Is anyone out there doing HIIT?

luticiaf · April 2013

Hi there!

I just started doing the Daily Hiit (free workouts posted at DailyHiit.com) and so far am loving it! I love the variety in the workouts, and definitely the short time span (12-20 min each workout,) and the fact I can do them in my living room. Attempting 5 times a week, basically off the site's advice, will try that for 30 days and see where it gets me.

From everything I've read, the state that interval training gets you into really boosts your metabolism for the next 24 hours, so the point isn't so much how many calories you burn during the exercise, but rather the after affects. This is great, however it's a little difficult to factor this into my exercise log on MFP.

And despite that anyway, I'm supplementing with some targeted workouts (Pinterest), such as abs, arms, and bum.

Would love to hear of anyone else doing a Hiit program!

ChrisLindsay9 · April 2013

I just listened to this podcast episode on HIIT, and thought it was very informative. The host had a Q&A with an actual researcher of HIIT training.

http://webtalkradio.net/internet-talk-radio/2013/04/15/brink-zone-radio-high-intensity-interval-training-hiit-overrated-or-the-optimal-form-of-exercise/

Smash666 · April 2013

I started doing the turbo fire hiit classes a few weeks ago and I prefer them to regular cardio. Its more beneficial and takes less time. I'm going to have to check out that site you mentioned it sounds right up my alley.

luticiaf · April 2013

I just listened to this podcast episode on HIIT, and thought it was very informative. The host had a Q&A with an actual researcher of HIIT training.

http://webtalkradio.net/internet-talk-radio/2013/04/15/brink-zone-radio-high-intensity-interval-training-hiit-overrated-or-the-optimal-form-of-exercise/

Thanks so much, I'll take a listen. The more info, the better:)

luticiaf · April 2013

I started doing the turbo fire hiit classes a few weeks ago and I prefer them to regular cardio. Its more beneficial and takes less time. I'm going to have to check out that site you mentioned it sounds right up my alley.

It really is great, well laid out. Just don't be surprised if that day's Daily Hiit isn't released till later in the evening. I just go back a week or two and choose a previously listed recording.

The other good part is the breakdown - check it out before you press play, to see what exercises you can expect, tutorial on how they're executed, and that way you can also prepare any equipment you may need.

heybales · April 2013

Well, HIIT, when properly done which is rare, has same response as lifting, for those that only want to do cardio.

All out anaerobic effort for short period with short rest.

Response by body is to get stronger and if eating right build muscle, so indeed good fat burn and metabolism increase for upwards of 24 hrs.

But lifting is going to give better response because it's more muscle being used.

Other interval types is not the same strong effect, usually better lactic acid clearing response, better lung capacity, but not the same strength gains from it.

Just like lifting, to really push hard, gotta have fresh muscles. So day after day with same muscles is counter-productive.

Just don't try to do lifting and HIIT on different days, both need a good rest an recovery and repair day after wards, or you really won't make the improvements you could have.

And if lifting day, HIIT, lift, HIIT, lift, HIIT - you are just working the same muscles to overload day after day. Expect to quickly have bad results from such an arrangement, neither being accomplished very well or as good as it could be done.

kelsiekae · April 2013

I'm also doing Turbofire, which includes HIIT into the workouts. I'm loving it so far too. Feel so accomplished!

phjorg · April 2013

i jump on a tredmill, and leave it OFF. I then sprint for about 20 seconds full out, and then slow walk for about 30. repeat until dead.

it's amazing because while turned off you have to force the tredmill to move rather than it run for you.

Ideally though soon as weather is permitting, I find a field or track, sprint it full out one direction, and walk back the other.

swimming works great for this too. swim sprint one length, then back float for a bit to recover, and do it again.

Timshel_ · April 2013

I created some HIIT elements into my cardio workouts. So I incorporate tire flips (16 reps), walk out for 10-15 seconds, then sprint 100 yards at about 90%. Then fast paced walk for 100 yards, and on to 20 yards of lunges with sprinting out the other 80yards, then walk. I also mix in bleacher sprints, bleacher squats, leg lift, and standding jumps in. Usually takes me about 35 minutes to complete a few miles worth fo track work like that. I have been seeing some great results for both weight loss and physical improvements in movement.

I still do 20 minutes of gym strength training as well each day.

phjorg · April 2013

Well, HIIT, when properly done which is rare, has same response as lifting, for those that only want to do cardio.

