High Intensity w/o a coach/trainer?
itsmenrc
Posts: 2 Member
Any insight from the community on how (where, etc) to do HIIT type workouts without a coach? I'd like to have a plan for the future and would appreciate any advice.
I've been going to a coach 3x per week where we do very high intensity circuits. It's nice because I sweat like a sprinkler and I don't have to worry about leaving pools on the mat (it's a private gym)
While having a coach is great, I'd like to transition to maybe 1x per week or less and continue to do training on my own.
Can I do such high intensity at a public/membership gym? Other options?
I would prefer to do whole-body mobility/ strength training with trx or free weights, etc.
Any advice?
thanks,
nrc
I've been going to a coach 3x per week where we do very high intensity circuits. It's nice because I sweat like a sprinkler and I don't have to worry about leaving pools on the mat (it's a private gym)
While having a coach is great, I'd like to transition to maybe 1x per week or less and continue to do training on my own.
Can I do such high intensity at a public/membership gym? Other options?
I would prefer to do whole-body mobility/ strength training with trx or free weights, etc.
Any advice?
thanks,
nrc
1
Replies
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There really is no other way to do calisthenic training but high intensity (not counting picking up light weight that is easy, but we aren't talking about people wasting their time in the gym).
So if you are looking stuff up, don't limit yourself to descriptions that are narrower than what you were actually doing.
Sure you can do intense stuff (drop the high-intensity jargon - it's faddish and worthless description, and not actually accurate for HIIT which is cardio intervals anyway).
Have you made a note of the stuff you did with the coach?
Do that on your own.
May need a stopwatch. Or music of exact length before you switch to another exercise.1 -
Of course you can do circuit training on your own.
What I find helpful is to split the lifts/exercises into five parts to do in rotation:
Upper body push/Upper body pull/Lower Body push/Lower body pull/Core.
That way you working hard the whole time but also giving the muscles time to recover. You also aren't tied to specific exercises which helps avoid blocking all the equipment in a busy gym. Be aware that selfish circuit training can be a P.I.T.A. to others!
Dumbbells and body weight exercises work extremely well as there's no set up time.
Some people like a timer on their phone, some like to work from their heart rate recovery, some just on perceived exertion - there's pros and cons to all.
PS - please don't call circuit training HIIT, it's worthy of its own proper name and doesn't need a fashion label.
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It depends how easy you find it to motivate and push yourself. I pay for a trainer because I know that there's no way I could push myself as hard as she does, as soon as it gets hard I'll stop if I didn't have her standing over me giving the look.0
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I would look into TABATA workouts. 20 seconds of ALL OUT work followed by 10 seconds of rest. 8 times is 1 circuit. It can be a little difficult to time, so download some Tabata songs, which have cues set to the music, have them in all genres.
I do them with a combination of light weight ballistic weighted moves (like kettle bell swings or push presses) and body weight exercises (air squats and burpees), but you can do them with sprints, rowing, just body weight exercises...
It's worth a Google.2 -
Will your coach give you a plan for the other days on your own? When my trainer Closed his studio I just wrote down a list of all the exercises each session for a few weeks. From there you can mix and match. I workout at home but you could do at a gym too.1
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MilesAddie wrote: »I would look into TABATA workouts. 20 seconds of ALL OUT work followed by 10 seconds of rest. 8 times is 1 circuit. It can be a little difficult to time, so download some Tabata songs, which have cues set to the music, have them in all genres.
I do them with a combination of light weight ballistic weighted moves (like kettle bell swings or push presses) and body weight exercises (air squats and burpees), but you can do them with sprints, rowing, just body weight exercises...
It's worth a Google.
Strength exercises aren't HIIT.2 -
MilesAddie wrote: »I would look into TABATA workouts. 20 seconds of ALL OUT work followed by 10 seconds of rest. 8 times is 1 circuit. It can be a little difficult to time, so download some Tabata songs, which have cues set to the music, have them in all genres.
I do them with a combination of light weight ballistic weighted moves (like kettle bell swings or push presses) and body weight exercises (air squats and burpees), but you can do them with sprints, rowing, just body weight exercises...
