Thoughts on HIIT workouts (High intensity interval training)

Irishfaerie86

I did my first turbo fire HIIT workout today and I loved it! It flew by and Iiked how you did a basic combo routine then the same only a lot faster. According to Turbo Fire's information, it's supposed to burn more calories even when you are resting then if you were exercising on machines at a gym let's say. Now I haven't done the high HIIT workouts yet, only the low impact but I'm pumped. Whether you did turbo fire or another program, did you like that workout style and/or did you find you lost weight faster (or gained more muscle)?

HisStrengthCounselor

I do Turbulence Training. .it works for weight loss and muscle building. I lost 30 pounds just doing it 3 times a week for 10 to 18 minutes

meshashesha2012

- most of the people who think they are doing HIIT really arent
- you should already be physically fit before doing HIIT because you are working anaerobically and not everyone can do that
- the EPOC from HIIT isnt as fantastic as most of those beachbody dvds claim http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=LaForgia J et. al. Effects of exercise intensity and duration on the excess post-exercise oxygen consumption. J Sports Sci. 2006 Dec;24(12):1247-64.

basically the study shows that following a HIIT, someone may burn an additional 13% of the total amount of calories burned during the workout, while someone performing LISS will only burn an additional 7% of the total calories during the workout.

- doing HIIT when you aren't properly conditioned leads to injuries, but that's OK because see #1

but in general, i love them i prefer sprints but it's not something i do all the time since it really affects my hormones.

stuffinmuffin

I do two HIIT workouts at my gym (the Les Mills GRIT series).

I do strength (weekly) and plyomentrics (not so often). I do one to two classes a week which are half an hour each. They actually recommend not to do more that 2 a week and you have to be pretty fit before you start. They generally like you to be a member of the gym and have an awareness of your current capabilities.

The strength one I really enjoy, it's less impact on the knees than the plyometrics - which is a training method which can induce injury if not properly supervised.
My heart rate through most of the session of either GRIT or Plyo is around 177-180+. As an example...going running at 5m kilometres, my heart rate is pretty steady between 160-70.

I don't know about weight loss as I'm maintaining and I just eatback the calories burned during the session according to my HRM. I've not lost or gained weight since doing the class. I have noticed an improvement in fitness in the other activities I do.

SezxyStef

I do them mostly in the winter using fitnessblender.com. I search specifically for HIIT workouts.

I like them as they are quick and it frees up time for me to do other things.

I find HIIT workouts knock the crap out of me...I've seen me lay down afterwards and not move for a couple minutes.

My legs shake, I am sweating in buckets, my arms are like rubber and sometimes (about 6 months ago) I know that there were times I would want to cry it was so hard.

Sounds funny I know but like I said it kicks the crap outta me.

iThriveVentura

Did Grit plyo for the first time....awesome workout! When logging that in my fitness pal....how is it logged?

rjmudlax13

HIIT is the new buzzword in the fitness industry. However, most workouts that claim they are HIIT are actually just slightly intensified normal interval circuit training programs. Also, Plyometrics (Plyo) is a big buzzword too. Again, most programs that say they are plyometric really aren't. It's just slightly more intense interval circuit training.

Not saying there's anything bad about Beachbody programs or other similar programs. They are actually good calorie burns and I think they help people stay motivated. It's just a lot of marketing hype to get you to pay the high prices. There's nothing really super special about them.

jemhh

I prefer steady state cardio. Sometimes I'll run intervals but I experimented with HIIT and it wasn't for me. Part of it was that I am very much not coordinated so some of the movements were beyond me (I'm thinking of a Fitnessblender video that was called something like Red Light Green Light.) And then part of it is that I just enjoy the longer steady state cardio sessions because I find them more pleasant. To each his own, though.

lchadwick3

I use HIIT for sprint days whether on the bike or running. Short bursts of speed followed by rest and repeat. It gets the heart rate up and then you recover. I began doing them when following the Body For Life program. It recommends a 20ish minute workout as follows:

2 minutes warm up at level 4 (like walking up stairs) Then the circuit
1 minute level 5
1 minute level 6
1 minute level 7
1 minute level 8
1 minute level 9 (not quite an all out sprint. As fast as you can maintain for the minute)
Repeat this circuit 4 times.
2 minutes cool down

So about 24 minutes in total with warm up and cool down.
It may take a little bit to figure out the levels. Its much easier to figure this out on a treadmill.

