My HIIT Training/Interval Training

Avalonis

I've already posted this on my blog, but I keep getting questions about HIIT training. So here I'm gonna post it here.

Fairly Recent Research is showing that HIIT training (High Intensity Interval Training) has many of the same cardio benefits as traditional cardio, without eating your upper body muscle mass as badly. This makes it optimal for anyone trying to lose weight and increase leg strength and speed, while retaining their hard earned muscle. Although your TOTAL burn will be lower than the same amount of time doing traditional cardio, research shows your body has a longer recovery period, resulting in a higher overall burn. Also, a higher percentage of the calories burned is fat, rather than muscle. This leads to INCREASED loss rate of fat, while not losing your muscle as much.

For me, I have discovered best way to increase your speed, your leg strength, and your endurance is by doing HIIT training. Go as fast as you can for as long as you can, then walk or jog slowly for an equal amount of time. The best way is to do it at a track or a city block or something. NOT ON A TREADMILL! The treadmill is a good way to get hurt by not being able to keep up.

I use a steep hill ~45 degree angle that is about 100 yards long at a park near my apartment.

Basically, it will look like this:
3-10 minute light jog to warmup. Heart rate should be JUST into your fat burn zone.

Round 1:
30 Seconds sprint. Heart should feel like its pounding out of your chest. Shouldn't be able to breathe easily.
1 minute walk to recover (Can be longer, if you aren't ready yet)

Round 2:
30 Seconds sprint. Stomach beginning to hurt. Legs should be feeling like jello. You should have nothing left to push with by the time your sprint ends.
1 minute walk to recover

Round 3:
30 Seconds sprint. Definitely nauseous. Stomach cramping. Not sure how you are going to do 2 more rounds. Jello legs are trying to lock every time you take a step. You should be having trouble walking.
1 minute walk to recover

Round 4:
30 Seconds sprint. Lungs on fire. Legs on fire. Throat feels like you gargled gravel. This might be where you throw up. If so... time to stop the workout. If not...
1 minute walk to recover

Round 5:
30 Seconds sprint. You are screaming "OH SWEET JESUS I'D RATHER BE FAT!!!!". Crawling to your car my be involved. Don't drink cold water, or you WILL throw up. You should be thinking "WHY THE HELL DID I LISTEN TO THAT SON OF A B**CH ON MFP! *kitten* NEEDS TO DIE!"
1 minute walk/crawl to recover. Go home. Take ice cold shower. Think up ways to kill whoever recommended this workout to you.

Thats it in a nutshell.

Rinse and repeat, I try to do it 3x a week, in addition to Tennis, Weights, Rock Climbing, and Kitesurfing.

ShaeDetermined

love it each time i read it!

AnnaPixie

Brilliant!! :laugh:

I love HIIT. Turbofire's Chalene reckons you burn 9x more calories than conventional cardio. That makes me happy :bigsmile:

Avalonis

I've definitely seen speed an strength increases from it, thats for sure.

Amy_B

Great info! I know during the HIIT phase of Turbo Fire, that is when I finally broke through a yearlong plateau.

hikeout470

I've already posted this on my blog, but I keep getting questions about HIIT training. So here I'm gonna post it here.

Fairly Recent Research is showing that HIIT training (High Intensity Interval Training) has many of the same cardio benefits as traditional cardio, without eating your upper body muscle mass as badly. This makes it optimal for anyone trying to lose weight and increase leg strength and speed, while retaining their hard earned muscle. Although your TOTAL burn will be lower than the same amount of time doing traditional cardio, research shows your body has a longer recovery period, resulting in a higher overall burn. Also, a higher percentage of the calories burned is fat, rather than muscle. This leads to INCREASED loss rate of fat, while not losing your muscle as much.

For me, I have discovered best way to increase your speed, your leg strength, and your endurance is by doing HIIT training. Go as fast as you can for as long as you can, then walk or jog slowly for an equal amount of time. The best way is to do it at a track or a city block or something. NOT ON A TREADMILL! The treadmill is a good way to get hurt by not being able to keep up.

I use a steep hill ~45 degree angle that is about 100 yards long at a park near my apartment.

Basically, it will look like this:
3-10 minute light jog to warmup. Heart rate should be JUST into your fat burn zone.