It's worth a Google.
For sure Google Tabata protocol.
It's for cardiovascular improvements doing cardio - so the sprints, rowing, biking, ect would apply.
Body weight movements that are by nature resistance training already, and could never be done in a regular LISS style anyway, are not.
If you want to call them Tabata because that impresses people, that's fine.
But since they likely don't understand anyway - calling them what they are would probably be just as impressive.
Explosive lifting sounds pretty good.1 -
yes- you can. just be aware of your surroundings.
whut?stanmann571 wrote: »MilesAddie wrote: »I would look into TABATA workouts. 20 seconds of ALL OUT work followed by 10 seconds of rest. 8 times is 1 circuit. It can be a little difficult to time, so download some Tabata songs, which have cues set to the music, have them in all genres.
I do them with a combination of light weight ballistic weighted moves (like kettle bell swings or push presses) and body weight exercises (air squats and burpees), but you can do them with sprints, rowing, just body weight exercises...
It's worth a Google.
Strength exercises aren't HIIT.
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yes- you can. just be aware of your surroundings.
whut?stanmann571 wrote: »MilesAddie wrote: »I would look into TABATA workouts. 20 seconds of ALL OUT work followed by 10 seconds of rest. 8 times is 1 circuit. It can be a little difficult to time, so download some Tabata songs, which have cues set to the music, have them in all genres.
I do them with a combination of light weight ballistic weighted moves (like kettle bell swings or push presses) and body weight exercises (air squats and burpees), but you can do them with sprints, rowing, just body weight exercises...
It's worth a Google.
Strength exercises aren't HIIT.
Air Squats Specifically do not meet the criteria. I was not as specific as I ought to have been.
KB swings/Push Presses/Burpees can be done as Tabata or other HIIT protocol. Air squats and "other body weight exercises" don't. I know that Pushups and Air squats are popular within certain circles for tabata as part of a circuit workout, but that doesn't make them HIIT. I apologize for my imprecision.0 -
HIIT is just a style of training. High Intensity Interval Training.
Anything can be done as an interval. I mean- it's an interval- you do it then you stop- or do something else.
What criteria are you basing this off of that such things do not qualify? Curious.
And why would a burpee qualify but not push ups?0 -
HIIT is just a style of training. High Intensity Interval Training.
Anything can be done as an interval. I mean- it's an interval- you do it then you stop- or do something else.
What criteria are you basing this off of that such things do not qualify? Curious.
And why would a burpee qualify but not push ups?
I agree that anything can be an interval, but HI interval/tabata aren't circuit training.
High Intensity has a meaning. Pushups don't satisfy that meaning. Neither do air Squats...
Circuit interval training yes. High intensity no.
Words have meaning.0 -
HIIT is just a style of training. High Intensity Interval Training.
Anything can be done as an interval. I mean- it's an interval- you do it then you stop- or do something else.
What criteria are you basing this off of that such things do not qualify? Curious.
And why would a burpee qualify but not push ups?
Tabata planking is the biggest fitness contradiction I've heard so far. 1 -
LOL- I could probably agree with that- LMAO_ I can't say I've ever heard of that.
But that doesn't change that anything can indeed by done as an interval.
That or we have severely different opinions of what the word "interval" means.1 -
I don't have a point and I'm not arguing for or against anything. That just made me laugh and I finally had a chance to use it!2
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I'll gather moves that look fun/challenging and put a bunch together in intervals and try to make it focused as I need to depending on where I am at. I have an app called Seconds that's a great interval workout timer and can set that and/or write the plan out and follow along. The combo works for me.0
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LOL- I could probably agree with that- LMAO_ I can't say I've ever heard of that.
But that doesn't change that anything can indeed by done as an interval.
That or we have severely different opinions of what the word "interval" means.
HIIT originated by taking cardio that could be done in non-interval fashion, and making it into intervals, very specific intervals compared to other interval protocols.
Some of the interval protocols to improve some aspect of the cardiovascular aerobic/anaerobic system.
Is lifting intervals because you only do so many reps - then rest - then do more reps, repeat for so many sets?
I'd say intervals compared to what?
