Who Does HIIT training

harley_rose
harley_rose Posts: 236
edited October 4 in Fitness and Exercise
Wondering how many people do HIIT and how is it working for you? Any comments would be greatly appreciated. I am week 4, on my treadmill. 30 sec up 30 sec rest for 8 intervals. I am going to attempt by week 8 to be doing 12 intervals with 30 sec up and 30 sec rest.. This is being performed 3 days a week.

Replies

  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,027 Member
    Wondering how many people do HIIT and how is it working for you? Any comments would be greatly appreciated. I am week 4, on my treadmill. 30 sec up 30 sec rest for 8 intervals. I am going to attempt by week 8 to be doing 12 intervals with 30 sec up and 30 sec rest.. This is being performed 3 days a week.
    What's the difference in speeds?
  • H_Factor
    H_Factor Posts: 1,722 Member
    I do the HIIT described in my workout blog below. I love it.

    My understanding is that its difficult to do HIIT on a treadmill because it takes time to adjust the MPH up and down.....and sometimes you don't go down enough to get a true rest period so you can truly max out during the work periods. have you thought about doing the sprint intervals outside?
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,027 Member
    I do the HIIT described in my workout blog below. I love it.

    My understanding is that its difficult to do HIIT on a treadmill because it takes time to adjust the MPH up and down.....and sometimes you don't go down enough to get a true rest period so you can truly max out during the work periods. have you thought about doing the sprint intervals outside?
    This is why I do 45 seconds sprint and 30 seconds rest since it takes time for the treadmill to pick up speed. On an ARC trainer I just crank it up to the level 100 resistance and do TABATA on it. Really gasses you out.
  • Wondering how many people do HIIT and how is it working for you? Any comments would be greatly appreciated. I am week 4, on my treadmill. 30 sec up 30 sec rest for 8 intervals. I am going to attempt by week 8 to be doing 12 intervals with 30 sec up and 30 sec rest.. This is being performed 3 days a week.
    What's the difference in speeds?

    Slow speed is 3 my Faster I can do is 7 with incline of 2
  • wrevhn
    wrevhn Posts: 864 Member
    i only been doing it a week and feel better and lost 2 lbs (i had recently gained 5 from eating bad,) so i'm loving it.
  • My1985Freckles
    My1985Freckles Posts: 1,039 Member
    I do my HIIT on the elliptical. 30 seconds on (15-20mph???) and 90 seconds off (around 6mph, but one time I could barely keep myself at 5.5 during that time I was so tired!)
  • Tujitsu56
    Tujitsu56 Posts: 392 Member
    These were my thoughts exactly. I mean the only way I can think of doing HIIT effectively on a treadmil sounds pretty dangerous and doesn't involve ramping the speed back down, but merely lifting your feet off the treadmil and too the side. ONCE AGAIN, DANGEROUS IN MY MIND.
    I do the HIIT described in my workout blog below. I love it.

    My understanding is that its difficult to do HIIT on a treadmill because it takes time to adjust the MPH up and down.....and sometimes you don't go down enough to get a true rest period so you can truly max out during the work periods. have you thought about doing the sprint intervals outside?
  • I do the HIIT described in my workout blog below. I love it.

    My understanding is that its difficult to do HIIT on a treadmill because it takes time to adjust the MPH up and down.....and sometimes you don't go down enough to get a true rest period so you can truly max out during the work periods. have you thought about doing the sprint intervals outside?

    I take into account the time to get up to speed then the 30 sec starts, i have it on an incline so I have to keep up with the treadmill.. As far as the rest I jump off to the side then walk it off get back on and crack it up again.. It seems to work because by the time I am done I am starving for air and ready to cry
  • MamaBear57
    MamaBear57 Posts: 336 Member
    I do it every other day. The way my treadmill works I cannot keep it straight with 30 sec times so I do 1 minutes at 6.0 and 1 minute at 3.5 with a 2.1 incline. Do this for 27 minutes. It is a killer.Did it for about two weeks. Go sick took one week off started again today. It was very hard. Did better when I first started. Have lost at least 5 pounds and quite a few inches. Love doing it.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,027 Member
    Wondering how many people do HIIT and how is it working for you? Any comments would be greatly appreciated. I am week 4, on my treadmill. 30 sec up 30 sec rest for 8 intervals. I am going to attempt by week 8 to be doing 12 intervals with 30 sec up and 30 sec rest.. This is being performed 3 days a week.
    What's the difference in speeds?

