H.I.I.T. success stories, tips or hints?

So I've been doing lots of research on H.I.I.T. (high intensity interval training), and hear almost miraculous things about it. Things like you only have to do about 15-20 minutes of cardio with 30-40 second bursts of activity at your max exertion with enough rest between to bring your heart rate back down (I hear 2-3 minutes) ... that this, if you're also strength training 3-4 days per week, can replace 40-60 minute cardio sessions at a moderate pace. I've also heard that you will burn up to 6 times more calories over a 24 hour period after a H.I.I.T. session.

I've started building this kind of training into my trail running and elliptical work lately, but it's still too early to tell if there'll be a difference in my rate of loss and leaning-up, but I'm hopeful.

I'd love to hear from those of you who use H.I.I.T. in their workout schedule. How often do you do it? How, or on what, do you do it (jump rope, elliptical, running)? Have you seen results, and if so, after how long/often? Has H.I.I.T. replaced most of your "normal" cardio work (you know, those long sessions on the bike or treadmill)? What is your  high-intensity to low-intensity ratio?

And lastly, does anyone know if "high intensity" depend on one's current physical condition? For example, to ME running at 8mph for 40 second, then back down to 3mph for 2 minutes feels like a H.I.I.T. workout ... but I've read that THAT won't do it. But for me, it sure feels intense!

Thanks in advance, I look forward to your replies!

In my opinion, this is far and away the best cardio technique for burning fat.

When I started doing it, I was so amazed with the sensation and results, that I became addicted to it. I burned a ton of fat in a very short period of time.

I made a HUGE mistake soon thereafter. I started doing treadmill HIIT almost every day, and for 30 full minutes each time! This was a plain stupid decision. The exercise was simply too much for the body to handle on a daily basis, especially for a full 30 minute duration.

I developed a significant irregular heartbeat as a consequence of my stupidity. :(

Luckily, the condition went away, but I took 2 weeks to recover completely!

Do not do it more than twice a week!!! You may be able to get away with doing it 3 times a week if you limit yourself to 15 minutes, but research this possibility before doing it. Don't ever do it for more than 15 minutes each day. You may be able to do 20 minutes, but I wouldn't recommend it.

Make no mistake about it, done correctly, this technique puts your body and heart under a ton of stress. That's why I recommend that you do it only twice a week and for only 15 minutes. Don't ever do it on consecutive days also.

Mind you , the above explanation is from my personal experience and the advice is just my opinion. Others may disagree.There probably were other variables that contributed to the irregular heartbeat, but I'm convinced HIIT was the primary culprit.

I don't think one's current conditioning matters either. So long as you're pushing as hard as you can, for as long as you can, that's all that matters.

Ultimately, practiced correctly and responsibly, this is not only a time saving workout technique, it is also far and away the best cardio technique. It burns oodles of fat!

Thanks, Mortalmonkey!

Anyone else ... ?

HIIT is awesome, but very easy to overdo. Recommendations I've seen limit HIIT to 10-15 minutes max per session (not counting warm up/cool down time).

If you are able to do HIIT longer than 15 minutes, it is likely not HIIT at all, but simple interval training. Most normal people (I'm not talking about you Mortalmonkey) simply can not do HIIT for 30 minutes at a time.

Thirty minutes of HIIT?  I'm quivering just thinking about it.  Personally, I love a good 15-20 min HIIT session.  Even with the 1-2 min rest intervals, I am SO beat and tired by the end.  Much more so than if I had done 30-40 min of regular running.  Like some people mentioned, keep it to 2 times a week, perhaps three once you are very comfortable with it.  I also agree that most people confuse interval training with HIIT.  The latter is a whole different level and works your body MUCH harder, but it really burns much more fat so I stick with it.

I was doing it correctly for 30 minutes no doubt about it. But, again, I had absolutely no business doing that. By all accounts, I should have died! No foolin'.

