Women over 50 HIIT workout - advice please

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KneesX2
KneesX2 Posts: 4 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi I'm Darlene (dkwright56) and I'm a regular exerciser. I just joined Planet Fitness as I've been cleared by the doctor after my knee replacement. The trainer there steered me away from doing HIIT on the elliptical (or any machine) partly because of my age (60) but he also said most people can't keep up the intensity to make it effective. I said I wanted to try to work up to it so he showed me how to go hard for 20 second intervals for 10 minutes - plus 5 minute warm up and 5 minute cool down. I am able to do this - it is hard though. I don't know how accurate the heart rate monitors are on those machines but I've gotten as high as 178. I've been doing aerobics (Jazzercise) for years and I used to wear a strap monitor but they always went bad on me. My heart rate always got higher than the recommended number for my age at the time. I've had EKGs and an echocardiogram during a hospital stay 2 years ago and don't have any heart issues. Does anyone have any thoughts - sorry this was long. Thanks in advance.

Replies

  • not_a_runner
    not_a_runner Posts: 1,343 Member
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    I am not over 50 and don't really have any advice for you, but I just wanted to say kudos to your trainer, seems he actually understands what hiit is. (Going as hard as possible for short intervals and a short duration of time.)
    There are a lot of people who think they're doing HIIT that are actually just going interval training.
    Paul Revelia recently did a video on the topic. He said that ellipticals or treadmills can be used as long as your all out intervals aren't faster than the machine can go (some people sprint faster than the machines can go). If those machines work for you though they would be fine. He recommended spin bike or sled pushes.
    Actually I'll just add the links...
    The recent video-
    https://youtu.be/USPdqShb_b
    An older video on how to do it-
    https://youtu.be/EE4Ve9R8SYY
    Hope that helps!
  • sudmom
    sudmom Posts: 202 Member
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    I am over 50 (52 in June). I am working on doing some HIIT workouts. I think the very best suggestion would be to get a wearable heart monitor i.e. a Fitbit Charge HR. It helps you to know where your heart rate is and to know how fast you recover. This was a great video that TresaAswegan posted.
  • KneesX2
    KneesX2 Posts: 4 Member
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    Thanks very much to both of you for replying. I was only able to view the second video but it is very helpful. I certainly feel like I'm going as hard as I can but I guess even if it's not truly a "HIIT" workout if I am doing intervals I will still benefit from that. With my knee I can't run - at least not right now. I will check youtube for more videos.
  • not_a_runner
    not_a_runner Posts: 1,343 Member
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    whoops, not sure what happened to the first link! I'll try it again -
    https://youtu.be/USPdqShb_bM
    He probably covered most of it in the How To video though.
  • KneesX2
    KneesX2 Posts: 4 Member
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    I like this guy! I bookmarked his website to explore. I think I have a better understanding now - thanks again for sharing this.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    edited March 2017
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    I think it's best to progressively build up a really good fitness and endurance base first before even thinking of doing HIIT (true maximal effort HIIT).
    Especially as you age it takes time for your body to adjust. Not just muscles/heart/lungs - also tendons/joints etc.

    Build in intervals by all means as your trainer is doing but I'm in agreement with your trainer. As a 50 something I've found one of the biggest obstacles to progress is injury. We simply don't recover as well as we once did. True HIIT is a big stress on the body.

    HIIT can be very beneficial for some or as just a part of an overall exercise plan but it's become ludicrously over-hyped as well as being used wrongly as a label for almost any interval training.

    What is it about HIIT that you think is necessary or desirable to progress you towards your goal(s)?
  • KneesX2
    KneesX2 Posts: 4 Member
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    Sijomial - very thoughtful advice. Honestly it was on the pre-printed handout of exercises I was given at the gym. I'm doing rotating days of upper and lower body along with abs and the option of HIIT or just ordinary cardio. I asked the trainer about HIIT because I wasn't sure I understood how to do it. I will definitely be careful as I just had the knee replacement and will most likely need one on the right knee in the future. The elliptical doesn't bother my knees but I don't want to overdo. I'm not new to exercise but I had to dial it back these past two years after discovery the arthritis. I know people don't think Jazzercise is hard but it's all about what you put into it - I worked very hard and burned around 500 calories an hour when I was in better condition. My husband and I used to do 26 mile bike rides on the weekend too - it's been hard to do less so now that I've got no restrictions I'm hoping to get in better shape again. Thanks for the input!
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    My knees are a bit of a mess too. :(
    Would heartily recommend getting back into cycling (preferably outdoors but indoors works too). Very controlled movement, good for quad strength which helps knee stability and a sport/pastime where the only limit is yourself. Proper cycling shoes helps keep everything in line. I do use an elliptical (and rower) too but cycling is my main cardio.

    I do long distance events called Audax and there's loads of people far older than us cycling all day in beautiful countryside with a smile on their face.

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