A few HIIT questions, elliptical+treadmill

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jonathandavid_t
jonathandavid_t Posts: 107 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I've been doing HIIT on the elliptical machine for a while now -- a few questions about "progression":

Current settings:
45 minute session.
1 minute work/rest intervals.
Machine set on Level 12 (no idea how this affects work/rest intervals -- it's a LifeFitness machine on "Hill Intervals" program)
"Rest" at minimal resistance, ~9.5km/h, HR=80%max after the first few intervals.
"Work" at maximal resistance, ~16km/h, HR=90%max after the first few intervals
It says I burnt 600 kcal in 50 mins yesterday (45 mins workout, 5 mins cooldown) -- does that sound right? (Minus the 60kcal I'd burn sitting reading a book) I'm a 74kg male. HR monitor is in handles of machine. It doesn't sound a huge amount of kcal to me really -- I supposedly burn 50 calories in a 5 minute warm-up.

Questions:
1. Should "rest" intervals be longer/less-intense? Or is a HR of 80%max "okay" for a rest interval? Should I aim to get it down to say 65%max?
2. To move forward -- increase total time? Increase "work" durations? Increase "Level" on machine? Work harder and decrease total time on machine?

I also mix it with treadmill, 1 min intervals, incline 1.0 (don't know what units), jog 9.5km/h, run 13km/h. That says I burn a lot more kcal (but no HRM, but moving a fixed mass at a fixed speed should presumably use a relatively predictable number of kcal?). Total 14 mins on there, I've only been using treadmill for a week so building up progress on it (again would appreciate advice -- Longer time exercising? Faster run? Other changes?).

Thanks everyone for any advice!
Jonathan.

Replies

  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    The upper sprint interval you may actually get above the maximum HR, if you are pushing yourself. At the end of the interval you should not be able to continue at that intensity/speed. HIIT training sessions are meant to be short in duration. 15-25 minutes. If you are going longer I would up your intensity during the "sprint" portion. I know after 16 minutes my legs are ready to fall off and I can no longer go at that intensity.

    I would suggest fast and harder sprints and shorter total duration of routine.

    From my understanding, for the treadmill anyway, that the recovery interval should be at 60% the speed of the sprint. I do 45 sec sprints at 10.8 mph followed by 1.25 minutes at 6.5 mph (17.3 km/hr and 10.4 km/hr)

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