Few questions about hiit on the treadmill

chloeealicee
chloeealicee Posts: 204 Member
edited November 22 in Fitness and Exercise
Hi so i'm not sure if i'm doing hiit right. I jog at about 7kmph (4.5mph) for 1 minute and then sprint at about 12.5kmph (7.5mph) for 30 seconds and repeat for around 15 minutes. Most people i know walk and then sprint or even stop completely but i'm used to long distance running so a 7kmph jog brings my heart rate right down anyway, is this effective? (if i go too slow in my rest i get bad cramps and can't carry on)

Bonus questions:
How many times i week should i do this for it to be effective mixing it with 1 hour pole dancing a week?
Can you set two speeds on a treadmill to easily switch between?

Thanks:)

Replies

  • chloeealicee
    chloeealicee Posts: 204 Member
    anybody please? haha
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    chloeealicee wrote: »
    Hi so i'm not sure if i'm doing hiit right. I jog at about 7kmph (4.5mph) for 1 minute and then sprint at about 12.5kmph (7.5mph) for 30 seconds and repeat for around 15 minutes. Most people i know walk and then sprint or even stop completely but i'm used to long distance running so a 7kmph jog brings my heart rate right down anyway, is this effective? (if i go too slow in my rest i get bad cramps and can't carry on)

    Bonus questions:
    How many times i week should i do this for it to be effective mixing it with 1 hour pole dancing a week?
    Can you set two speeds on a treadmill to easily switch between?

    Thanks:)

    I think that doing it your way is fine. When I do sprints on the treadmill, I put it on whatever speed I am going to sprint on and then run for 30 seconds, stand on the rails 30 seconds, run 30 seconds, rails 30, etc. It takes too long for my treadmill to switch between the sprinting speed and the recovery speed. If I try that, probably 5 seconds of each interval seems wasted on the treadmill ramping up/down.

    I do 1 session like that max because I prefer steady state cardio. But the frequency and its effectiveness would be dependent on your goals.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    chloeealicee wrote: »
    Hi so i'm not sure if i'm doing hiit right. I jog at about 7kmph (4.5mph) for 1 minute and then sprint at about 12.5kmph (7.5mph) for 30 seconds and repeat for around 15 minutes.

    It's a bit slow for HIIT, but the principle is fine.

    If you're going to do sprint intervals I'd recommend a track rather than a dreadmill. By the time it's transitioned between speeds you're only getting 15 second intervals.

  • _Waffle_
    _Waffle_ Posts: 13,049 Member
    chloeealicee wrote: »
    Hi so i'm not sure if i'm doing hiit right. I jog at about 7kmph (4.5mph) for 1 minute and then sprint at about 12.5kmph (7.5mph) for 30 seconds and repeat for around 15 minutes. Most people i know walk and then sprint or even stop completely but i'm used to long distance running so a 7kmph jog brings my heart rate right down anyway, is this effective? (if i go too slow in my rest i get bad cramps and can't carry on)

    Bonus questions:
    How many times i week should i do this for it to be effective mixing it with 1 hour pole dancing a week?
    Can you set two speeds on a treadmill to easily switch between?

    Thanks:)

    I generally jog really slowly in the rest sections. Keeping your legs moving helps the muscle recover faster between intervals and removes more lactic acid than standing still so walking or a slow jog is perfect. If walking gives you cramps then don't do it.

  • slaite1
    slaite1 Posts: 1,307 Member
    edited August 2015
    You have the right idea. I agree it sounds a little slow-especially for a runner. The sprint should be balls-to-the-wall, run as fast as you can, want to die by the last few seconds.

    If you're just running fast and then jogging-that's a great interval workout, but it's not HIIT. Genry it's recommended to only do HIIT 1-2x a week bc it is so incredibly taxing on your body. Again, though, if it's more of an interval workout do it as often as you feel comfortable.

    ETA: I do 30-40 second sprint, jump off while treadmill slows down (15 seconds), walk or jog 30 seconds and then I give it 15 seconds for treadmill to speed back up. So 30 second sprint, 60 seconds "rest" in between. By the end of my workout I often increase my standing time or skip the jogging all together so I can give it my all for the sprints.
  • brimin101
    brimin101 Posts: 31 Member
    The principle is correct, I personally go for 1 minute each walk/run. It does take 10 secs or so to slow down but I'm fine with that especially since the track will be 100+ degrees where I live. The other critique is HIIT should be completely exhausting you at the 15min point. If you can go harder do so and challenge yourself, but work it slow maybe a .5 mph increase as needed but no more than 2-3 times a week.
    To answer the second question, it depends on the treadmill. The one at my gym has a walk, jog, run setting and I can set the walk and run speeds to what I want then tap the screen when I want to switch.
    So that should answer all your questions.
  • chloeealicee
    chloeealicee Posts: 204 Member
    Thanks for the input guys, i know my sprints are a little slow. high intensity intervals have always been hard for me so i'm trying to build my endurance up and i'm still quite new to this.
    I'm used to steady 30 minute runs at 9.5kmph but i will just have to try and push myself some more although any faster and i sometimes feel as though i'm going to either pound my feet through the treadmill or fall off.
  • slaite1
    slaite1 Posts: 1,307 Member
    chloeealicee wrote: »
    Thanks for the input guys, i know my sprints are a little slow. high intensity intervals have always been hard for me so i'm trying to build my endurance up and i'm still quite new to this.
    I'm used to steady 30 minute runs at 9.5kmph but i will just have to try and push myself some more although any faster and i sometimes feel as though i'm going to either pound my feet through the treadmill or fall off.

    Try reducing your sprint time and increasing your rest. It could be 15 second sprints and 2 minute rests if needed. Play with it-you'll get better and better! Over time, you'll also find your endurance in longer runs will increase-as will your time.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    chloeealicee wrote: »
    I'm used to steady 30 minute runs at 9.5kmph but i will just have to try and push myself some more although any faster and i sometimes feel as though i'm going to either pound my feet through the treadmill or fall off.

    If you want to increase your speed and endurance, then I'd suggest just extending your running time to 60 minutes, and get off the dreadmill.

    Without the underlying aerobic base, there is little real value in speedwork.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I've never seen anyone actually do true HIIT on a treadmill..intervals yes...tough workouts, yes...but not HIIT.
    MeanderingMammal wrote: »
    chloeealicee wrote: »
    I'm used to steady 30 minute runs at 9.5kmph but i will just have to try and push myself some more although any faster and i sometimes feel as though i'm going to either pound my feet through the treadmill or fall off.

    If you want to increase your speed and endurance, then I'd suggest just extending your running time to 60 minutes, and get off the dreadmill.

    Without the underlying aerobic base, there is little real value in speedwork.

    I also agree with this.
  • TnTWalter
    TnTWalter Posts: 345 Member
    my treadmill has a button that says 'speed interval' and you set your jog and your run speed. It takes about 5 seconds to shift to the right speed. I only do it for 20 minutes when I do it. With nice weather, I've been running outside. I like to sprint sometimes at the end of my run from point a to point b, etc. [like from a mailbox to a distant tree, etc.].
  • chloeealicee
    chloeealicee Posts: 204 Member
    TnTWalter wrote: »
    With nice weather, I've been running outside. I like to sprint sometimes at the end of my run from point a to point b, etc. [like from a mailbox to a distant tree, etc.].

    I always do this too!:D

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