Round 1:
30 Seconds sprint. Heart should feel like its pounding out of your chest. Shouldn't be able to breathe easily.
1 minute walk to recover (Can be longer, if you aren't ready yet)

Round 2:
30 Seconds sprint. Stomach beginning to hurt. Legs should be feeling like jello. You should have nothing left to push with by the time your sprint ends.
1 minute walk to recover

Round 3:
30 Seconds sprint. Definitely nauseous. Stomach cramping. Not sure how you are going to do 2 more rounds. Jello legs are trying to lock every time you take a step. You should be having trouble walking.
1 minute walk to recover

Round 4:
30 Seconds sprint. Lungs on fire. Legs on fire. Throat feels like you gargled gravel. This might be where you throw up. If so... time to stop the workout. If not...
1 minute walk to recover

Round 5:
30 Seconds sprint. You are screaming "OH SWEET JESUS I'D RATHER BE FAT!!!!". Crawling to your car my be involved. Don't drink cold water, or you WILL throw up. You should be thinking "WHY THE HELL DID I LISTEN TO THAT SON OF A B**CH ON MFP! *kitten* NEEDS TO DIE!"
1 minute walk/crawl to recover. Go home. Take ice cold shower. Think up ways to kill whoever recommended this workout to you.

Thats it in a nutshell.

Rinse and repeat, I try to do it 3x a week, in addition to Tennis, Weights, Rock Climbing, and Kitesurfing.

That's great Avalonis but where I live it is over 100 degrees outside right now, so I will have to try this at a more conservative approach at the gym...

jfinnivan

I tried HIT this morning for the first time. We have a 1/16th mile indoor track at my gym. I used that distance as my HIT unit. I ran once around the track as fast as I could, then fast-walked around twice more. I did this 10 times. I've been running and spinning for a while now, and today, for the first time in a long time, I have sore leg muscles. I like it.

hikeout470

Great HIIT workout, after the warm up I ran 5, increased the mph for 4.5 minutes,then all out sprint for 30 seconds, follwed by walking recovery. Repeated 4 times, I really liked it too.

irridia

if it's too hot, and you can.. swim the same way, it will totally kick your *kitten*.

Excelent description of round 5... I run up stairs.

mberreth

I have just completed my first week of HIIT and I'm hooked. I am just wondering how you guys track it on here. When I go to add it as exercise it's not listed and I don't actually know what kind of calories I am burning. Any suggestions? For anyone just starting out I found this website to be really helpful! http://www.intervaltraining.net

hikeout470

Thanks for the link! I had the same problem trying to log my exercise calories so I just called it straight running...

SuperstarDJ

Round 5:
30 Seconds sprint. You are screaming "OH SWEET JESUS I'D RATHER BE FAT!!!!". Crawling to your car my be involved. Don't drink cold water, or you WILL throw up. You should be thinking "WHY THE HELL DID I LISTEN TO THAT SON OF A B**CH ON MFP! *kitten* NEEDS TO DIE!"
1 minute walk/crawl to recover. Go home. Take ice cold shower. Think up ways to kill whoever recommended this workout to you.

Thats it in a nutshell.

Rinse and repeat, I try to do it 3x a week, in addition to Tennis, Weights, Rock Climbing, and Kitesurfing.

Hahaha!!!! That is DEFINITELY me, except it's the stupid b*tch on my C25k app who gets my vitriolic hatred!!!

irridia

I track it as how much ever walking I think I did and @ what (average) speed (I have cardio trainer on my driod) and then about how long I ran stairs. It's a little more difficult for me because I don't do it for a set time, I just go till I can't... ie feel like I'm going to throw up a a lung or my leg just won't push up that last step at the top.. Right now I'm off all cardio until my psoas feels 100%. It's over all better but still twingie. Yoga even made it worse:explode: :noway:

Avalonis

I have just completed my first week of HIIT and I'm hooked. I am just wondering how you guys track it on here. When I go to add it as exercise it's not listed and I don't actually know what kind of calories I am burning. Any suggestions? For anyone just starting out I found this website to be really helpful! http://www.intervaltraining.net

I use my Bodymedia FIT, it tells me accurate burns.

ChantalGG

I am going to try it out but i need to find a hill... Stair would probably work good too right?

irridia

Stairs work great IMHO. ;-P