8 Reasons to do High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

stacielow

One of the reasons I LOVE Turbo Fire! I work harder and burn more calories. I am averaging a 2lb a week loss doing HIIT. :bigsmile:

I love BeachBody!! Currently moving into my 6th week of Insanity and am thinking of doing Turbo Fire when I am done! I saw changes in my body and muscle tone, in just 2 1/2 weeks of doing Insanity! It really works... Also, as a mom of 3 kids you work more efficiently in less time:happy:

jadedone

You can also just mix things up on your cardio machine, run, walk, whatever.

Do 2 minutes normal pace followed by a 1 minute sprint. Repeat this for around 12-20 minutes. As you get fitter, reduce he ratio between rest and sprinting. You can do 1:1 ratios. (Tabata is basically the reverse ratio for a really short period of time. 20 secs sprint, 10 secs rest for 4 minutes.

Natihilator

I need to do more of these for workouts

porffor

Great thread and have saved the sets posted. Thanks!

I really enjoy intervals and find I work a lot harder - I do these myself on my bike too.

bizco

Thanks for posting!

mes1119

I like to do this on the elliptical. 90 second of moderate resistance (I use 8) followed by 60 seconds of high resistance (I use 18). I repeat that for 30 min (after a 5 minute warm up).

Don't know if it is true HIIT, but I feel like I get an awesome workout from it and people always stare at me wondering why I'm sweating so much, hahaha.

jadedone

I like to do this on the elliptical. 90 second of moderate resistance (I use 8) followed by 60 seconds of high resistance (I use 18). I repeat that for 30 min (after a 5 minute warm up).

Don't know if it is true HIIT, but I feel like I get an awesome workout from it and people always stare at me wondering why I'm sweating so much, hahaha.

Yup that's it. Alternating bursts of working really hard and taking a little break.

glowbuggy

I have seem to have hit a wall w/ my walking on my treadmill. I think I will try some of these and see if it help!!! Thanks soo much for posting!!!!!!!

tuffytuffy1

Bump

knelson422

I have found that instead of running my butt off I am loving the DVD's I got - Bob Harper Inside Out Method - cardio and strength training. I sweat a ton, and it is a FULL body workout. I trained for and ran a 1/2 marathon, 15K, and 5 K last year, and my back started to bother me. I switched to these DVD workouts and my back doesn't hurt at all anymore. It is lower impact on my body, but so much more effective. I have noticed a huge difference in my arms, shoulders, and back. This kind of workout works so much better for me. Good luck!!

hsmithway

I loathe intervals, but I do them at least twice a week on the "it's good for me" principal

kathleen2001

sarahgilmore

re: doing it right

high intensity - it's all about what's high-intensity for YOU.

For some people, a brisk walk is high intensity. For some, its a jog, for others it's a full on omg-a-tiger-is-going-to-eat-me sprint.

They key is to be honest with yourself, and on a scale of 1-10 where 1 is lying down and 10 is something you could only do for 30-60 seconds, your high-intensity intervals are around a 9-10.

As far as the Tabata protocol is concerned, if you aren't totally buggered at the end of the 4 minutes, you're not going hard enough. I still can't do a full 4 minutes yet.
A shorter time overall, but with a much higher intensity, is going to benefit you more with this than less power for longer. So make the most of it. Go completely squirrel-on-caffeine mental for your high intensity intervals.

kittybear86

Great post .

Angelic_Fatty

HIIT is all I do with my trainer. I do no cardio at all, zero nada zilch. People are always so confused when i tell them. The two main reasons I do it is to burn fat but also to build lean body mass to increase my basal metabolic rate, meaning I will burn more calories just living on a daily basis.

My trainer deemed this important for me cause I'll never ever be one of those ppl who hit the gym 5-6 days a week, so we have to be as effective as possible. Also during midterms and finals, which is basically my life, I can't waste study time at the gym i'll be way too stressed (yes yes i know it's supposed to relieve stress, doesn't work for me). So in periods where I'm not exercising as much as usual i won't pack on the pounds at a fast rate as would be if i were a runner who just stopped running.

My trainer uses cross fit a lot as an inspiration for my workouts. I do the "girls sets" a lot. Hope you'll get some ideas.

http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/13_03_Benchmark_Workouts.pdf

Isn't HIIT intense cardio though?

Esther50

I need these examples! Thx

baoneill29

Just finished my first week of Insanity and I am loving the High Intensity workouts. I feel like I run 5 miles in 30 minutes when I'm done!

Carol_L

HIIT is all I do with my trainer. I do no cardio at all, zero nada zilch. People are always so confused when i tell them. The two main reasons I do it is to burn fat but also to build lean body mass to increase my basal metabolic rate, meaning I will burn more calories just living on a daily basis.

My trainer deemed this important for me cause I'll never ever be one of those ppl who hit the gym 5-6 days a week, so we have to be as effective as possible. Also during midterms and finals, which is basically my life, I can't waste study time at the gym i'll be way too stressed (yes yes i know it's supposed to relieve stress, doesn't work for me). So in periods where I'm not exercising as much as usual i won't pack on the pounds at a fast rate as would be if i were a runner who just stopped running.

My trainer uses cross fit a lot as an inspiration for my workouts. I do the "girls sets" a lot. Hope you'll get some ideas.

http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/13_03_Benchmark_Workouts.pdf

Isn't HIIT intense cardio though?

No. I do HIIT 4 days a week, and we don't do cardio. As one of my favorite nutrition gurus put it: Cardio is for hamsters.

tnqnt

Bump:-)

linz1125

I can't wait to do this! I love trying new things in my workouts, this will be perfect.