High intensity interval training for all ages and weights.

Newfiedan

I wanted to post this for the people on here who get intimidated by the very words "high intensity interval training" and I also hear quite frequently that they can not do it due to their weight or age. Now here is what I say to them, do not be scared, do not run from it. The basics are where you start from and build upon from there. The benefits are huge as its a very time effective workout meaning you do not need to work out in a gym for hours on end. Here are the basics;

1) Warm up, stretch and get loosened up.
2) Start off at your usual pace for walking, if you are not a walker then do a light jog, or if you are wheel chair bound then wheel along at the usual pace.
3) Ramp up the pace until you are breathing hard, push yourself out of that comfort zone for 30 seconds. If you can not push that hard then do it for as long as you can. Now I do not mean huffing puffing and dying here, I mean so that its a pace you can not maintain for more than 30 seconds.
4) Back off and allow yourself to get back to just above a comfortable pace again you should be able to breath through your nose in deep controlled breaths.
5) Repeat for as long as you can maintain it but try to not exceed 1 hr max.

That is it. No more, no less. Once the walking is no longer a challenge switch to jogging, once jogging is no longer a challenge then move to running and so on and so forth. The idea is to just get going and get started and cut out the excuses, take a good hard look in the mirror and say today is the day to get started.

3ur3ka

great post

ngolston

I haven't tried it yet but I am seeing more and more articles about it and folks who are loving it I like how it something that you can adapt to your own fitness level and do in as little as 20-30 minutes.

misscristie

THANK YOU!!!!

I've been wondering how to start doing this. I tried C25K and I injured my knee on day 1 and have been too scared to push myself too hard. This is a great way to work my way up to kicking my own booty.

THANK YOU!!!!

JillyCornwall

Brilliant advice..and yes I fit the remit of terrified I was too fat/old to work out like this..but I walk...and I do exactly as you suggest...at first I did it just to see if I could...I could..so now I try to increase it each time I walk....yesterday I actually managed a few jogging spells....a real breakthrough for me..and LOL I actually enjoyed it....boy though my ankles are stiff today..so this mornings walk was a wee bit slower!

lisaidem

I started interval training on my treadmill (that's what my treadmill calls it), but I'm not sure if it qualifies as "high intensity." The treadmill goes through the warm-up, then for 40 minutes it goes between 90 seconds at 2.5mph and 30 seconds at 5.0 mph. I know a lot of people here WALK at 5.0, but that is a run for me. By the end of every 30 seconds I'm like "it better stop soon, or I'm gonna eat it here!" I think the 5.0 is fine for me, in terms of the running part. At first the 2.5 mph is a bit slow, but then by the middle of the workout I'm grateful for the 90 second reprieve. My goal is to keep upping both the "slow" speed and the "fast" speed, but I think this is working.

Something I find really odd though, is that it says I burn the same amount of calories as doing this as 40 minutes of walking at 3.0. Going by the HRM built in to the machine. I won't stop doing it anyway, because I love the sweat it gives me, and feeling out of breath. And, I have to admit, I kind of feel like a bad *kitten*.

Newfiedan

get a heart rate monitor, I can burn up to 800 cals in 40 mins, but the cal burn is not the goal here its to get the heart rate cycling, the body responds with; !?!!!? what the hell make up your mind response and therefore cranks up the heart rate across the board. More importantly and the reason it is so effective is that it evokes a strong metabolic response as the body is now is a state where it has to be ready to go into high gear at a moments notice, the more often you do it the greater the benefits to a max of 4 times a week. The benefits can last for up to several hours post workout sometimes even as long as 24-32 hours after. Once you no longer find HIIT working switch to metabolic resistance training which benefits last even longer as well as positive muscle growth and benefits lasting up to 48 hours post workout.

lisaidem

get a heart rate monitor, I can burn up to 800 cals in 40 mins, but the cal burn is not the goal here its to get the heart rate cycling, the body responds with; !?!!!? what the hell make up your mind response and therefore cranks up the heart rate across the board. More importantly and the reason it is so effective is that it evokes a strong metabolic response as the body is now is a state where it has to be ready to go into high gear at a moments notice, the more often you do it the greater the benefits to a max of 4 times a week. The benefits can last for up to several hours post workout sometimes even as long as 24-32 hours after. Once you no longer find HIIT working switch to metabolic resistance training which benefits last even longer as well as positive muscle growth and benefits lasting up to 48 hours post workout.

LOL, now you have to explain metabolic resistance training!

I can imagine that effects of doing the interval training last for at least several hours--I felt kind of keyed up until 1am last night. And I swore as I lay in bed trying to sleep that my heart rate didn't feel like it was at resting.

Ezwoldo

I do quite a bit of this and I can say that for getting fit it is really good, but try not to do the sessions in consecutive days as you will burn out really quickly.