    Slow speed is 3 my Faster I can do is 7 with incline of 2
    Sounds good. Just keep working on upping the intervals.
  • smpreston
    smpreston Posts: 262 Member
    My understanding of HIIT is that you need to go all out during those intervals for the max effect.I can see that as difficult on a treadmill. I liked to do it on a rowing machine. I still want to get one for the house one of these days.
  • alicebud
    alicebud Posts: 72 Member
    I walked 1000 miles (OK exagerration) and never lost a pound until I added mixed interval training to my treadmill workout. Then, my heart rate went up and the pounds came off. I have a manual incline treadmill and follow this 39 minute workout 3 times per week (although some weeks I run or bike instead of 1 treadmill workout).

    http://exercise.about.com/library/blmixedinterval.htm

    After 6 months, I still get a good workout on my treadmill using that schedule.
  • bhoochy
    bhoochy Posts: 35 Member
    oh I am and I love it....burns the calories so fast....I do 15 secs as hard as I can, anything over that I"m not really going as hard as I can. I started resting for 45 secs but am not at 30 but that is even getting to be a little easy so I'm about to go to 15:15. I love it. I have great results when I do it. I only do it tops 2-3 times a week. Good luck =)
  • Tegan74
    Tegan74 Posts: 202
    Serious question ~ If you do this without the rest periods does it do the same thing?
  • I do it on the elliptical, the one where you can adjust the resistance and the height. I do 5 min warm up with my heart rate any where between 65-75% exertion. Then I do one min where my heart rate is 75-85% exertion. Then I repeat that 2 more times, with a 5 min cool down. You can figure out the percentages by this formula:

    220-your age= maximum heart rate

    Take your maximum heart rate and then multiple by each percentage to figure out that zones. For example mine would be:

    220-25= 195

    195 x .65 = 127

    195 x .75 = 146 so my 65-75% heart rate zone is 127-146 beats per min, and my 75-85% zone is 146- 165 beats per min.

    Hope that helps!! Good luck!
  • H_Factor
    H_Factor Posts: 1,722 Member
    Serious question ~ If you do this without the rest periods does it do the same thing?

    no. you can only work at your max for so long...so, if you don't have rest periods then either: (a) your workout will last less than a minute tops; or (b) you aren't really maxing out during the work period.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,027 Member
    Serious question ~ If you do this without the rest periods does it do the same thing?
    You can't do it without the rest periods. If you're going all out, then the time shouldn't be at the very MOST 30 seconds. I would even put it at 20 seconds.
  • TluvK
    TluvK Posts: 733 Member
    Serious question ~ If you do this without the rest periods does it do the same thing?

    The point of it is short bursts of energy - you're supposed to get your heart rate up and then bring it back down again.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,027 Member
    I do it on the elliptical, the one where you can adjust the resistance and the height. I do 5 min warm up with my heart rate any where between 65-75% exertion. Then I do one min where my heart rate is 75-85% exertion. Then I repeat that 2 more times, with a 5 min cool down. You can figure out the percentages by this formula:

    220-your age= maximum heart rate

    Take your maximum heart rate and then multiple by each percentage to figure out that zones. For example mine would be:

    220-25= 195

    195 x .65 = 127

    195 x .75 = 146 so my 65-75% heart rate zone is 127-146 beats per min, and my 75-85% zone is 146- 165 beats per min.

    Hope that helps!! Good luck!
    That's intervals then and not HIIT. HIIT is ALL OUT (100% effort) and your heart rate will be at max and maybe even over.
  • H_Factor
    H_Factor Posts: 1,722 Member
    I do it on the elliptical, the one where you can adjust the resistance and the height. I do 5 min warm up with my heart rate any where between 65-75% exertion. Then I do one min where my heart rate is 75-85% exertion. Then I repeat that 2 more times, with a 5 min cool down. You can figure out the percentages by this formula:

    220-your age= maximum heart rate

    Take your maximum heart rate and then multiple by each percentage to figure out that zones. For example mine would be:

    220-25= 195

    195 x .65 = 127

    195 x .75 = 146 so my 65-75% heart rate zone is 127-146 beats per min, and my 75-85% zone is 146- 165 beats per min.

    Hope that helps!! Good luck!

    I aim for 90% plus during the work periods (so 170-180) and drop down under 125 during the rest period before I do another work period.

    EDIT: I guess I should add that I'm 40 so technically my max is 180....although at ninerbuff alluded to above, there have been times that my work interval creeps a little above 180.
  • TluvK
    TluvK Posts: 733 Member
    I do it on the treadmill - I don't think it's dangerous.

    I either do flat HIIT or Hill HIIT. My MAX is 10.5 for 60 sec and my low is 3.9 for 90 sec. I do jump off the treadmill after my max and then just lower it to 3.9 - it takes about 2 seconds to lower the speed.
  • Tegan74
    Tegan74 Posts: 202
    Thanks for the replies ~ hadnt thought about it that way ~ I've been doing the stationary bike, lvl 10 and keeping the speed as up as I can. I do have to stop for a few seconds, but not a whole min, I'd say probly 45 going all out 15 resting. It doesnt feel like much of a rest tho LOL. I'm breaking a sweat and my legs are screaming when I'm done. I do only go 5 to 6 min's tho and I cant go any more.

