8 Reasons to do High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

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.

FammaMel

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.

I understand cardio isn't for everyone. But HIIT training can be completed in a variety of forms including cardio. You can perform on an elliptical, a treadmill or outside if you wish. One example would be begin with a 30 second brisk walk or jog (whichever you are most comfortable with) followed by a 30 second full out sprint.Repetitions are up to you. If you are just starting you can begin with a 12-min total workout. It is about pushing YOUR body to its limits.

Determinednoob

Can you please give some example workouts? I'd like to try to incorporate HIIT into my workout regime. Here are some examples of exercises I like: swimming, jogging, eliptical, stationary bike.

Do any one of those at a moderate speed for 1 minute then fast for 1 minute and alternate for however long you feel like it.

Fozzi43

Gonna try these workouts!