Newfiedan

metabolic resistance training or MRT, is basically cardio with weights in it simplest form. The kettlebell workouts use this idea and you can modify them to use dumbbells instead. Here is my routine now.
1) Dumbbell swings using 50-70 pounds, (Go lighter when you are starting out 20-25 if you are not used to it)
3 sets of 15 swings.
2) Dumbbell thrusts (commonly called tabata thrusts) I do 2 sets of 15 with the same weight.
3) Snatches doing it with 30-40 pounds. 2 sets with 30 pounds at the moment
4) Plank to pushup position 1 set of 30
5) Pushups 2 sets of 15 trying to launch myself off the floor at the peak
6) dips 2 sets of 30 unassisted (use assist if you are starting out)
7) pull ups 2 sets of 15, I need assistance on this so use a chair or counterweight.

Now I do a 30 second break in between these to drink water and get back down to a resting hr. But the set is intended to raise my hr to near max each time. I do not recommend it for a beginner until you learn proper form and learn proper use of weights. You can easily hurt yourself if you are not careful. I also modify it once a week to keep the body guessing. Overall workout time is 40-50 mins 3 times a week so far, may go 4 if I feel up to it.

Newfiedan

I do quite a bit of this and I can say that for getting fit it is really good, but try not to do the sessions in consecutive days as you will burn out really quickly.

yes do it every 2nd day listen to the body if you are dragged out then take it slower.

shawntraceygerald

This is an awsome explanation and does not "scare" women! when i first heard of circuit training or interval training i paniced but it is not as scary when i began it!

maryh1974

I will give this a try,I use to do this when I was on body for life and it was really cool , with good music and a friend it's awesome..anything to get healthy
you should make a website and post all these great tips , it would be easier to find and we could bookmark it for easy finding:)
Thank you so much for caring and helping..

shawntraceygerald

hey how much and where do i get one of those heart rate things????

callipygianchronicle

Like another poster I do intervals on the elliptical (incline 4, resistance 1 alternating with incline 10, resistance 8), but the intervals are longer than what you have posted (90-120 seconds each). What is more critical, the intensity of the intervals or the length of the intervals? My workout length is 45 minutes.

Ezwoldo

hey how much and where do i get one of those heart rate things????

You can get them from E-bay quite cheap it depends on how far you want to take it as to how much you spend same with anything really, Polar do some pretty good ones

Newfiedan

yes polar hrms are good ones, and usually under 100 bucks.

Newfiedan

Like another poster I do intervals on the elliptical (incline 4, resistance 1 alternating with incline 10, resistance 8), but the intervals are longer than what you have posted (90-120 seconds each). What is more critical, the intensity of the intervals or the length of the intervals? My workout length is 45 minutes.

For the beginner 30 seconds is lots for the advanced 90-120 seconds is good. I go for as hard and as long as I can push it, depending on the day that can last up to 200 seconds. I vary it up though ranging from 30 to 200 seconds, but I am slowly moving away from HIIT and into MRT. I like the MRT because I am more of a weight than cardio oriented person but I still run for the cardio side of it and I have come to enjoy it.

callipygianchronicle

Like another poster I do intervals on the elliptical (incline 4, resistance 1 alternating with incline 10, resistance 8), but the intervals are longer than what you have posted (90-120 seconds each). What is more critical, the intensity of the intervals or the length of the intervals? My workout length is 45 minutes.

For the beginner 30 seconds is lots for the advanced 90-120 seconds is good. I go for as hard and as long as I can push it, depending on the day that can last up to 200 seconds. I vary it up though ranging from 30 to 200 seconds, but I am slowly moving away from HIIT and into MRT. I like the MRT because I am more of a weight than cardio oriented person but I still run for the cardio side of it and I have come to enjoy it.

Ha! I consider myself a beginner still. But I guess I’ve been doing okay :-)

Newfiedan

Ha! I consider myself a beginner still. But I guess I’ve been doing okay :-)

you would be surprised how fast your cardio improves on this program.

twinwolf

So if I'm doing 30 mins on my treadclimber. I'm doing 3.0 to start (warmup) and after my first 5 mins, I crank it to 3.5 for 5 mins, then back to 3.2 for 5 mins, then back up to 3.5 for 5?

Is five minutes too long? I can get 5 mins at 3.5, but I'm getting close to getting out of control. From 3.0-3.2 my avg HR is 164-166 bpm. At 3.5 mph it goes between 171-177. Usually first minute is 171, then goes up to 174/177..

My treadclimber has a max speed of 4.0 mph.. It doesn't have a set pattern for going up and down speed wise. I have to move it manually. That is part of why I have been leaving it for 5 minutes at a time.

Would it be easier just to buy a treadmill that does all that?

