HIIT/Interval Running

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sozzell
sozzell Posts: 166
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi everyone,

So I have decided to change up my running routine as boredom had set in. Decided oHIIT/intervals running outdoors but wanted to ask someone more 'in the know' what they thought of this routine?

Today I jogged about 1/2 a kilometre to the area I wanted to use, then did 1 minute all out as hard/fast as I could, then 1 min walking, then 1 min jogging. I did this for 25 minutes.

I know that I will be burning less calories than I did when I was running 5-6km instead but understand that you burn more calories FOR LONGER when doing it is this way - any other thoughts on this?

Thanks guys.
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Replies

  • doggiesnot
    doggiesnot Posts: 334 Member
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    Zombies, Run! :)

    https://www.zombiesrungame.com/
  • Sheila_Ann
    Sheila_Ann Posts: 365 Member
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    I did it this morning for the first time and thought I was going to die! I used the treadmill. I warmed up for 3 min then I increased the speed to 9 for 30 seconds then decreased it to around 3/4. I wear an HRM so once I was in the middle of my "zone". I went back up to speed of 9 for 30 seconds and kept doing that for 8 sets.

    I burned 279 calories in 35 min. I did that on an empty stomach as well. I'm thinking of doing that 1-2x wk. I won't lie, I was ready to give up when I did my 4th round.

    I agree we will burn more calories in the long run.

    Can't wait to see what others say. Good luck!
  • Lula16
    Lula16 Posts: 628 Member
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    you actually will burn more calories doing HIIT than your regular runs. Your body is working extra hard bringing your heart rate up and down, thats how you burn more calories. I do 2 mt runs/2 mt walks and in 30 mts i burn more calories than a 50 mt run. good luck!
  • creature275
    creature275 Posts: 348 Member
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    1 minute all out sprint is a pretty long time I would cut that back Im a very good runner both distance and sprint and I wouldnt even sprint for a solid minute, try cutting that back to 30 seconds and walking for 45 to a minute I think youll perform better this way, because im assuming by the end of that routine your "sprint" is barely a sprint. at any rate your on the right track HIIT will provide more benefits than steady paced cardio however a good steady paced run is always good to throw in there every few days
  • MinnesotaManimal
    MinnesotaManimal Posts: 642 Member
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    I love HIIT, never done it out side before. I do all my endurance running outside though....... HIIT leaves my muscles burning as much as lifting heavy weights.
  • Sheila_Ann
    Sheila_Ann Posts: 365 Member
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    I love HIIT, never done it out side before. I do all my endurance running outside though....... HIIT leaves my muscles burning as much as lifting heavy weights.

    Did I do it right this morning? It was my first HITT experience lol
  • autumn_mix
    autumn_mix Posts: 34 Member
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    If you are finding that you are especially tired, I don't think it would be too detrimental to change up your sprint/rest ratio to 1:2. So you would sprint all out for 30 seconds, rest for a whole minute (or, I do sprint for a minute, rest two, but usually on a bike). I am doing the New Rules of Lifting for Women and our prescribed HIIT ratio is 1:2, and it's still really tiring but not so much that I want to give up.
  • ryno0618
    ryno0618 Posts: 361
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    I do sprint intervals 1 or 2 times per week as part of my running training. 30 second sprints, 45 second walk. I will do this for 2 miles. You actually burn more calories doing this as you push your heart rate to max, rather than steady state running. On a 5 day running schedule I will do a tempo run, a long slow run, a day or 2 of intervals, a day of hills, etc. Keep up the great work!
  • reggie2run
    reggie2run Posts: 477 Member
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    bump :smile:
  • i_miss_donuts
    i_miss_donuts Posts: 180 Member
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    When I do intervals on a treadmill, I warm up at a decent pace for three minutes then sprint for a minute followed by 2 minute recovery, I repeat this for 20 minutes total and am toast at the end. I have read elsewhere about doing shorter sprint intervals followed by shorter recovery periods which I think would work off a treadmill but would be hard to accomplish when you are constantly needing to bring the treadmill up to and down from a high speed (I sprint at between 9 and 10 and recover between 6 or 7). When running outside I usually just pick a landmark and sprint then recover (light post, car, stop sign) so that I am not constantly looking at my watch, less scientific but still works.
  • BerryH
    BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
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    If you can keep it up for a whole minute, it's intervals rather than HIIT. With HIIT you should be going so fast you can't keep it up for more than 30-40 seconds.

