HIIT Help!!!

vtakougang
vtakougang Posts: 46
edited December 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
I'm thinking about trying HIIT training, but I have a few questions first. 1) How long do each session usually last? 2) How often do you do it? 3) What results have you had after doing this training? 4) Do you do strength training afterwards? Thanks in advanced!

Replies

  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
    1) 15-20 minutes TOPS
    2) 2x a week MAX
    3) I have become leaner, lost bodyfat, and my cardiovascular system is in very good working order
    4) Never do strength training after. Some people can do HIIT after strength training, but I go balls to the wall so I cannot. I do it on off days only. It should be so intense that you are dead tired after.

    An example of what I do on the treadmill:
    Warm up for 2 minutes on 4.0 (brisk walk)
    1 minute run at 6.5
    30 seconds of sprinting at 8.5 working my way up eventually to 9.0 at the end of the intervals
    1.5 minute recovery brisk walk at 4.0

    Repeat until 20 minutes, you should end up with 5 runs and 5 sprints.
  • japruzze
    japruzze Posts: 453 Member
    I started doing HIIT about 6 weeks ago. I do 15 mintue sessions (I read that 15 - 20 mintues is best somewhere). I do it 3 times a week. Sometimes I do strength training after, sometimes before and sometimes not at all. I try to do strength training 3 times a week. How much time I have on a given day determines how much I do. I try to have one day (at least) when I do nothing, Results...it takes more effort to get my heart rate up. I can walk/run longer and faster than before. I've lost inches but not weight (but that's another conversation). Hope my experience helps you. Good luck!
  • LizKurz
    LizKurz Posts: 340 Member
    Yap, balls to wall for sure on HIIT.

    I usually do running or the elliptical for HIIT work, about 30 min max, and usually less. You can do intervals if you want, that's not as intense as HIIT, and go for 45 or so, and you'll see some of the same results, loss in body fat, etc, but it will be slower to see results.

    If I'm running I'm doing a warm up of 3.5 mph to 4.0 mph for 5 min. Then 20 min of one min on and one min rest, my high point is like 6.0 on and 5.0 off now cause I'm trucking 190 lbs of *kitten* around, when I was 145 before this last baby, I did 8.0 as my fast pace and 6.5 as my rest. Oh yeah, and ETA to add that I do a 5 min cool down cause if I don't I get an exercise induced migraine. So I actually only do 20 min of the HIIT intervals.

    It can be really good for loss of body fat, I know I lost like 3 more inches off my belly when I started HIIT, about 2 months later. No change in the scale, which was fine, but my pants fit better for sure.
  • vtakougang
    vtakougang Posts: 46
    thanks so much for the replies! I think I'll start today!!
  • Axels91
    Axels91 Posts: 213
    I always puke after doing hiit. That's how fast you need to be running.

    I do 5 sets. 1 minute at 7.0 mph and then 2 min at 5.0.

    I count sets rather than time. Because sometimes I end up taking longer breaks to catch my breath.
  • vtakougang
    vtakougang Posts: 46
    what do you all suggest for a beginner?
  • Axels91
    Axels91 Posts: 213
    I'm not a professional, but gage how much you CAN do, and base your workouts on that.

    If you can't run a full minute try 20 seconds.
  • DANCHAN1
    DANCHAN1 Posts: 113 Member
    Turbo FIre has some great HIIT DVD's.

    The TUrbofire serie has HIITS in the workout anywhere from 1-3, and she has HIIT DVD's 15 minutes & 20 minutes. You do a full out HIIT for 1 minute then rest while walking around 1 minute. They are very intenses cardio. They are great but she says nevaer to do them back to back days. Hope that helps
  • Awkward30
    Awkward30 Posts: 1,927 Member
    I prefer elliptical for hiit because you don't have to guess how fast you can run, you just push it balls to the wall.

    If you can go longer than 20 min (excluding warm up and cool down) you are doing it wrong.

    I do 1 min balls to the wall, two minutes rest, until I can't do it anymore, which has never been longer than 20 min. Towards the end of each minute I'm going a bit slower than I was at the beginning (why I like elliptical) but still as hard as I can.
    I don't do it with strength training because I can't, but if you do, you should do it after the strength training so you don't increase odds of injury by exhausting yourself before lifting heavy stuff.