Opinions? Thoughts?

Newfiedan

any variance is beneficial but to determine if you are doing it right or not go back to the basic description you should be breathing hard at the peak of the interval and then back to close to normal at the low.

rachpiper720

For me, this is the best way to go because I can combine my cardio and strength training into one workout and blast away 800 calories in 45 minutes. I love, love, love my interval timer! AWESOME POST!!!! I love reading your stuff...so informative. Thanks!

Newfiedan

bump for the late nighters.

Mayor_West

A clarification needs to be made- there's a HUGE difference between HIIT and regular Interval training. The main difference? HIIT stands for HIGH INTENSITY Interval Training. Meaning that during the working phase of the session, you should be working at about 90-95% of your max heart rate. In other words, the working phase of the session would equate to ALL-OUT, MAXIMUM EFFORT sprints, to get your heart rate as high as it can. As a result, most people can only work at such a level for 10-12 minutes maximum. Very athletic types can get into the 12-15 minute range, and only elite level athletes can go longer than 15 minutes. So, with this in mind, if you can go past 10 minutes and you're NOT breathing heavy, you simply are NOT WORKING HARD ENOUGH.

Now, I'm not trying to scare anyone with this, but the distinction DOES need to be made. HIIT is not for the faint of heart and it does require you to work incredibly hard and be mentally resilient. But, it's incredibly effective for considering how little time it requires and, like weight training, it's infinitely adaptable. You can increase the difficulty as you progress over time, changing either the duration of the work phase, rest phase or both. For absolute beginners, I'd recommend a mere 10 minutes:

00:00 Warm up - 5 minutes
05:00 Sprint -15 seconds
05:15 Walk/Jog - 45 seconds
06:00 Sprint -15 seconds
06:15 Walk/Jog - 45 seconds
07:00 Sprint -15 seconds
07:15 Walk/Jog - 45 seconds
08:00 Sprint -15 seconds
08:15 Walk/Jog - 45 seconds
09:00 Cool Down - 1 minute

Once you've done this for a few weeks, you can add more intervals to increase the intensity.

Also, I'm in no way trying to knock standard interval cardio, either. In and of itself, it is much more efficient at burning bodyfat than standard, steady-state cardio. However, it shouldn't be confused for HIIT.

Good= Steady-State Cardio
Better= Interval Cardio
Best= HIIT

Newfiedan

A clarification needs to be made- there's a HUGE difference between HIIT and regular Interval training. The main difference? HIIT stands for HIGH INTENSITY Interval Training. Meaning that during the working phase of the session, you should be working at about 90-95% of your max heart rate. In other words, the working phase of the session would equate to ALL-OUT, MAXIMUM EFFORT sprints, to get your heart rate as high as it can. As a result, most people can only work at such a level for 10-12 minutes maximum. Very athletic types can get into the 12-15 minute range, and only elite level athletes can go longer than 15 minutes. So, with this in mind, if you can go past 10 minutes and you're NOT breathing heavy, you simply are NOT WORKING HARD ENOUGH.

Now, I'm not trying to scare anyone with this, but the distinction DOES need to be made. HIIT is not for the faint of heart and it does require you to work incredibly hard and be mentally resilient. But, it's incredibly effective for considering how little time it requires and, like weight training, it's infinitely adaptable. You can increase the difficulty as you progress over time, changing either the duration of the work phase, rest phase or both. For absolute beginners, I'd recommend a mere 10 minutes:

00:00 Warm up - 5 minutes
05:00 Sprint -15 seconds
05:15 Walk/Jog - 45 seconds
06:00 Sprint -15 seconds
06:15 Walk/Jog - 45 seconds
07:00 Sprint -15 seconds
07:15 Walk/Jog - 45 seconds
08:00 Sprint -15 seconds
08:15 Walk/Jog - 45 seconds
09:00 Cool Down - 1 minute

Once you've done this for a few weeks, you can add more intervals to increase the intensity.

Also, I'm in no way trying to knock standard interval cardio, either. In and of itself, it is much more efficient at burning bodyfat than standard, steady-state cardio. However, it shouldn't be confused for HIIT.

Good= Steady-State Cardio
Better= Interval Cardio
Best= HIIT

High intensity varies in definition from one to the next, for example a 300 pounds man that is 5ft tall will have to work just as hard as a 6ft tall man who weighs 200 pounds to get to a 5 mph jog. So no it does not need clarification at all, what it needs is proper application.

Newfiedan

bump

Newfiedan

bump

lisaidem

I think that both of you have valid points, and now I have a better idea of what I'm doing...I'm doing interval training, not HIIT. I understand now that I'm running, not sprinting. And as it was said, my sprint is not going to be anyone else's sprint, but that's not what matters--it's the effort that matters.

dublvision2

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dltldisney

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