    All exercise has an afterburn, and it's considered more with HIIT and weight training than steady-state cardio. However, there are so many variables in any method of measuring calorie burn (not least that you don't subtract the BMR calories you'd be burning anyhow) it's not worth adding more than W minutes at X speed then Y minutes at Z speed.
  • beebee0925
    beebee0925 Posts: 472 Member
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    bump
  • beebee0925
    beebee0925 Posts: 472 Member
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    Zombies, Run! :)

    https://www.zombiesrungame.com/

    Ooh thanks Doggiesnot I have to try this. It looks like so much fun.
  • sozzell
    sozzell Posts: 166
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    Thanks for all of your comments :-)

    Regarding cutting back the sprint time - I do actually agree with this as, although I gave myself a minute I did find that I started to stop around the 45-50 second mark...

    To the person who suggested the Run, Zombies app...I was interested in this for a while and was waiting for it to come out on Android, but now it has, I kind of begrudge spending a fiver on an app, lol. Maybe if I'm feeling flush with my money towards the end of the month I'll take the plunge and just buy it!

    Also, to the person who mentioned treadmill intervals/HIIT, this was my first time trying it outdoors as I used to do it on the treadmill when I was trying to build up endurance for running, and whilst you do obviously lose SOME time with the machine not slowing down or speeding up quick enough, I actually find it easier on the treadmill because in a way you are forced to run at that high speed if you know what I mean?

    I intend on doing this kind of interval training outdoors three times per week, along with strength training 5 days per week in the evenings (specifically: Bodyrock 30 day challenge). I'm hoping that this mixing up of my workouts will get me back into doing longer runs in the future :-)
    .
  • MinnesotaManimal
    MinnesotaManimal Posts: 642 Member
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    I love HIIT, never done it out side before. I do all my endurance running outside though....... HIIT leaves my muscles burning as much as lifting heavy weights.

    Did I do it right this morning? It was my first HITT experience lol

    speed and duration of the intervals is going to be different for everybody based on their fitness level and will change over time to reflect this. I think you have the right idea, just be sure to warm up at and easy pace and cool down at the end as well.

    I like to do my HIIT early morning before breakfast. I will do 20 minutes of HIIT, then do 40 minutes of max incline walking on the treadmill at 3-4 mph. It is intense enough that I don't think I could handle it more than twice a week ontop of my weight lifting.
  • rkr22401
    rkr22401 Posts: 216 Member
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    I just started adding HIIT after weight training once or twice a week. Rather than run for time I used a HRM. I sprinted until I reached 90-95% max HR (you can pick your own range...your body will tell you when it's had enough), then walked until my HR dropped to 70% max HR. Repeat until desired training duration complete.

    I imagine as my fitness improves I will automatically sprint longer and walk less with each interval.
  • beebee0925
    beebee0925 Posts: 472 Member
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    I just started adding HIIT after weight training once or twice a week. Rather than run for time I used a HRM. I sprinted until I reached 90-95% max HR (you can pick your own range...your body will tell you when it's had enough), then walked until my HR dropped to 70% max HR. Repeat until desired training duration complete.

    I imagine as my fitness improves I will automatically sprint longer and walk less with each interval.

    This is a good idea.
  • dangerxbadger
    dangerxbadger Posts: 396 Member
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    I HATE cardio. Well, I used to. Then I started interval running! I do 6mph jogging and 4mph walking, at a 1:1 minute ratio, and can go for 5 miles no problem! It's been making serious dents in my weight, too!
  • bearwith
    bearwith Posts: 525 Member
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    Interval much more easier on the joints and also gets your heart going all the way through the range of resting to hard work. You will burn more cals.
  • nick1109
    nick1109 Posts: 174 Member
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    I love HIIT, never done it out side before. I do all my endurance running outside though....... HIIT leaves my muscles burning as much as lifting heavy weights.

    Did I do it right this morning? It was my first HITT experience lol

    Love is a funny work, especially when associated with HIIT. I do HIIT once every couple of weeks on the concept rowing. It leaves me on the verge of vomming

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