All out anaerobic effort for short period with short rest.

ya this. I find most people do it totally wrong. like up the treadmill to 8mph or so, like they think thats actually full out or something.

sorry ladies and gents, you are doing intervals. not hiit.

armymom5 · April 2013

I didn't even know this website existed. Thanks for sharing!

haroon_awan · April 2013

Hi there!

I just started doing the Daily Hiit (free workouts posted at DailyHiit.com) and so far am loving it! I love the variety in the workouts, and definitely the short time span (12-20 min each workout,) and the fact I can do them in my living room. Attempting 5 times a week, basically off the site's advice, will try that for 30 days and see where it gets me.

From everything I've read, the state that interval training gets you into really boosts your metabolism for the next 24 hours, so the point isn't so much how many calories you burn during the exercise, but rather the after affects. This is great, however it's a little difficult to factor this into my exercise log on MFP.

And despite that anyway, I'm supplementing with some targeted workouts (Pinterest), such as abs, arms, and bum.

Would love to hear of anyone else doing a Hiit program!

What exactly have you been reading? The "after burn" is known as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption - EPOC. Steady state cardio creates an EPOC of around 7-8%, while HIIT creates an EPOC of around 13-14%. This seems like a lot but consider for example:
In a steady state cardio session you burn 1000 calories - EPOC at 7% means you burn a further 70 calories.
In a HIIT session you burn 1000 calories - EPOC at 14% means you burn a further 140 calories.

...70 calorie difference. Really not that much in reality. There are a lot of benefits to HIIT and I prefer it to be honest as it can be much more beneficial in terms of increasing aerobic and anaerobic ability and VO2 max. It's much more rewarding in my opinion too.

This might be helpful

luticiaf · April 2013

What exactly have you been reading? The "after burn" is known as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption - EPOC. Steady state cardio creates an EPOC of around 7-8%, while HIIT creates an EPOC of around 13-14%. This seems like a lot but consider for example:
In a steady state cardio session you burn 1000 calories - EPOC at 7% means you burn a further 70 calories.
In a HIIT session you burn 1000 calories - EPOC at 14% means you burn a further 140 calories.

Thank you for the info, great example of EPOC, you made it make sense.
I think the other benefit in this equation, in addition to the extra 7% EPOC, is just that the initial Hiit session is at higher intensity than I'd be doing a steady state cardio session, therefore shorter amount of time. I love that I can achieve something in 15-20min, and your post was definitely helpful in adjusting my expectations of what I would be achieving in the after-burn;)

I will take a look at those vids and links you sent.

Thanks so much!

luticiaf · April 2013

I created some HIIT elements into my cardio workouts. So I incorporate tire flips (16 reps), walk out for 10-15 seconds, then sprint 100 yards at about 90%. Then fast paced walk for 100 yards, and on to 20 yards of lunges with sprinting out the other 80yards, then walk. I also mix in bleacher sprints, bleacher squats, leg lift, and standding jumps in. Usually takes me about 35 minutes to complete a few miles worth fo track work like that. I have been seeing some great results for both weight loss and physical improvements in movement.

I still do 20 minutes of gym strength training as well each day.

I really like this program you're doing, as you've got some strength training in there, kind of Cross-fit style, would you say? A lot of what I found on the internet regarding Hiit was purely cardio intervals, which I agree has a place, but I enjoy something that incorporates strength training or weights. Mind you mine is all done in my basement - there are no tractor tires lying around...

luticiaf · April 2013

EatLikeAnAthlete: what do you log a Hiit session as on MFP, in order to earn proper calories?

evans72002 · April 2013

My recommendation would be to get a a heart monitor like Polar FT4. It will tell you how many calories burned and you can just add it as HIIT.

heybales · April 2013

And since HRM formula for calorie burn estimates is only valid for steady-state aerobic (HR the same for 2-5 min) exercise, and lifting and HIIT are neither steady-state nor aerobic, take about 1/2 of the reported calorie burn if closer to HIIT with cardio focus, or 1/3 - 1/4 if lifting with strength focus.

That recommendation is based on using a Garmin with Firstbeat algorithms that claims to deal with non-aerobic activity better, basically by not trying to estimate calories for the anaerobic effort that is seen.
And the anaerobic effort is figured out by looking at your breathing rate, if the HR shoots way up and the breathing rate doesn't at same level, then it was anaerobic and not counted.

