Starting HIIT

TankiBabi
TankiBabi Posts: 40 Member
edited October 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I just started doing HIIT today. I am doing it on a treadmill (not really where I want to be doing it but it is what I have). I start with a warm up of five mins the do 30 sec sprints with 30 sec cool-downs. I am doing this four times for this week then 5 times next and then slowly build it up. My question is my heart monitor shows me burning less calories then if I did my normal routine, which is longer in time, will this hurt my weight loss. ( the only reason I am doing HIIT is that I havent lost any weight in a month after I hit 70 pound loss and nothing is working. I am loosing hope that I can't do this.) If anyone has suggestions on HIIT please help me out.

Replies

  • audram420
    audram420 Posts: 838 Member
    I'd give it a try!! Your HRM is a tool to help you, but don't let it control you...changing up your routine will probably do you much better regardless of what your HR is! You can always go back to what you were doing if you don't see change, but I bet you will!
  • H_Factor
    H_Factor Posts: 1,722 Member
    first, when you say you are doing it 4x this week...do you mean 4 intervals per session or 4 days per week? You shouldn't do HIIT more than 3x per week.

    second, you're not going to burn as many calories doing HIIT....the goal of HIIT is that by working at near max levels, something about EVOC and oxygen that causes residual fat loss for 24-48 hours after your work out. I've read it, but can't recall the exact benefit...I just know that I like HIIT. I've noticed a lot of slimming since I started sprint intervals.

    third, make sure your recovery period is long enough. you want your recovery period to be slow and long enough to bring your heart rate down so you can go max effort during the intense interval. if you're using a treadmill, you should be alternating between 3 mph and 10-11 mph....something drastic like that. I do my sprint intervals outside.
  • NotGoddess
    NotGoddess Posts: 1,198 Member
    I started doing HIIT with my HRM a few weeks ago.

    My form is 5 minutes warm-up, then alternating walking/jogging/sprinting. I'm outside so I use lightpoles as my guide, or with my HRM sprint til I get to the 90%+ range, then jog or walk until I'm down to 75%. If I go all out I can get 5 good sets in, then I'm flagging. If I'm not strung out after 5 I know I didn't push myself hard enough. Then a long cool-down walk in the 70% HRM range.

    I won't burn that many calories when I'm actually doing HIIT, but the afterburn effect is fantastic. I know I'm hitting muscles I've not trained and they let me know it! I think it's fantastic for increasing your endurance, which will let you do your other workouts for longer/with better results. Plus, at least for me, I get a wonderful mood boost when I do it that lasts for hours afterward.

    I only do HIIT 2-3 times a week though. If you are really pushing it, you need your recovery time. I alternate with walking or my c25k program right now, tho I'll be pulling in a DVD some days later this month.
  • cynthials
    cynthials Posts: 213 Member
    I have been doing HIIT for 4-5 years and you are right, the initial calorie burn you see on your HRM will be less. The difference is that the afterburn from HIIT can last up up to 24 hours afterward. With regular cardio, there is no afterburn effect.

    You can do HIIT with just about anything (or even nothing, just using body weight like jumping jacks or burpees). My gym buddy and I have recently favored doing it with jump ropes. We have also done it outside as real sprints.

    Good luck, you should start seeing some good results!
  • Ashleysh22
    Ashleysh22 Posts: 204 Member
    I used to do HIIT workouts 3-4 times a week as part of my Turbo Fire routine. And I had incredible results. But I also burnt a crap ton of calories. I don't know if the Turbo Fire videos are just way different. I used to burn twice as many calories in a 15 minute HIIT video as I did in a 30 minute run.

    But like someone else said here - it is ABSOLUTELY true that you burn calories at an elevated rate throughout the day when you workout this way.
  • dannylives
    dannylives Posts: 611
    I think 5 times a week might be too much. You should add circuit training in there. Or weight training that is based on supersets, tri sets, and/or drop sets with no more than a minutes rest in between exercises.
  • Enforcer25
    Enforcer25 Posts: 350 Member
    I just started doing HIIT on my treadmill and noticed the same thing you did, I also read about the calorie burn 24-48 hours after you are done. I liike it. I currently do this 2x a week for about 20 minutes. Still working on getting my speeds down. I will probably do a slower walk and a faster run as hmalin suggests. Right now I do a 4.5/7.6 interval one minute each for 20 minutes.
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