HIIT and lifting help

tnicmorris
tnicmorris Posts: 144 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm going to try HIIT on the stationary bike at the gym tonight, but I have a couple of questions. Any help you guys can give will be awesome.

I am at 289, and my normal gym routine is to do the stationary bike for 30 minutes, do the weight machines for arms and legs, do the ab machine, and stretch.

For my first HIIT, I thought I would do a ratio of 60/120 with a three minute warm-up and a three minute cool-down.

Is this a good routine to start with? Is this too easy or is this challenging enough for the first go round?

Also, should I do any lifting today or can I skip lifting when I do a HIIT routine?

Thanks in advance.

Replies

  • ChrisLindsay9
    ChrisLindsay9 Posts: 837 Member
    If you're going to do HIIT and lifting, I would do HIIT afterwards. You won't have (or shouldn't have) the energy for lifting afterwards (other than maybe bodyweight stuff).

    That ratio is probably good to start. If you can invest in a HRM, then you would get really accurate information on when to bike hard to get the heart rate up, and when to bike slow to get the heart rate down. Most HRMs will beep at the top and bottom of your heart rate.

    After 5-6 reps, you should start to be getting pretty tired. Otherwise, you may not be pushing yourself at the top rate of speed?

    Good luck! I just did HIIT treadmill this evening. I had just enough energy afterwards to do some crunches and leg raises. Heh!
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    If you're going to do HIIT and lifting, I would do HIIT afterwards. You won't have (or shouldn't have) the energy for lifting afterwards (other than maybe bodyweight stuff).

    i agree with this. do the HIIT after the weights.

    the other option (if you can swing it) is splitting up the workouts by a few hours that way you can go all out on both. for instance, i do sprint hiit the same day i lift but i do my 20 minute sprint routine at the work gym during lunch and then 5-6 hours later i go to my regular gym for weights
  • charlierefvem
    charlierefvem Posts: 5 Member
    I actually prefer shorter intervals like 20s/40s so there is a bit more variety.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Why don't you tone that back a little and do 30/90. 60 second sprints are going to be too much for a beginner. Honestly, 30 seconds is going to be too much too


    edited to add: Just noticed the HRM recommendation up top. Ignore that. It takes too long for your HR to elevate and slow down to use it as an effective guide in traditional HIIT training. Oh, and HRMs are totally unnecessary to lose weight so I wouldn't spend the money.
  • Mummyadams
    Mummyadams Posts: 1,125 Member
    If you're going to do HIIT and lifting, I would do HIIT afterwards. You won't have (or shouldn't have) the energy for lifting afterwards (other than maybe bodyweight stuff).

    That ratio is probably good to start. If you can invest in a HRM, then you would get really accurate information on when to bike hard to get the heart rate up, and when to bike slow to get the heart rate down. Most HRMs will beep at the top and bottom of your heart rate.

    After 5-6 reps, you should start to be getting pretty tired. Otherwise, you may not be pushing yourself at the top rate of speed?

    Good luck! I just did HIIT treadmill this evening. I had just enough energy afterwards to do some crunches and leg raises. Heh!
    Totally agree - do the cardio afterwards. You don't want to compromise lifting form which could happen if your tired from your cardio.
  • albertabeefy
    albertabeefy Posts: 1,169 Member
    Why don't you tone that back a little and do 30/90. 60 second sprints are going to be too much for a beginner. Honestly, 30 seconds is going to be too much too
    Quite true. I was around 320 when I first started HIIT, and tried 15 HI (High-Intensity) 30 LI (low-intensity) ... I ended up doing 15/45 and 15/60 and sometimes 10/60 ...

    It got fitter and now I regularly do 60/30 (reaching 90% of max heart rate) or 40/20 (reaching 95% of max heart rate)

    Oh, and do NOT rely on the 220 minus age formula for max heart rate. I found out the old fashioned way - pushed and pushed and pushed until I reached it... then puked (oops) and found 220 minus age isn't remotely accurate for me.
  • space_case
    space_case Posts: 89 Member
    I always do cardio after weights, though yesterday I switched it up and really noticed the fatigue much quicker.

    I started doing HIIT on the treadmill at 30/90 intervals, when I started doing it on the bike, the bike was just set to 60/60 intervals and I couldn't figure out to change it so I went with it. Now, I'm back to the treadmill (20 lbs lighter) and am at 60/120. That would have definitely been too hard as a beginner on the treadmill, but I personally find stationary bikes easier, so you might be okay, especially if you are used to the bike.
  • tnicmorris
    tnicmorris Posts: 144 Member
    Thanks for all the advice last week. I finally got to try the HIIT workout. I ended up doing a 30/90 interval schedule for 18 minutes, which was 9 cycles. I definitely think I could've done more, though. Should I do more reps of the same schedule, or push it up to 30/60 or 60/120? Or, should I keep the same schedule and up the resistance. I think I was only on level 3 of 25.

    Also, I didn't burn as many calories as I thought I would. That could be because though the bike had a HRM, it didn't ask for my age or weight. I'm not sure, though. Thoughts?
  • JenMc14
    JenMc14 Posts: 2,389 Member
    Thanks for all the advice last week. I finally got to try the HIIT workout. I ended up doing a 30/90 interval schedule for 18 minutes, which was 9 cycles. I definitely think I could've done more, though. Should I do more reps of the same schedule, or push it up to 30/60 or 60/120? Or, should I keep the same schedule and up the resistance. I think I was only on level 3 of 25.

    Also, I didn't burn as many calories as I thought I would. That could be because though the bike had a HRM, it didn't ask for my age or weight. I'm not sure, though. Thoughts?

    If you could have done more than 18 minutes, it was interval training, not HIIT. In HIIT you push yourself to the absolute freaking limit, and 20 minutes is about what is recommeded, from what I understand. Go harder instead of longer next time. HIIT/intervals won't show up as burning many calories because of the rest/light periods, but it still has many benefits.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    How many calories did you expect to burn in 4.5 minutes of work? The point of HIIT is to burn calories beyond the workout not during. Essentially you want to get in and get out and use a 12-20 minute workout to burn the calories of a 30-45 workout, saving both time and muscle fatigue.

    HIIT is interval training, BTW
  • n_unocero
    n_unocero Posts: 445 Member

    edited to add: Just noticed the HRM recommendation up top. Ignore that. It takes too long for your HR to elevate and slow down to use it as an effective guide in traditional HIIT training. Oh, and HRMs are totally unnecessary to lose weight so I wouldn't spend the money.

    I do a 60/30/30 HIIT...60 seconds walk/30 seconds jog/30 seconds sprint. My heart rate gets up in the 170's (sometimes 180's) during my sprints, but comes down to the 140s when I walk....

    I will agree that they aren't necessary to lose weight, but mine has totally changed the way I've approached my workouts and I'm so glad I bought it. I used to be the "go 100% every time" type, but getting a HRM made me realize that I shouldn't be killing myself every workout which has helped me so much because I don't burn myself out everyday.
  • JenMc14
    JenMc14 Posts: 2,389 Member

    HIIT is interval training, BTW

    I get this, but it's a specific type of interval training, like Tabata. I see HIIT, Tabata and interval training used interchangeably, and, from what I have gathered from reading articles and such, they're not really interchangeable, each generally means a different thing (HIIT and Tabata obviously being forms of interval training).

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