We are pleased to announce that today, March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor has been introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!

Why is there no option for HIIT or even just Interval Training??

gemmamgreen
gemmamgreen Posts: 6 Member
edited December 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
So I think it's pretty weird that there is no option to add a HIIT workout to my daily planner. It's a pretty standard workout these days so why isn't it an option?
Anyone else noticed this?

Replies

  • jeffd247
    jeffd247 Posts: 319 Member
    Maybe because there's too many variations of HIIT workouts?
  • gemmamgreen
    gemmamgreen Posts: 6 Member
    jeffd247 wrote: »
    Maybe because there's too many variations of HIIT workouts?

    True but the general format is the same across the board? 2 - 3 minutes work at 80 - 90% intensity then 30 seconds rest? It's only as varied as Spinning for example?
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    HIIT isn't a workout. It's a type of workout. If you say you spent 20 minutes "doing HIIT" do you mean running sprint intervals, riding hills repeats on a bike, what?

    Kind of impossible to estimate how many calories you burned for you without knowing what you did.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    gemmamgreen wrote: »
    jeffd247 wrote: »
    Maybe because there's too many variations of HIIT workouts?

    True but the general format is the same across the board? 2 - 3 minutes work at 80 - 90% intensity then 30 seconds rest? It's only as varied as Spinning for example?

    Nice description of HIIT - but it's one of many protocols, plus 90% of what gets described as HIIT actually isn't.
    It's also fiendishly hard to estimate a reasonable calorie burn for most activities.

    Intervals is an even wider subject, in summer my cycling might include hill repeats as interval training (10 minute climb, 4 minute descent). When I switch to winter training some of my intervals are 12 minutes hard, 12 minutes easy or 3 minute intervals easy/moderate/hard/extreme.
  • gemmamgreen
    gemmamgreen Posts: 6 Member
    NorthCascades wrote: »
    HIIT isn't a workout. It's a type of workout. If you say you spent 20 minutes "doing HIIT" do you mean running sprint intervals, riding hills repeats on a bike, what?

    Kind of impossible to estimate how many calories you burned for you without knowing what you did.

    I see your point, maybe they could have a few options like sprints/cycling/plyometrics etc. They have "Circuit Training" as an option which as with HIIT can incorporate many different methods of training.
    Maybe the answer is to just get a heart rate monitor and be done with it lol :)
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    edited October 2016
    gemmamgreen wrote: »
    NorthCascades wrote: »
    HIIT isn't a workout. It's a type of workout. If you say you spent 20 minutes "doing HIIT" do you mean running sprint intervals, riding hills repeats on a bike, what?

    Kind of impossible to estimate how many calories you burned for you without knowing what you did.

    I see your point, maybe they could have a few options like sprints/cycling/plyometrics etc. They have "Circuit Training" as an option which as with HIIT can incorporate many different methods of training.
    Maybe the answer is to just get a heart rate monitor and be done with it lol :)

    HRMs tend to massively over-estimate for high intensity intervals - your HR is elevated during the rest/recovery period out of proportion to the actual work you are doing.
    A power meter is a better option if you have access to one.
  • sllm1
    sllm1 Posts: 2,130 Member
    For CrossFit, I manually calculate 12 cals/min of actual work (excluding warm-up, strength training, rest periods, stretching), so if I'm there an hour and I do an actual 12 minute workout (MetCon), I would calculate 144 calories (and would probably log 125). This approach has worked for me over the long haul, because I consistently evaluate my calorie intake and losses.
  • gemmamgreen
    gemmamgreen Posts: 6 Member
    As in a bicycle power meter? I don't do cycling for HIIT I do mainly Plyo and Calisthenics :)
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    edited October 2016
    gemmamgreen wrote: »
    As in a bicycle power meter? I don't do cycling for HIIT I do mainly Plyo and Calisthenics :)

    Down to a bit of "guesstimation" then!
    (I'd be tempted to simply use the "circuit training" entry for simplicity if not accuracy.)

    I use a power meter equipped indoor bike and also use a good HRM calibrated to my personal settings - for steady state exercise they pretty much agree on calorie estimates.
    For interval training they diverge wildly (c. 25%) even though my HR recovery is pretty good.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories