HIIT - am I doing it right?

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ninjakowski
ninjakowski Posts: 158
in Fitness and Exercise
Have read about HIIT from a few different sources and maybe I haven't been reading the right info because I'm feeling a bit confused about the right way to do it.

I've been doing it on the treadmill - 5 or 6 cycles of 2 mins jogging 8.5km/h (my easy warmup jogging pace) and 1 minute 11.5km/h (pretty close to all out). Is that ok? Should either of them be faster or slower? I don't have a HRM so can't get too technical about it.

Would it work without a treadmill, ie. just by feel? I don't have gym access on weekends but would like to still give it a shot.

Replies

  • jo_marnes
    jo_marnes Posts: 1,601 Member
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    HIIT is about pushing YOURSELF. 2 mins easy, 1 min HARD. If it isn't hard, run faster.
  • pandorakick
    pandorakick Posts: 901 Member
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    I guess so...

    Hiit per definition consists of intervals of low and high intensity activity. What low and high intensity means is very personal and can differ per individual. The type and duration of the activity can also be quite variable. Sometimes when I do hiit on my cross trainer, I do intervals of 2 minutes on resistance setting 5, followed by 1 minute on setting 6. Alternatively I could keep the resistance the same but vary in walking pace.
    As far as I'm aware there really is no right of wrong with hiit, as long as you do intervals of both high and low intensity. Timing it would probably work better though, then going by feel. For hiit at home you could take a look at Fitnessblender.com, they have lots of free calisthenics based hiit workout video's.

    Hope this helps!
  • Cr01502
    Cr01502 Posts: 3,614 Member
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    HIIT is about pushing YOURSELF. 2 mins easy, 1 min HARD. If it isn't hard, run faster.

    It doesn't always have to be at those intervals.

    You can allow for longer rest periods especially if you're just starting.
  • ninjakowski
    ninjakowski Posts: 158
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    Thanks for the input - I think I was just overcomplicating it in my head. Just going to keep going as I was going and increasing the intensity as I get fitter. It makes me sweat like nothing else so its got to be doing some good lol.
  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
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    Sounds right though I prefer 1 minute jog and 30 seconds sprint, then I do a minute of recovery (fast walking). I am beat, to the point of huffing, after the sprint session...it takes a minute just to catch my breath, then I start jogging again. My heart rate gets to 87-90% of my max during the sprint session.

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