Heart rate and Interval training

kell_riley
kell_riley Posts: 312
edited September 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
i wondered why people recommend doing HIIT? I ask because would it not be better to have an elevated heart rate at a constant rather than going from high then recovering and repeating? Just wondered!

Replies

  • jbug100
    jbug100 Posts: 406 Member
    Don't think of it in terms of heart rate. During your workout...whatever it is, you should have intervals of a half a minute or minute where you are pushing so hard that you could not sustain that intensity for any longer. Yes, your Hr goes up for that interval, (my max is 170), but then returns to 140s-150s when the interval is over...wash, rinse, repeat:)

    Apparently, HIIT keeps you burning calories long after the workout is over. In short, the whole workout is tough, there are just parts that are super, super tough.
  • thurberj
    thurberj Posts: 528 Member
    I'm doing this with my trainer and I agree with the previous response. It is also great when your heart has a fast recovery after getting the heart rate up. A healthy heart is a healthy you....keep it up:-)
  • SarahLovesCheesecake
    SarahLovesCheesecake Posts: 520
    Hi you're not leaving it long enough to recover, its just for 60 seconds or so, maybe longer....

    For me personally, you see an elevated HR then if say for example while jogging, you need a rest for 60 ish seconds or to rest slightly, your HR comes down slower, but not enough to Resting HR, then you carry on.

    Edit: Try and look up HIIT in google scholar instead of any old web page...
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    depends on what your goals are, if all you're trying to do is burn calories, then HIIT training isn't necessarily any better than cardio, although you might hit your calories burned goal a little quicker this way.

    But HIIT training offers other benefits besides calorie burn. namely it increases your anaerobic threshold (allows you to work harder at high intensity levels longer) increases cardiac endurance, increases lung capacity, works muscular endurance levels, and yes, it increases EPOC which is post exercise oxygen usage, higher EPOC means a sustained higher calorie burn, which means you increase your metabolic rate without increasing your exercise time.

    It's a very good workout for what you want if the things above are things you want. But it's not necessarily much better for calorie burn than a good steady state cardio session. Best to do both a couple times a week to round out your exercise profile (and of course a few days of resistance training to failure as well, like weight training or something similar).
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