Burpee HIIT!

I'm sure some of you take on HIIT sessions; whether that is cycling, running, swimming, etc.

I recently done some research on BURPEES and I was shocked/surprised/impressed/excited to hear people's feedback from different websites. Apparently 10 minutes of intense Burpees is more demanding than 20 minutes of cycling/running, etc. Of course it is probably be an exaggeration...

Still, I'm convinced and therefore planning to undergo Burpee HIIT 3 times a week (alternatively with cycling HIIT also 3 times a week) and hoping that it'll really work!! I'm honestly SUPER excited and I can't wait!

I'd like to hear some feedback. What do you think?

Original Post by vyperman7:

Just out of curiousity, what is your HIIT routine? What are your intervals? When you do your sprint part of the interval, are you going 100% every time?

Eating a lot of small meals over the course of the day helps to keep your metabolism elevated and gives you less chance for binging. As you can see I get 2 servings of fruit, 3 servings of vegetables, a lot of protein, complex carbs, and a good portion of healthy fats. I eat like this 6 days a week and take 1 day where I have a few cheat meals of what I want.

My HIIT routine is as follows: If it's cycling then I take 25 minute out of my day... 5 minutes warm up, 30 seconds as hard and fast as I can go, one minute at about 1/4 - 1/2 the pace, then 30 seconds again, back to one minute.. I do this until the clock his 20 (so for about 15 minutes on and off) and then go for another 5 minutes to cool down. Total: 25 minutes.

Now, if it's Burpees, I've taken on a new routine since I started. I don't necessarily look at time as much as I do with cycling, therefore I've taken to aiming for a number of Burpees instead of aiming to do a specific number in a specific amount of time. It's as follows: 5 minutes warmup (jogging, starjumps, buttkicks), 10 Burpees (please consider that I'm relatively new at this since I've only just started last week) of which is all I seem to manage in about 30 seconds (and I do really try; I'm really trying to work on getting better at them before I start aiming at quickening my pace to a limited time) with around 45-60 seconds of jogging before going back and doing another 10. [If you're wondering why I take so long to do then, it's because I actually do the ones that include push-ups.] This will take me up to 15 minutes (target: 100 Burpees) and in the end I make sure to have 5 minutes of cool-down time. Total: 25 minutes.

Also, I understand that you say a person would not have any energy to do any exercise after a HIIT session, and sometimes I physically feel like I can't go on, but I do. I don't want to make that sound like I don't have any energy at all, because I do... which could mean that I'm not going full force with my HIIT sessions. It's possible; I wouldn't really know. I don't have anything to compare or judge it with. In that case, it's not aerobic exercises that I take on after carrying out my HIIT routines - it's body weight exercises. I take on many different exercises where I concentrate on specific body parts at a time: push-ups, sit-ups, crunches, etc (there a vast variety of which I carry out). And as I said; I don't have access to a gym the way I'd like to. And considering that I live in Asia where exercise is not as popular as it is elsewhere, it's even difficult to find a Fitness store where equipment is sold.

As for my diet: I've frequently researched as to how to eat healthy and I've taken to eating 5 times a day. Weekened may be an exception where I tend to eat 3 meals a day, and yet those 3 meals may be bigger than the 5 I eat on weekdays. Nevertheless, my diet is rich in carbs, which I know for a fact is not the best way to burn fat. I'm aware of the fact that carbs are in fact needed, but also in moderation. Don't get me wrong; I eat around 2-3 helpings of fruit a day with about 2 helpings of grain and 2 helpings of vegetables. Plus, there'll be about 1 helping of protein but the amount of carbs that I eat (i.e. rice, potatoes, pasta) always seem to be a lot more than any of my other helpings. I can proudly say that I've executed a large amount of sugar from my diet; I completely cut out chocolates, sweets and most cookies/biscuits (I eat high fibre biscuits as part of my daily allowed snacks), but I've found that reducing the carbs is harder than keeping away from the sweet stuff. Maybe because it's simply easier to eat carbs than it is to eat anything else. I also don't have much choice when it comes to meals; I tend to go along with what my mum cooks (can't wait till I get to go to college and finally take control of my life XP).

I've known for a while that although I might eat healthier than most people, I still don't eat as healthy as I'd like to. And it seems the amount that I eat (specifically the carbs) seems to only lead to weight gain instead of weight loss. On numerous occassions I've physically run across different grocery shops and attempted to find the food sources that have less carbs, but in the end, there just isn't a large variety that I can choose from. It all just comes back down to carbs (in whatever form it may be).

For your next HIIT session. Try this. After your warm up go as hard as you can for 20 seconds, and then only take a 40 second break. Keep up with the 20/40 and try to go the whole time. Usually you want to keep your sprint intervals 15-20 seconds because when you go over 20 seconds, you lose intensity even though it feels like you may still be going 100%. By keeping your sprint intervals 15-20 seconds, you are always guaranteed to push yourself to the max on every sprint.

