HIIT workout

[Sancho]

I want to try a HIIT workout. I read that some think that doing the blast only portion of an IMAX workout would qualify . . . what do you think?

Otherwise, I have a stairmaster and can do that. How should I do the intervals? One minute at the highest possible level followed by one minute recovery for 20 minutes? Or should the timing be different.

Thanks for any insight you can provide.

[Mary09]

Scroll to the bottom of this article for Cosgrove's HIIT suggestion.
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/alwyn8.htm

What little I know of IMAX blasts, I'm guessing that blasts only wouldn't really be intervals, just high intensity throughout.

I think that there are all kinds of HIIT variations, as far as how long to be "high intensity" and not.

[Cowgirl32]

HIIT, is highly individual. A more advanced exerciser's HIIT takes a lot more effort to get the heart a pumping, because they're body has become more efficient at pumping blood to their extremities. So, your HIIT would be interval training to a more advanced exerciser that does HIIT. If that makes sense :P Unless you're a really advanced exerciser.

[Sancho]

Thanks for the article link. I tried his workout suggestion today. I was on the stairmaster and did 1 min at level 12 followed by 2 min at level 7. I did this 8 times. With warm up and cool down, it was 30 minutes. Toward the end, I had to stop for 1-2 seconds during the 1 minute at level 12.

Does it sound like I did this right?

Is this article an excerpt from Afterburn? I'm thinking of buying the book.

[Sancho]

I've gone back and reread the article, and he says to only do the circuit 3 times the first 3 weeks and by the end of the program you're doing it 5 times. I did it 8, so does that mean I wasn't working hard enough and need to up the intensity next time????

[Pratima]

Originally Posted by Sancho

I've gone back and reread the article, and he says to only do the circuit 3 times the first 3 weeks and by the end of the program you're doing it 5 times. I did it 8, so does that mean I wasn't working hard enough and need to up the intensity next time????

I just got back from the gym and tried it on the elliptical. I did 5 rounds so it was 25 minutes total. I don't know whether I pushed myself hard enough. I thought I'd just try it and see how I felt. I figure I can increase my resistance for those one-minute blasts to make it tougher.

I admit, I'm too lazy to read the whole page. What's the method behind the madness? I mean, what's the science that makes this effective as compared to steady-state or longer cardio workouts? I'd love to lose a pound a week! I'll only be able to do it probably twice a week though.

[Sancho]

It's not that hard a read (although I hate the know-it-all tone). Basically, he says that the harder you work, the more calories you burn. And working at an anaerobic level will raise your metabolism so that you continue to burn calories at a higher rate even when you aren't working out. He says that during steady state cardio, you are burning calories, but only while you are working out, not when you are not working out.

He explains that the belief that doing cardio at lower intensity burns more fat is a misinterpretation of the research. You burn more fat calories "as a percentage" of total calories BUT higher intensity cardio burns more calories overall.

[Mary09]

Sancho- I'm not sure but I wonder if starting so short is more for people with no recent exercise regimen?

Pratima- I think his 1-2 lbs/week weight loss is from doing that WITH his strength training and diet, sadly.

[Sancho]

Mary,

I figured I should do it more than 3 times, but the article has you work up to 5 times. I did 8 times. Do you think I should increase my intensity so that I can only do it 5 times, or just stick with the intensity I used when I did it 8 times.

My HR (after the warm up) went from 170 (at the end of the 1 min high) to 140 (at the end of the 2 minute steady state) During the later circuits, I went from 170 (at the end of the 1 minute high) to 155 (at the end of the 2 minute steady state). I consider my max HR to be 190. I feel that I was getting a very intense workout, but I want to do this HIIT stuff right. I guess I should just try it at a higher level and see what happens.

[Mary09]

I'm not so sure there's any 'right' way. I think the whole idea is just get your HR up into anaerobic and back down repeatedly, for 20 mins. or more. I'm no expert, though.

I've seen people here who think that the anaerobic phases need to be like puking intensity, or 'can't do any more period'. I don't really see how that's going to work on a treadmill, though. If you really are struggling that much you're probably at an unsafe place on a treadmill, in my opinion. I get my HR up over 90% of max and figure that's the goal. It's plenty intense and uncomfortable. My legs can always go faster, but it just doesn't feel safe to push both 'systems' toward failure like that, on a treadmill.