dumb HIIT questions

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ReinasWrath
ReinasWrath Posts: 1,173 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Someone recommended trying HIIT (high intensity interval training) to break my plateau. I did it on the bike machine for 20 minutes total with intervals of two mins on level 1 and one on level 10. I ended up burning 151 cals when usually When i do 20 mins on level 4 I burn about 148. So obviously I'm either doing poor level choices (maybe dropping to level 1 is too low..) or HIIT doesn't burn that much higher of an amount of calories. I understand that it obviously taxes your body much more and challenges it but I guess I was expecting a higher amount of burned cals. So is HIIT more effective overall? Or is it just a plateau breaking technique?

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  • SmashleeWpg
    SmashleeWpg Posts: 566 Member
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    Not a dumb question! Level one is most likely too low though, while you want to be in recovery, you still want to feel like you're challenging yourself in your rest periods.

    HITT is fantastic for a time effective and results-worthy workout, you just need to make sure you're making the most of your intervals. For instance when I do it on the treadmill, I do two mins of running at 5mph, which is a comfortable pace for me, then I alternate with sprinting at 8 - 8.5, which is quite challenging for me, especially after a few circuits.
  • fnm101
    fnm101 Posts: 116 Member
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    It may not show up immediately on the machine or your monitor, but over time, your cardio capacity is expected to improve. This should result in more efficient workouts once you return to non-HIIT cardio exercises (e.g., your strength and endurance should increase without feeling more effortful). Overall, your calorie burn AFTER you finish exercising might increase as well.

    You might want to do a few of your drops to a higher level though and see what happens.

    Best wishes!
  • fergalizcious
    fergalizcious Posts: 42
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    HIIT works by shaking your body up. The calorie counter on the bike is only accounting for the calories burned actually doing what you are doing - not for the changes your body has to make in order to keep up with the rapid changes. Also, a lot of the benefits of HIIT involve an increased afterburn effect, and the bike won't account for that.
  • nursekj
    nursekj Posts: 100 Member
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    Hi,
    Try doing HIIT for 20mins with 2 min warm up and cool down each side. You have to remember when you drop into your recovery the lower level increases as you go along as well. Its best to start on a good exercycle that has the hiit setting program and set for 20 min, so you get a good idea. Make sure your RPM is over 100 in the speed intervals to get your HR up. This is what I was taught by my trainer.

    Try this website for all your queries: www.intervaltraining.net/hiit.html
    Good luck.

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