HIIT Question

AKosky585

I decided to start some HIIT treadmill workouts throughout the week, and had a question about it...

...every site I have gone to has varied so much when it comes to the workout for a beginner.

One says that for the first week or two , for 20 minutes, one workout a week doing 30 second spring intervals with 4 minutes of walk/jogging in between.

Another says that for a beginner, 30 second sprint intervals, 40 seconds walk/jogging for 20 minutes.

Another yet, says 30 seconds sprinting/ 90 seconds walk/jogging...

....is there any right or wrong way? Considering today was my first day, I did 4 minutes at walking 4.5 mph with 30 second sprints at 9mph. I got an excellent burn, but am I doing this right starting out?

Added Note: My HR is about 185 at the end of the sprints, and at 155 or so after my recovery. Am I walking too fast for recovery, or is the higher HR ok?

sixpacking

Listen to your body, that's your best indicator.

hroush

They are all correct, it just depends on where you are as a beginner. The question is, how did that workout feel to you? Was it easy, okay, extremely difficult, couldn't complete it? If it's anywhere within the first three, make the workout more difficult next time by either decreasing the walking interval, increasing the sprint interval, increasing your speed in one or both, etc. Really, now that you know what it is, you make it your own workout.

When I used to do HIIT on my elliptical (before I even knew what HIIT was), I did 1.5 minute "sprint" followed by 1.5 minute "walk". When this got easier, I added 5 seconds to sprint and subtracted 5 seconds from the walk so that it maintained the 3 minute total.

Knowing more about fitness, try to make it harder at least once a week so that you are forcing your body to adapt. If you wait until it gets easy, you will plateau much faster.

SassyStef

Your fine, I dont believe there is any right or wrong way to do this. It is just about fluctuating your heart rate. Do what you are comfortable with. If you can do 30 sec run and a 90 sec walk for recovery then do it. I like doing 3 min runs and 60 sec walk rest period. Just start some where, make a goal, and build up your running time.

funkyspunky871

I don't think there's really any wrong way to do it. All three suggestions sound good for a beginner in my opinion. Yet, I also think you did the right thing by choosing the "easiest" of the three. You don't want to kill yourself. Now, if it wasn't much of a challenge, you can move on to more sprints with less rest in between... But, if that last workout was a challenge, maybe you should repeat it a few times.

It's like strength training to me. Once it gets too easy, you need heavier weights.... Once cardio gets to easy, you need more intensity, and HIIT is the way to do it.

icsracer

When I started out I did a ratio of 1 to 3. 1 minute high intensity and 3 min recovery. I repeated this 5 times for the first week and did about 3 to 4 workouts a week. I then added an interval a week for eight weeks. Then changed the ratio to 2 to 3. You will have to play with the speeds. At the end of your high interval your heart rate should be about 75% of max and at the end of your recovery it should be at about 120 BPM. I hope this helps.

hippo421

Personally, I would suggest trying the 30 seconds of high impact and 90 seconds of "Rest" if your body can handle it. It would all depend on how long it takes for your heartrate to recover. If your heart is still pounding after 90 seconds of walking, then maybe extend it to two minutes and so forth. You will get the best results with less "rest" throughout the workout. The key is to basically give it your all on the 30 second interval before slowing down. If you find that 30 seconds is to long, try to change it to 20 seconds and then rest for a minute afterwards. You can play around with it, but usually most people can handle 20-30 seconds and the heart will go down within a minute and a half to start all over again. And absolutely, listen to your body but remember HIIT training is not meant to be easy. If you ever get light headed or too short of breath you should stop, and slow down. GOod luck! HIIT training will work wonders for your metabolism!

AKosky585

Thanks so much everyone! I felt alright after the sprints, but towards the end I was getting tired. I might cut short the recovery by a little and see how I feel.