HIIT and Tabata- Need some clarification please

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rjt1000
rjt1000 Posts: 700 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
OK, I'm thinking I understand but just want to really make sure. I'm looking at doing this on elliptical. So, I would do 3-5 minutes of warmup at steady pace. Then alternate 20 seconds of as hard as I can go with 10 seconds of recovery (half the pace of the high intensity part) and alternate for 4minutes. Then a 2 minute recovery at "normal" pace. Then do the 20 second/10 second intervals again for 4 minutes? Then a cooldown of maybe 5 minutes? That would give me a total time on the elliptical of around 20 minutes.

Is that the way to do it?

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  • titletown
    titletown Posts: 377 Member
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    If you go 20 minutes you'll probably be dead LOL

    Here is a decent video that explains in fine detail, HIIT at least:

    http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2010/06/26/10-minutes-of-exercise-yields-hourlong-effects.aspx

    P.S. They recommend 2-3 times a week max, you have to give your body time to recuperate after HIIT.
  • rjt1000
    rjt1000 Posts: 700 Member
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    holy smokes, that was fast!!! Thanks for the link. Checking it out now.
  • melrose09
    melrose09 Posts: 271
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    great video! I think I'll hit the recumbent tonight instead of running like I was planning! I don't think the bikes at my gym measure watts or mets, but I'm really curious about them!
  • bahacca
    bahacca Posts: 878 Member
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    I could NEVER do HIIT on a treadmill. The bike is the way to go. Just be sure there are foot straps. I do HIIT-Tabata is a bit too hard core for me, though I may need to push myself to try it. I go 1:30 regular and :30 hard core for 16 minutes total. Be VERY careful when you get off the bike. Your muscles will be asking "WTF?" and I seriously almost fell over the first time I got off the bike.
  • velofille
    velofille Posts: 14 Member
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    HIIT is really effective! Great if you are a busy mother who works like me! You can get HIIT timers on most smart phones, i used to lock myself in the lounge for 10 mins, and come out almost having a heart attack every other morning. Killer workout!
  • titletown
    titletown Posts: 377 Member
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    VERY careful when you get off the bike. Your muscles will be asking "WTF?" and I seriously almost fell over the first time I got off the bike.

    LOL, I second this, the term wet noodles come to mind the first time I finished :)

    8 minutes does not seem like much but trust me, this will kick your butt big time...
  • melrose09
    melrose09 Posts: 271
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    If you go 20 minutes you'll probably be dead LOL

    Here is a decent video that explains in fine detail, HIIT at least:

    http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2010/06/26/10-minutes-of-exercise-yields-hourlong-effects.aspx

    P.S. They recommend 2-3 times a week max, you have to give your body time to recuperate after HIIT.

    Did this tonight. Made it to 20 minutes, but I was near the death you spoke of :) Felt great, though! I'll definitely be adding the bike once or twice a week now!

    And yes, my quads felt like lead weights when I got off the bike! But they recovered quickly.

    To the OP, give this a shot! It was pretty awesome! The HRM on the bike at my gym was going crazy and ready 93 every once in a while when I wasn't even touching it bahahaha. So I don't know what I HR was. I did a 4 resistance and 1:30 of slow and :30 of sprint. By the last sprint, I seriously thought I was about to meet my maker
  • rjt1000
    rjt1000 Posts: 700 Member
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    If you go 20 minutes you'll probably be dead LOL

    Here is a decent video that explains in fine detail, HIIT at least:

    http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2010/06/26/10-minutes-of-exercise-yields-hourlong-effects.aspx

    P.S. They recommend 2-3 times a week max, you have to give your body time to recuperate after HIIT.

    Did this tonight. Made it to 20 minutes, but I was near the death you spoke of :) Felt great, though! I'll definitely be adding the bike once or twice a week now!

    And yes, my quads felt like lead weights when I got off the bike! But they recovered quickly.

    To the OP, give this a shot! It was pretty awesome! The HRM on the bike at my gym was going crazy and ready 93 every once in a while when I wasn't even touching it bahahaha. So I don't know what I HR was. I did a 4 resistance and 1:30 of slow and :30 of sprint. By the last sprint, I seriously thought I was about to meet my maker

    Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to be at the gym tomorrow and will be trying this on elliptical. I'm going to try 30 on, 1 minute off. I'll find out if I'm being overly optimistic very quickly. But I want to really push my cardio workouts. I see too many people who go in and do 60 minutes at a nice steady pace and never break a sweat. They aren't accomplishing much....

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