And recommend a Polar RS300X HRM if you go this route to even have a chance of decent accuracy, the cheaper Polars estimate a key value, VO2max, by assuming good BMI means good VO2max, bad BMI means bad VO2max. And that is a bad assumption as you can be overweight and yet very cardio-fit.
That HRM at least has self-test and stat.

Fr3shStrt · April 2013

I just listened to this podcast episode on HIIT, and thought it was very informative. The host had a Q&A with an actual researcher of HIIT training.

http://webtalkradio.net/internet-talk-radio/2013/04/15/brink-zone-radio-high-intensity-interval-training-hiit-overrated-or-the-optimal-form-of-exercise/

This was an interesting listen. Thanks!

IzzyBooNZ1 · April 2013

Well, HIIT, when properly done which is rare, has same response as lifting, for those that only want to do cardio.

All out anaerobic effort for short period with short rest.

ya this. I find most people do it totally wrong. like up the treadmill to 8mph or so, like they think thats actually full out or something.

sorry ladies and gents, you are doing intervals. not hiit.

oh no now I am confused... I do some HIIT workouts off fitnessblender.. am I wasting my time ?
the only weights I have are dumbells which I change the weight.
I do Muay Thai on mondays and fridays if that helps ?

GemW27 · April 2013

Well, HIIT, when properly done which is rare

How do you do it properly?

For high intensity how high do you need to go? E.g. How many mph on the treadmill for how long?

IzzyBooNZ1 · April 2013

bump - anyone??

IIISpartacusIII · April 2013

I just listened to this podcast episode on HIIT, and thought it was very informative. The host had a Q&A with an actual researcher of HIIT training.

http://webtalkradio.net/internet-talk-radio/2013/04/15/brink-zone-radio-high-intensity-interval-training-hiit-overrated-or-the-optimal-form-of-exercise/

I just finished listening to that. Very informative and I've started using it in place of my moderate intensity marathon cardio sessions. I'd much rather do 10-20 min if I can avoid an hour on the stairmill just get that god damned scale moving. So far I'm still dropping so I'll soon find out just how effective it is (I hope).

ravenrxx · April 2013

I love HIIT. The fat just melts off. Im on my 9th week of turbo fire.

IIISpartacusIII · April 2013

Well, HIIT, when properly done which is rare

How do you do it properly?

For high intensity how high do you need to go? E.g. How many mph on the treadmill for how long?

How many mph on the treadmill will vary from one person to the next so there is no blanket answer. From the Will Brink podcast on this where he had the HIIT cardio researcher she recommended at least 80% of your Max heart rate. I have a heart rate monitor so I know exactly how much that will mean for me but I don't know for you. Most cardio machines in commercial gyms have a heart rate function. You can get a read out by holding on to the handles which record heart rate.

heybales · April 2013

Well, HIIT, when properly done which is rare

How do you do it properly?

For high intensity how high do you need to go? E.g. How many mph on the treadmill for how long?

You can't do HIIT on the treadmill or elliptical or machine, except spin bike, but even that's hard.
Why?

It's impossible to sprint all out for 15-45 seconds. Treadmill can't ramp up fast enough, and your top end speed will change near the end of 8 cycles, you'll be concerned about falling instead of concerning with pushing it as hard as you can.

You can do regular intervals, or Short Interval Training (SIT), on treadmill, but neither have the same effect as HIIT on the body.
They help improve oxygen uptake, raise VO2max, raise Lactate Threshold and ability to clear out lactate acid, improve carb utilization, improve endurance, store more carbs, ect. All things that can basically be done using existing muscles, so little to no need for more muscle. And it's that need to repair muscle that has the fat-burn during recovery like lifting does.

HIIT is putting a load up to failure on the muscles used after so many cycles (sounds like lifting and reps, right), creating micro-tears, so the body's response including most of above, is to make more muscle to handle that load better next time. Now, like lifting, only going to get new muscle if newbie to that cardio sport, lots of fat to lose, and eventually, you'll need to be eating in surplus.

The HR recommendations is merely to confirm you are reaching a hard enough effort.
But sprinting or whatever all out full force is good enough.
15-45 seconds hard effort.
3 x as long for recovery, so 45 to 135 seconds.
8 bouts

You must have recovery, or you can't push as hard on next bout. Just like lifting, if you don't rest between sets, you can't lift as much on the next one.

