8 Reasons to do High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

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  • hsmithway
    hsmithway Posts: 191
    I loathe intervals, but I do them at least twice a week on the "it's good for me" principal :tongue:
  • kathleen2001
    kathleen2001 Posts: 154
    :wink:
  • sarahgilmore
    sarahgilmore Posts: 572 Member
    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
    kittybear86 Posts: 341 Member
    Great post :smile: .
  • Angelic_Fatty
    Angelic_Fatty Posts: 10
    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
    Esther50 Posts: 252
    I need these examples! Thx
  • baoneill29
    baoneill29 Posts: 138 Member
    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
    Carol_L Posts: 296 Member
    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. :wink:
  • tnqnt
    tnqnt Posts: 397 Member
    Bump:-)
  • linz1125
    linz1125 Posts: 441 Member
    I can't wait to do this! I love trying new things in my workouts, this will be perfect.
  • FammaMel
    FammaMel Posts: 293 Member
    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. :wink:

    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
    Determinednoob Posts: 2,001 Member
    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
    Fozzi43 Posts: 2,984 Member
    Gonna try these workouts!
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