Now in the end it is up to you on how often you want to do HIIT. I personally believe (and many others do as well) that you shouldn't do it more than 3x per week or at the very most every other day which would work 4x a week every other week (M/W/F/Sun/Tu/Th/Sat, etc). There are two different options that I recommend. The first is doing your HIIT after your lifting or body-weight exercises. This way you have all your energy for your resistance training and you will be able to take advantage of the fat burning state your body is in afterward. During resistance training, your glycogen stores are emptied, which is when your body is ready to burn fat. Doing cardio at this time helps speed up the process. The second option would be keeping your lifting/body-weight exercises and HIIT on seperate days. Ex - Lifting (M/W/F) HIIT (Tu/Thurs/Sat) and taking Sunday off.

In regards to diet, carbs have gotten a bad rap. What matters is the TYPE of carbs that you are eating. As long as the carbs you are getting are complex (whole grains, etc) that is cool. You actually want to make sure you have carbs with every meal. Great choices are whole wheat spaghetti, oatmeal, brown rice, and whole wheat bread. In regards to weight, ignore the scale. A much better mindset is "I want to lose fat" and not "I want to lose weight". When you exercise regularly, especially with strength training, you will build muscle which will make you gain weight. This doesn't mean you are getting fatter though. That is why it is much better to get your bodyfat % taken every few months and in the mean time, keep track of how your clothes are fitting and take your measurements every once and awhile. The scale is designed more for sedentary people who don't exercise.

Tribulation: You say you have trouble getting a good gym so have you looked into Ross Training? http://www.rosstraining.com/ He has great body weight routines that a lot of people swear by.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but does anyone have any idea roughly how many calories burpees actually burn? I always have trouble logging them.

Original Post by hotsauceismypoison:

Sorry to hijack the thread, but does anyone have any idea roughly how many calories burpees actually burn? I always have trouble logging them.

Actually, there are many types of burpees, but I think the ones we are talking here are the Squat Thrust Jump. I have had a hard time finding the calories for this as well.

Original Post by vyperman7:

For your next HIIT session. Try this. After your warm up go as hard as you can for 20 seconds, and then only take a 40 second break. Keep up with the 20/40 and try to go the whole time. Usually you want to keep your sprint intervals 15-20 seconds because when you go over 20 seconds, you lose intensity even though it feels like you may still be going 100%. By keeping your sprint intervals 15-20 seconds, you are always guaranteed to push yourself to the max on every sprint.

Now in the end it is up to you on how often you want to do HIIT. I personally believe (and many others do as well) that you shouldn't do it more than 3x per week or at the very most every other day which would work 4x a week every other week (M/W/F/Sun/Tu/Th/Sat, etc). There are two different options that I recommend. The first is doing your HIIT after your lifting or body-weight exercises. This way you have all your energy for your resistance training and you will be able to take advantage of the fat burning state your body is in afterward. During resistance training, your glycogen stores are emptied, which is when your body is ready to burn fat. Doing cardio at this time helps speed up the process. The second option would be keeping your lifting/body-weight exercises and HIIT on seperate days. Ex - Lifting (M/W/F) HIIT (Tu/Thurs/Sat) and taking Sunday off.

In regards to diet, carbs have gotten a bad rap. What matters is the TYPE of carbs that you are eating. As long as the carbs you are getting are complex (whole grains, etc) that is cool. You actually want to make sure you have carbs with every meal. Great choices are whole wheat spaghetti, oatmeal, brown rice, and whole wheat bread. In regards to weight, ignore the scale. A much better mindset is "I want to lose fat" and not "I want to lose weight". When you exercise regularly, especially with strength training, you will build muscle which will make you gain weight. This doesn't mean you are getting fatter though. That is why it is much better to get your bodyfat % taken every few months and in the mean time, keep track of how your clothes are fitting and take your measurements every once and awhile. The scale is designed more for sedentary people who don't exercise.

 Thank you yet again, vyperman7. Your advice is a lot more helpful than you can imagine. At this stage I'm trying to figure out how I'll swap between cycling and Burpees, because I really don't want to lose my cycling momentum (or whatever you'd call it); it has taken me forever to get at this stage, and I'm keen on maintaining all forms of exercise to keep fit in different ways.

I didn't actually know that during resistance training the glycogen stores are emptied "which is when your body is ready to burn fat." Wouldn't that just account for resistance training every day? It's pretty much what I've been doing (except on weekends) after my HIIT routine. It does make sense to do it before, that way more fat is bound to be burned. Again, I really need to figure out what to do on which day and how often, but yet again, thank you a million, vyperman7. I'm always open for new advice in order to learn how to improve.

It also makes sense to hear that weighing yourself will not provide the results that I want to see. I'm aware of the fact that muscle weighs more than fat and hence I'd be heavier (and yet leaner) than most people [a comparison between my sisters and I is a perfect example]. I've measured myself before, but the times that I did... there never seemed to be a difference with the measurements.

Do you have any other advice that you think might help me? I really appreciate that you take your time to read and reply to my posts. Hopefully I'm not too much trouble. =/

Original Post by dabrock:

Tribulation: You say you have trouble getting a good gym so have you looked into Ross Training? http://www.rosstraining.com/ He has great body weight routines that a lot of people swear by.

 

 Thank you very much for the link, dabrock. I was reading into it and found it considerably interesting. It will need more time out of my day to actually look into it more deeply. But thank you yet again! =)