Some things are only done by interval, in the sense there has to be a rest period or you really aren't doing any more of them anyway.
If stopping one thing and moving on to another movement/exercise, you may indeed be resting the first muscles and using a second set now, but did that first movement/exercise have the ability to be done in a non-interval fashion in the first place?
Or are you doing a form of circuit training with even less rest between movements.
Anything can indeed be done as a short intense nature to it, but could it ever have been done in not that fashion to make the interval method an option to doing it.
I've watched a lot of the linked references people will put up as HIIT or Tabata because originally I was curious if it really was, now I'll look because of how some are spealing off all kinds of myth phrases during the workout.
The things they are doing were never going to be done non-interval fashion, what they were doing was always the way it's done - if you wanted a good anaerobic workout with some resistance training - called Aerobics classes years ago when I attended one as a teenager at prodding of family.
Not much new with them except specific timing of one movement before moving on or taking a breather.1 -
Let me restate this for the OP;
Hey you know what I like to do? I think its really a great workout.
I work out as hard as I can for 20 seconds, and then rest for 10 seconds. I do it 8 times in a row.
I think the people that taught me this got the idea from this Dr. Tabata who developed it for the Japanese speed skating team, but I don't speed skate, so I substitute things that I normally do in the course of my workouts. Things like KB swings, push presses, burpees, and box jumps. Now, these things aren't strictly cardio, and I guess some of them might not be high intensity exercises, but I don't make a big deal out of it, because I'm gassed when I'm finished.
Also, I don't know if I'm working to 90% of my max HR, and I really could care less. I'm a sweaty mess with my head between my knees after running through a few circuits. And I guess I'm resting for 10 seconds, not switching to a moderate rate of work in between, so I guess this doesn't qualify as HIIT.
But if you want to give it a try, despite it not really being HIIT, or Tabata, I would recommend downloading some Tabata songs to listen to, because it can be a pain to keep looking at the clock or your watch.
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LOL- I could probably agree with that- LMAO_ I can't say I've ever heard of that.
But that doesn't change that anything can indeed by done as an interval.
That or we have severely different opinions of what the word "interval" means.
HIIT originated by taking cardio that could be done in non-interval fashion, and making it into intervals, very specific intervals compared to other interval protocols.
Some of the interval protocols to improve some aspect of the cardiovascular aerobic/anaerobic system.
Is lifting intervals because you only do so many reps - then rest - then do more reps, repeat for so many sets?
I'd say intervals compared to what?
Some things are only done by interval, in the sense there has to be a rest period or you really aren't doing any more of them anyway.
If stopping one thing and moving on to another movement/exercise, you may indeed be resting the first muscles and using a second set now, but did that first movement/exercise have the ability to be done in a non-interval fashion in the first place?
Or are you doing a form of circuit training with even less rest between movements.
Anything can indeed be done as a short intense nature to it, but could it ever have been done in not that fashion to make the interval method an option to doing it.
I've watched a lot of the linked references people will put up as HIIT or Tabata because originally I was curious if it really was, now I'll look because of how some are spealing off all kinds of myth phrases during the workout.
The things they are doing were never going to be done non-interval fashion, what they were doing was always the way it's done - if you wanted a good anaerobic workout with some resistance training - called Aerobics classes years ago when I attended one as a teenager at prodding of family.
Not much new with them except specific timing of one movement before moving on or taking a breather.
I think the gist of that wall-o-text is that some things work well- some things less well- and ultimately tabata and HIIT is now a fancy trendy way of doing cardio.
Ultimately- I have to agree that some things are far better suited for interval/hiit style training. I think it's over used and a fad. If you tell me something is a 60 min HIIT workout- I know that you aren't getting what HIIT really is. Which is fine- but don't play like you do.
I just- feel like it's disingenuous to say KB swings and burpees count- but not push ups or squats/squat jumps. LOL_ like why because you said so.
Anything TRULY can be interval style work. 15 squats at 135- followed by 45 second of high knee jump roping? that would be really tough- and would qualify as interval training. I'm betting that for 5 minutes would be brutal.
Like- I dunno- I just don't think things are so black and white even if it's over used LOL1
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