Interval Training 2X a Day?

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Missycvt
Missycvt Posts: 422 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi, I started doing some interval training again, it's been a while. I usually would do it on the treadmill, warm up for 5 mins at a steady walking pace, then for 30 seconds go as fast as I could leading to maybe about 7, then rest for a minute and a half walking at 3.5. Of course on the all out parts I would increase the incline from 4-6 or so. I would do this for 20 mins a day. I started again today and my question is, anybody else out there who has done this similar workout? Or, how about doing it twice a day? Would this be effective since I'm not really doing HIIT because I can't run at 10? Lol...would it be ok to do intervals twice a day at this rate or maybe some other exercise in the evening?

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  • AnthonyX150X
    AnthonyX150X Posts: 293 Member
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    I have been doing HIIT Cardio 5 days a week for an hour or sometimes more for a while now to improve my fitness level. I am the type of person that likes to get the work out done and over with so I won't have to think about working out later in the day, but if you want to do it twice a day it would be ok, especially if you are only doing 20 minutes a day. It would also be ok if you want to do another exercise besides intervals in the evening to switch things up.
  • Missycvt
    Missycvt Posts: 422 Member
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    Okay cool, that sounds good, but what kind of exercise should I do just like walking or strength training? Resistance band? Dumbells? Squats? I worked on my arms yesterday and really sore. Shouldn't I wait a day in between to rest and recover? That's what I'm curious about. I definitely am ready to workout again now.
  • filovirus76
    filovirus76 Posts: 156 Member
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    80/20 rule. 80% of cardio should be talking pace. 20% harder.
  • AnthonyX150X
    AnthonyX150X Posts: 293 Member
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    Missycvt wrote: »
    Okay cool, that sounds good, but what kind of exercise should I do just like walking or strength training? Resistance band? Dumbells? Squats? I worked on my arms yesterday and really sore. Shouldn't I wait a day in between to rest and recover? That's what I'm curious about. I definitely am ready to workout again now.

    What kind of exercise you should do depends on your fitness goals. If you are interested in strength training you should work all your major muscle groups such as chest, legs, arms, and back. If you want to incorporate both cardio and strength training you can alternate days giving your muscles time to recover if they are feeling sore.
  • shank35l
    shank35l Posts: 102 Member
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    2 days HIIT (60 Minutes @ 75-90% cardiac maximum), 2 Days Steady State (15 Minutes @ 65-75% cardiac maximum) 4 days a week heavy lifting (upper, core, lower body). It's working very well so far for me.

    Balance is the key, much like with nutrition. We need the cardio, and we need the strength training. 2 days of that week I do heavy lifting in the morning and HIIT in the evening.

    You can overdo anything. When I was a Ranger we had courses and physical routines where passing out and complete muscle failure happened pretty regularly. It was good and bad for us all at once.

    Steady state in the volumes that a lot of people do them is flat out inferior. In the volumes that your super marathon runner does them you may as well take up smoking 4 packs a day and a cocaine habit.

    Boutcher, S.H., et al. The effect of high-intensity intermittent exercise training on autonomic response of premenopausal women. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 39(5 suppl):S165, 2007.

    Gorostiaga, E.M., et al. Uniqueness of interval and continuous training at the same maintained exercise intensity. European Journal of Applied Physiology 63(2):101-107, 1991.

    King, J.W. A comparison of the effects of interval training vs. continuous training on weight loss and body composition in obese premenopausal women (thesis). East Tennessee State University, 2001.

    Meuret, J.R., et al. A comparison of the effects of continuous aerobic, intermittent aerobic, and resistance exercise on resting metabolic rate at 12 and 21 hours post-exercise. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 39(5 suppl):S247, 2007.

    Talanian, J.L., et al. Two weeks of high-intensity aerobic interval training increases the capacity for fat oxidation during exercise in women. Journal of Applied Physiology 102(4):1,439-1,447, 2007.

    Tjonna, A.E., et al. Superior cardiovascular effect of interval training vs. moderate exercise in patients with metabolic syndrome. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 39(5 suppl):S112, 2007.

    Trapp, E.G., Boutcher, S.H. Fat loss following 15 weeks of high-intensity, intermittent cycle ergometer training. Obesity Reviews 341, 2006.

    Treuth, M.S., et al. Effects of exercise intensity on 24-h energy expenditure and substrate oxidation. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 28(9):1,138-1,143, 1996.