Good protocol for HIIT.
10 min warmup walk.
2 min slow jogging.
15 sec all out burst, followed by 45 sec walking, x 8 bouts (actually start jogging about 5 sec to end of recovery phase so sprinting from a jog)
10 min cooldown walk.

30 min.

If you want to make it interesting and have an hr, and feel you might as well kill yourself properly. Skip that cooldown walk.
20 min slow jogging.
1 min sprint, followed by 1 min walk, x 10 bouts (again start the jogging before the sprint, and even pace on sprint for whole 1 min)
10 min cooldown walk.

60 min total.

Track is best place to accomplish that. A watch that lets you set intervals too, though counting to 15 can take the mind off the pain.

When you slow down from that 15 seconds, like you just won a race, you'll see why it can't be done on a treadmill. Not until you do it and compare do you really see there is a difference.

Not that intervals on a treadmill won't have some benefit, but not nearly as much.
Oh, and true HIIT should only be about 20% of cardio workout weekly. And like lifting, it require rest the next day. Inability to sit and do stairs will tell you that too.

Just found my last example. Garmin HRM with training programs makes this so much easier.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/273351372

IzzyBooNZ1 · April 2013

heybales, I like your posts , very helpful

I posted below but do you know then are Fitnessblender HIIT workouts proper HIIT or what are they and are they a waste of time? How many days a week should you do them?

I am getting confused now over how much cardio and strength exercises should be done each weel !

heybales · April 2013

heybales, I like your posts , very helpful

I posted below but do you know then are Fitnessblender HIIT workouts proper HIIT or what are they and are they a waste of time? How many days a week should you do them?

I am getting confused now over how much cardio and strength exercises should be done each weel !

HIIT is for those only doing cardio that don't want to do true lifting. And that's fine, might as well have some muscles benefit from lifting type workout.

If lifting, skip the HIIT. Besides which, with lifting it's either not being done correctly, and eventually neither will the lifting, or it'll just interfere with getting the best rest, recovery, repair from the lifting.

Any exercise only has improvements during the rest time, not during the actual exercise. The actual exercise is a drain, on strength, on carbs, or central nervous system. The improvement to get better is from the rest and recovery from exercise.

So if strength is your focus, cardio should support that.
Meaning, no cardio should wear you out before you lift, day before or right before. Day before Aerobic HR zone may even be too much, but usually safe.
Also, no cardio should interfere with repair the day after. Day after Active Recovery HR zone should add no additional stress and load to muscles already trying to recovery, just blood flow, which is great.

Cardio right after lifting can be done, and you could attempt to do intervals. They won't be HIIT, not if you did the lifting right anyway. But you can still throw a stressful cardio interval session at the body to improve the heart muscle then.

I'll go listen to them, but I have only seen probably 2 honest articles on the usefulness of HIIT, or the difference in interval types and response to doing them.
All the others are jumping on a fad that can have it's place, but is also blown way out of proportion, and misapplied, many times with negative results.
Exactly like the fat-burning zone was fad for a awhile, but it useful too actually, when applied right. Like fat-burning zone is actually the Active Recovery HR zone which was called that for years before.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/stead-state-versus-intervals-finally-a-conclusion.html

heybales · April 2013

I posted below but do you know then are Fitnessblender HIIT workouts proper HIIT or what are they and are they a waste of time? How many days a week should you do them?

So reading over how they do it, about 1:1 ratio it seems like. Still useful, high calorie burn (which HIIT actually doesn't during the session because the rest is longer, but more post-workout).

You can't really hit the hard part as hard as you can if the rest isn't long enough. Or if the hard part is too long for that matter.

I guess I'm old school on this, 15-20 yrs back when the info on it was being used, and at that time it was always compared to lifting. If you needed more muscle to be faster, you did HIIT.

If it took you 45 seconds to do a set of 8 squats to almost failure, will waiting 45 seconds and doing another set have any chance in the world of hitting the same weight and reps? Not at all.
Or doing 30 reps compared to 5 reps. Endurance response, compared to strength response.

So it's like circuit training can still be useful, and show positive results, especially when starting out, but true lifting will have better results for the time spent.

Depends on goals too. Most here are weight loss and hopefully just fat loss. Lifting wins there.
Heart health, cardio wins there. But you don't have to do much.

hatethegame · April 2013

bump

Is anyone out there doing HIIT?

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