    When I go tonight I'm going to see if I cant push a lil more, and rest some between. The inches are coming off, but not lbs so much. An the inches are slow :) I'm also going to push really hard to peddle faster, see what happens.

    tluvk ~ my heart rate goes up LOL ~ but I know what you mean about going up then back down :)
  • H_Factor
    H_Factor Posts: 1,722 Member
    I do it on the treadmill - I don't think it's dangerous.

    I either do flat HIIT or Hill HIIT. My MAX is 10.5 for 60 sec and my low is 3.9 for 90 sec. I do jump off the treadmill after my max and then just lower it to 3.9 - it takes about 2 seconds to lower the speed.

    I guess I should have said that its dangerous for me due to my sometimes lack of coordination (especially when I'm fighting to breathe). during some of my boot camps, in addition to shorter sprints outside, we will do a quarter mile "sprint" on the treadmill between resistance circuits. I've almost busted my butt jumping to the side of the treadmill when going fast. soooo, if someone is about as coordinated as I am, it might be somewhat dangerous ;)
  • TluvK
    TluvK Posts: 733 Member
    Thanks for the replies ~ hadnt thought about it that way ~ I've been doing the stationary bike, lvl 10 and keeping the speed as up as I can. I do have to stop for a few seconds, but not a whole min, I'd say probly 45 going all out 15 resting. It doesnt feel like much of a rest tho LOL. I'm breaking a sweat and my legs are screaming when I'm done. I do only go 5 to 6 min's tho and I cant go any more.

    When I go tonight I'm going to see if I cant push a lil more, and rest some between. The inches are coming off, but not lbs so much. An the inches are slow :) I'm also going to push really hard to peddle faster, see what happens.

    tluvk ~ my heart rate goes up LOL ~ but I know what you mean about going up then back down :)

    Tegan - I would suggest you actually bring your resistance up a bit, instead of trying to pedal faster at level 10. What you should be looking at is your watts - do you know where those are on the bike monitor? Because I don't have an idea of your level of fitness or your size, it's hard for me to say what to shoot for, but off the cuff, I'd tell you to shoot above 200 watts for your max and then bring yourself down to 150 or so for your break. You should try to pedal at resistance 12 with speeds above 85 for 30 seconds.
  • Tujitsu56
    Tujitsu56 Posts: 392 Member
    I mentioned dangerous to jump off in more of a disclaimer capacity. Wouldn't want to tell everyone to do that and people get hurt. More at your own risk type of thing.
  • TluvK
    TluvK Posts: 733 Member
    I mentioned dangerous to jump off in more of a disclaimer capacity. Wouldn't want to tell everyone to do that and people get hurt. More at your own risk type of thing.

    Good point.
  • wrevhn
    wrevhn Posts: 864 Member
    i would think it be bad for a newbie who might not be as fit to jump in at 100%. esp if they have issues with health. some ppl might need to start out lower like giving max of 7 effort (1-10) and 90 sec breaks. then work their way up. but yes the breaks are half the point of hiit. half low, half high. you'de keel over if you did that hard the whole time.
  • Tegan74
    Tegan74 Posts: 202
    Thanks for the replies ~ hadnt thought about it that way ~ I've been doing the stationary bike, lvl 10 and keeping the speed as up as I can. I do have to stop for a few seconds, but not a whole min, I'd say probly 45 going all out 15 resting. It doesnt feel like much of a rest tho LOL. I'm breaking a sweat and my legs are screaming when I'm done. I do only go 5 to 6 min's tho and I cant go any more.

    When I go tonight I'm going to see if I cant push a lil more, and rest some between. The inches are coming off, but not lbs so much. An the inches are slow :) I'm also going to push really hard to peddle faster, see what happens.

    tluvk ~ my heart rate goes up LOL ~ but I know what you mean about going up then back down :)

    Tegan - I would suggest you actually bring your resistance up a bit, instead of trying to pedal faster at level 10. What you should be looking at is your watts - do you know where those are on the bike monitor? Because I don't have an idea of your level of fitness or your size, it's hard for me to say what to shoot for, but off the cuff, I'd tell you to shoot above 200 watts for your max and then bring yourself down to 150 or so for your break. You should try to pedal at resistance 12 with speeds above 85 for 30 seconds.

    Thanks for the suggestion :) I'll try that when I go tonight. 10 resistance has been enough that I 'feel' it without feeling like I'm peddling thru mud, but I can still go fairly fast. It'll be interesting to see if going up on resistance doesnt force me to slow down more so than before.
  • I am going to look at getting an Elliptical this winter, the treadmill is what I own so it is giving me results I am losing inches, I was at a plaque for a while so now it is moving again
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