HIIT works for hill workouts too. But those would be sprint, rest, sprint, rest, etc.
The important thing is to push it and then recover and repeat.

As noted in an earlier post, be careful not to push yourself to injury. It will hurt and it's supposed to hurt but its not supposed to HURT. Know what I mean?

lchadwick3

Sorry, I looked at your OP post again and saw that you were mainly asking about weight loss or muscle gain. If you are doing a full body workout like P90X or Insanity then you are going to gain some muscle. A true HIIT workout is going to take you to an anaerobic level though, which will switch past burning fat and will burn some muscle depending on the amount of time you work out.

You WILL burn more calories after the workout is over and those should be burning more glycogen stores and fat than muscle. It will vary between all of us just how it works. It will depend on just how hard your going at it, how soon you ate before working out, if you have more or less fat to burn, etc. Its a tricky science.

You'll just have to play with it and record the results.
Good luck!

GusCantu10

Glad to see your doing HIIT training! And also, a lot of good tips and info here guys. Just wanted to add my 2 cents. So the difference between HIIT training as opposed to LIT (low intensity training) is a few things:
1. You are going to burn more overall calories jogging for example, but the percentage of the "fat calories" burned is going to be low. On HITT training you will be burn less overall calories (but you will burn a higher percentage of "fat calories".
2. THE AFTER BURN! Once again if you are jogging, once you burn your initial carbs and calories (which will be few and only for the first 8-10 mins or so) your body will plateu. Meaning, your body will no longer lose fat the way you want it to. In fact you may even lose a tad bit of muscle. Another thing is that once you get off the treadmill, your body will stop burning fat. On HITT training, we get the AFTER BURN. Meaning even after you are through with your 20 minute workout, your body will still be burning fat even after your workout.
3. LOSING FAT EVERYWHERE! So it's almost impossible to lose fat in just one area. Doing 20 minutes on abs won't necessarily make your fat disappear. Remember, since our abs are under a layer of fat, if our abs grow and petrude forward, your fat will be pushed forward as well -.- and we sure don't want that. So when you do HIIT training, try to involve exercises that include most of the body (ex. Burpees, Mountain Climbers. Squat Jacks, squat jumps etc.). That way we burn fat EVERYWHERE! This is typically why in the "fat loss" phase, I tell people to avoid stationary lifts like bench, sitting curls etc. You still want to build and target certain muscles, but try to involve the whole body each workout.
Hope I didn't take up too much time! And good luck on your goals!

Hornsby

lchadwick3 wrote: »

Sorry, I looked at your OP post again and saw that you were mainly asking about weight loss or muscle gain. If you are doing a full body workout like P90X or Insanity then you are going to gain some muscle. A true HIIT workout is going to take you to an anaerobic level though, which will switch past burning fat and will burn some muscle depending on the amount of time you work out.

You WILL burn more calories after the workout is over and those should be burning more glycogen stores and fat than muscle. It will vary between all of us just how it works. It will depend on just how hard your going at it, how soon you ate before working out, if you have more or less fat to burn, etc. Its a tricky science.

You'll just have to play with it and record the results.
Good luck!

I am assuming the OP is in a calorie deficit since she is trying to lose weight. She isn't going to gain any muscle from TurboFire on a calorie deficit.

AllanMisner

I’ll work HIIT in when I am trying to lean out and I have plateaued. They are too intense for me to do more than once or twice a week. My resting heart rate and heart rate variability are wonk for days. It does give a post workout burn, but at a cost (cortisol and risk of adrenal fatigue). It isn’t something an untrained individual should be doing. But later, it can be an effective tool in breaking a fat loss plateau.