    I started hiit early in my weight loss, so I can't say what kind of results I got physically, but even though it's short, it's so intense that my endurance running abilities dramatically increased without me needing to put much time into long runs
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    depends on the type of HIIT you do.

    i do 2 types of hit : aerobic and anaerobic.

    the aerobic sessions are longer (45-60 minutes) and it usually involves something like a moderate pace for 2 minutes then a quicker pace for a 1. so on the treadmill i might do something like walk on 4.0 for 2 minutes then run on 6.0 for a minute.

    the anaerobic ones i can only do for 12-15 minutes and those are 15 seconds of rest then 15 seconds of sprinting. for these i set the treadmill speed to 8.3 and will hop on to the sides of the treadmill to rest and then will hop back on to the moving belt for the sprint session. this takes coordination.


    if you dont want to run then you can do hill intervals. this is one of my favorites cus its the very first HIIT routine i did when started getting back in shape in january. crank the treadmill up to a speed where it's just below the point where you have to run (for me that's like 4.9/5.0 but might be different for someone else with different stride length). next crank the incline up to something crazy like 6. then alternate 15 seconds of power walking (try not to hold on to the machine, but if you have to then go for it) then 15 second of rest on the side. i'm most proud of this one because when i started i could only get through 21 minutes and i was at anaerobic level (180s). now i can do for 60 minutes and my heart rate barely gets above 145. i will probably always keep this routine in my arsenal because it's good on days i want to do longer cardio, want a good workout but dont feel like jumping and jogging




    i prefer the treadmill or track for my HIIT sessions, but it can also be done on any cardio equipment you have access to.

    results : - i can run 2 blocks to catch my bus when i'm about to miss it and i barely breath heavy.
    - noticed more endurance in my steady state cardio
    - increased V02 max and decreased resting heart rate.

    cant say exactly how it's helped with fat loss, but i do know that HRM says i burn around 800 calories an hour after i finished a 12 minute anaerobic HIIT session, so that has to be good, right? considering my steady state cardio burns like 400 calories an hour, i thought it was cool that i got 2 hours worth of a burn out of 12 minutes of actual work
  • vtakougang
    vtakougang Posts: 46
    i read what a lot of you said, about if you're not dying after then you're probably doing it wrong. I did it twice last week and for sure wasn't dying after, so today i'll try to increase my speed, and maybe walk for 30 seconds and run for a minute and a half! thanks for all the advice!
  • djcfast1
    djcfast1 Posts: 1 Member
    Hi

    I am male 43 and have always been into weights, but had a belly for the last 10 years... I love my food, I started doing HIIT on a treadmill before my weights about 3 times a week I do a 5 min warm up at 8.5 KMH then put treadmill on max speed which on my treadmill is 18 KMH and run for thirty seconds then jump off to the sides and rest for 30 seconds I do this for 5- 8 times then do a two minute warm down at 10 KMH at the end of this I am really struggling for breath. I did build up to this, try and do 5 hiits at 15 KMH to start after a warm up. Some people here said they do it for 40 minutes, if this is the case they are athletes because if you are doing it properly 15 - 20 mins should be enough.As a guide there is no way you should be able to talk on your sprints if you can you're not running fast enough, If you think about it you are effectively sprinting fast for 4 minutes, a sprint race 100 meters lasts between 10 - 15 seconds depending on your ability so it's no wonder you are knackered at the end of it. Anyway in terms of results in conjunction with cleaning my diet up a bit I lost 1.5 stone and my belly quite quickly and have kept it off now. I also eat what i like now and the belly is not coming back because of the training. If you don't want to lose muscle as well as fat I'd stick to no more than twice a week. Good luck and let us know how you get on.

    Dave
  • grantdumas7
    grantdumas7 Posts: 802 Member
    Some people are confusing interval training with HIIT. If you can go over 30 sec during the high intensity part, you are not doing HIIT. You are doing interval training. The hard portion of HIIT should 100% all out. Think of a lion chasing you. If you are doing HIIT on eliptical, then you are doing HIIT. There is no way you can go all out 100% for 15-20 sec.
    As far as when to do it. Never before a weight lifting session. Unless you want your weight workout to suffer. HIIT will burn a lot of glycogen which is the primary fuel used by muscles during weight lifting.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    what do you all suggest for a beginner?

    most high intensity workouts are not suitable for beginners. without a solid base of fitness to work from, it's a recipe for nagging soft tissue injuries. a lot of people realize this and end up doing a moderate intensity interval workout, which is basically regular cardio except it's not performed long enough to get the benefits.
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