HIIT Advice

Thunderfan66

Could someone advise me on what they think is the most effective HIIT in terms of length of intervals, the overall time and how many sessions per week? At the moment I've been running for 1 min, walking for 1 min (approx) on a treadmill for a total of 25-=30 mins, but I'm not sure if it is effective or I could do it better?

Fozzi43

That's what I do..as a challenge you could try sprinting hard for 30-60 seconds then lightly jog for a minute to recover? I do that sometimes just to change things up a bit.

3dogsrunning

HIIT intervals should be at such a high intensity it would be too difficult to maintain for longer than 1 minute or so. Usually the recommended workout is around 20 minutes, again, due to the intensity.

katy_trail

this is going to be determined by your fitness level. you haven't given info on this, so i have to just go by general info.
if you're just starting out, it will be difficult to really do HiiT, but you can do intervals.
intervals is anytime you're alternating between high and low intensity, for instance with the sprinting, then jog, sprint again
each for 30 sec. or longer if you want.

HiiT is more intense than the general intervals term. in HiiT you're pushing your body as hard as you can.
for 20 sec. 30, 45, however long it is, you could use a timer, some dvd's have this built right in.
but you're going all out. so the exercises are very simple. no equipment needed.
This is an example of some exercises you cold do. this is the schedule of a dvd, but you could just
use a timer and some great music at home. this particular workout uses a pyramid of different times,
but you could do 40/20 or 30/30, for example. the frist number is how long you are working as intensely
as you can, and the second number means the rest time.
sometimes she put an extra min of rest, bc this is a pretty long workout for HiiT.
You cold make your own that's only 10 min. if you wanted.
Make sure you include a warm up and cool down.

Warm Up
Pli� Jacks (pronounced plee-ay jacks)
Tuck Jumps
Power Scissors
1/4 Jumps
Three Jumps Forward and Jump Turn
1/4 Jumps - Other Side
Squat Jumps
Mountain Climbers
Air Jacks
One Minute Rest
Pli� Jacks
Tuck Jumps
Power Scissors
1/4 Jump
Three Jumps Forward and Jump Turn
1/4 Jumps - Other Side
Squat Jumps
Mountain Climbers
Air Jacks
Cool Down

http://cathe.com/which-is-better-for-weight-loss-hiit-tabata-or-steady-state-cardio

katy_trail

Could someone advise me on what they think is the most effective HIIT in terms of length of intervals, the overall time and how many sessions per week? At the moment I've been running for 1 min, walking for 1 min (approx) on a treadmill for a total of 25-=30 mins, but I'm not sure if it is effective or I could do it better?

this is very intense, so the most either HiiT, Plyo, or Tabata, should be done is 2x a week.
this is due to the high stress on your body, and potential for injury.

Thunderfan66

Thanks everyone. I guess what I'm doing at the moment would be more classed as intervals then....I don't think my run would be classed as an all out sprint, but I am working on increasing the speed. At the moment I'm walking at 7kmph, and the running starts off at 13kmph, and I try to up the speed by .5km towards the end so I end up doing the last interval run on 15kmph. I do find it hard to totally sprint on the treadmill, I could probably go faster outside I guess but that's not an option usually......the times I usually work out are in darkness and I won't run outside by myself in the dark.

silverlining84

For HIIT on the treadmill i'll go full out for 30 seconds, hop off the belt for 30 and then repeat. I do this for a total of 30 mins. Go at a speed that's a challenge for you. At the end of each sprint I can tell that i'm pushing myself.

medic2038

For HIIT on the treadmill i'll go full out for 30 seconds, hop off the belt for 30 and then repeat. I do this for a total of 30 mins. Go at a speed that's a challenge for you. At the end of each sprint I can tell that i'm pushing myself.

That's not really safe, or HIIT.
HIIT can't effectively be done on a treadmill, even AFTER your sprints, you should be jogging (albeit at a rest pace). Treadmill lag time is too slow for effective HIIT. Ramping it way up isn't very safe either.

Try it on an elliptical instead. Here's basically how you do HIIT:
jog for about 5 minutes (warming up)

Intervals X5 (to start)
30 seconds, balls to the wall, all out, as hard as you can, 100% exertion leave nothing in reserve.
rest/jog 1 minute

Jog 5 minutes (cool down)

puke, fall over, and pass out.
That's real HIIT.

ahamm002

All out running sprint intervals are phenomenal exercise, but are also a great way to get a minor injury. So if you're going to do all out 20-30 sec sprints make sure that you've warmed up before hand and don't over do it at first.

I find that all out bike intervals are easier on my joints and probably safer for my hamstrings. I do an all out 30 second interval at a high level of resistance, and then pedal at a low level for 2 minutes (it takes 4 minutes for your muscle's to rebuild most of there creatine, so the shorter your rest interval, the less strength your muscles will have). I aim for 6+ intervals, and then do 20 minutes of endurance cardio afterward to burn off some extra fat.

DavPul

HIIT intervals should be at such a high intensity it would be too difficult to maintain for longer than 1 minute or so. Usually the recommended workout is around 20 minutes, again, due to the intensity.

This. Try going all out for 30 secs, then slow pace for 90 secs. Repeat for a total of 8 sprint intervals. With 2 min warmup and 2 min cooldown, you're right at 20 mins.

Protip: The treadmill isn't really suitable for this. Too long to get up to speed and too long to slow down. The elliptical or spin bike is perfect. As is an actual running trail

For HIIT on the treadmill i'll go full out for 30 seconds, hop off the belt for 30 and then repeat. I do this for a total of 30 mins. Go at a speed that's a challenge for you. At the end of each sprint I can tell that i'm pushing myself.

^recipe for disaster. use the elliptical or spin bike

Thunderfan66

Thanks for all the advice. I went to the gym this morning before I read the latest replies, and I had a go on the exercise bike. I did 30 seconds flat out as hard as I could go and then 30 seconds of extremely slow pedalling, and I did that for a total of 10 mins. However I wasn't changing the resistance level, so maybe I need to try that next time, and make the rest period a bit longer???

DavPul

maybe. depends on how you did. you're going to have to measure you're own performance.