    Am J Cardiovasc Dis. High-intensity interval training and hypertension: maximizing the benefits of exercise. 2012; 2(2): 102–110.
    Published 2012 May 15.
  • SingingSingleTracker
    SingingSingleTracker Posts: 1,866 Member
    edited May 2016
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    Missycvt wrote: »
    Hi, I started doing some interval training again, it's been a while. I usually would do it on the treadmill, warm up for 5 mins at a steady walking pace, then for 30 seconds go as fast as I could leading to maybe about 7, then rest for a minute and a half walking at 3.5. Of course on the all out parts I would increase the incline from 4-6 or so. I would do this for 20 mins a day. I started again today and my question is, anybody else out there who has done this similar workout? Or, how about doing it twice a day? Would this be effective since I'm not really doing HIIT because I can't run at 10? Lol...would it be ok to do intervals twice a day at this rate or maybe some other exercise in the evening?

    So, by my math you are getting about ten 30 second intervals in within your 20 minute workout following your 5 minute warm up. That's a total of 3 minutes of "sprint intervals" combined which is not very much at all. My first suggestion would be to up your morning workout to 30-45 minutes and just do the one session that day allowing for more recovery for the next day.

    If you consider those your first workout in the day as "sprint" intervals, and feel the need to do a second workout in the same day of intervals, I would suggest in the second session, after you warm up, you could do some longer intervals - but at a lower pace/effort than your 30 second sprint interval pace. Say, warm up for 5 - 10 minutes, then do two 1 x 8 minutes or 1 x 10 minutes good pace with a 5-7 minute recovery pace between the two efforts.

    It all depends on what type of training stress and adaptations you are trying to create, or what your goal is. Intervals should target different HR zones...

    http://home.trainingpeaks.com/blog/article/joe-friel-s-quick-guide-to-setting-zones

    The more you do, and the more adaptation that takes place, the longer the workout becomes, and the intensity and length of intervals used can be varied. Sprint intervals of short duration stress one part of your system. You may or may not need 24 hours recovery depending on how hard you go during those 30 second sprints. I'm happy with doing Zone 5 work intervals one day per week, the other interval day is usually Zone 4. A lot of Zone 2 is needed for my goals (endurance), and Zone 3 is used when I have limited time to get some good bang for the buck.

    Twice a day can work, but accept the training stress of the higher intensity work and the need for recovery from it before launching in again with another session.

  • Missycvt
    Missycvt Posts: 422 Member
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    :'( No wonder I feel like I'm not getting anywhere! I'm only really running for 3 minutes!!!!!!???? OMG! That's why I'm so pissed!
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
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    Missycvt wrote: »
    I started again today and my question is, anybody else out there who has done this similar workout?

    Yes, well, kind of. Every Tuesday I do hill repeats on the bike. I have a hill nearby (it's a 10 to 15 minute ride to get to it, that's my warm up and cool down) that takes 5 minutes to ride up, and maybe 2 to get back down. I'll do laps up and down the hill for anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes depending on a lot of factors. I also use different hills for different workouts because I'm trying to achieve a few different things.

    Again, that's once a week. These tend to be intense workouts (HIIT) and demand more recovery time than others. Most of what I do is moderate cardio.

    One thing I've noticed is that intense cardio makes me hungry. Wednesdays I'm always starved and it's a major challenge to have any self control. That's very common. Intense cardio pushes you pretty far into the anaerobic zone and uses up your glycogen stores, then your body demands they're replenished. A lot of people find they're not hungry while they work out and immediately after, but then their appetite comes back with a vengeance. It's the intensity. Moderate cardio doesn't produce the same kind of almost irresistible hunger.

    What are you trying to achieve with this type of workout?
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,224 Member
    edited May 2016
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    Missycvt wrote: »
    :'( No wonder I feel like I'm not getting anywhere! I'm only really running for 3 minutes!!!!!!???? OMG! That's why I'm so pissed!

    Intervals can work, but they have to be put together correctly. Looking at your plan, well, they aren't. Too much rest, and too restful during rest. There are good interval programs out there, finding one put together by a trainer that is available online would be a good place to start. With that make sure you work and rest periods are done correctly. By that I mean make sure the work portions are sufficiently intense, and the rest periods are not too restful, other than HIIT where the rest portions are sometimes doing nothing because the work periods are at extremely high intensity.

    As for not getting anywhere, if you are talking about losing weight, that has far more to do with a calorie deficit based on how much you eat than exercise. Exercise is for fitness and health, controlled eating is for weight loss.

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