your trainer is a drive to increase your intensities again as you adapt, potentially increasing the speeds and/ or intensities of your highest pace intervals. There is a diminishing return as longer intervals inevitably lead to a slightly lower level of intensity, just to sustain the effort. I'd say that my 1km intervals are probably closer to tempo sessions than intervals, but I'm still more thrashed at the end of them than a comparable duration tempo session.

themeaningofthemorning

Ahh, okay. Thanks for explaining that! I keep researching HIIT and the reasons for it and I have not been getting very far in understanding exactly what it does/how it is beneficial beyond the obvious "pushing yourself" benefits.

I did read a bit about long-distance running and essentially came to the same understanding as what you said about it, so I decided to minimize my long runs just in case and fill in the gaps with HIIT. I figured a balance of all three (heavy weights, long runs, and HIIT) is probably the best way to go, and it looks like I was right!! Yay!