My heartbeat was all out of whack after that. Sometimes my heart would beat really fast and really hard. I could feel it pressing against my chest. Other times my heart rate would drop so low that I nearly passed out. And these irregularities would occur at all instance. I could be sitting at my desk just reading when bam!, my heart would explode in speed.

Thanks, guys! One more question ... would you say that 2 HIIT days could completely replace 2 regular cardio days?

While on the topic of HIIT, I had a quick question for those who do it properly.  So I do my 30-40 second sprint, then I do a 1-2 min rest interval.  My question is, should the rest interval be a brisk walk (3.5-4 MPH) or should it be a light jog (5-5.5 MPH) so that you never actually walk until you are done?  Some people have told me to lightly jog in between, but many more people have suggested that walking is the best, because you will regain enough energy to do faster and longer work intervals.  What do you guys think?

I walk. By the time you're done with your sprint interval, you should have no choice but to walk. At least, that's the level of intensity I do it at. 

Depends - there's a lot of ways to structure the workout (Tabata intervals, my favourite!) - the classic running-based program from Shawn Phillips starts with 4 minutes and builds up from there.  Troy Anderson's written a whole bunch of variations in his The HIIT Revolution for Fat Burning Success article - you can probably find something that suits your current fitness level in there.

 HIIT is CNS-intensive and draining enough that you should probably do it with about the same frequency guidelines as strength training.

once I've done my H.I.I.T (should I choose to accept the challenge ha.ha.) can I then still go and do my weight lifting? as I wouldn't liek to go to the gym and jsut do 10-15 mins then go home...

 

I usually do 30 of cardio 15-20 of weights then a 15-30 misn swim (depending on time)

would I be ok to just replace my entire cardio with H.I.I.T and still do the weights and swimming?

I would do the HIIT at the end, but sure, you can do weights and HIIT on the same day.

I must be doing it wrong.  I do this on the elliptical.  It goes from an intensity of 0 to 10.  I start on 5 for 5 minutes and Crank to 9 for 2 minutes.  Then back to 5 for 5 minutes and back to 9 for 2 then to 6 for 5 minutes and then to 10 for 2 minutes.  I do this for an hour twice a week.  I am pretty tired at the end, but not like I can't move or anything. So what am I doing wrong (besides doing this for way to long, and do you continue doing cardio for another 45 minutes if you have only done HIIT for 15?  help!

dove, you're not doing it wrong, you're just doing interval training, not HIIT. Interval training is an excellent cardio workout, one of the best.

HIIT is the one where you go so fast during the fast parts that you feel like throwing up after 30 seconds or so...some of us like that sort of stuff. If you don't, no worries, doing intervals instead is a great idea.

So when you do HIIT, you only do the hard part for 30 seconds and literally do it as hard as you can?

 

Also how do you log these?

Original Post by dove2424:

I must be doing it wrong. I do this on the elliptical. It goes from an intensity of 0 to 10. I start on 5 for 5 minutes and Crank to 9 for 2 minutes. Then back to 5 for 5 minutes and back to 9 for 2 then to 6 for 5 minutes and then to 10 for 2 minutes. I do this for an hour twice a week. I am pretty tired at the end, but not like I can't move or anything. So what am I doing wrong (besides doing this for way to long, and do you continue doing cardio for another 45 minutes if you have only done HIIT for 15? help!

Hey Dove! I think what you're doing is interval training, not necessarily high-intensity interval training. Since I finally tried it on the elliptical myself, yesterday, I am now alarmingly aware of the difference!

I thought I'd done HIIT on the treadmill the other day, but what they say is correct: unless you have a way to instantly up the intensity (like on an elliptical or with your feet on actual solid ground) you won't get that sudden BURST!

Yesterday, on the elliptical, I did a moderate pace (something I could've kept up for the duration) for 90 seconds, then sprinted harder & faster than I ever have for 20 seconds (I wanted to do 30 seconds and found I could not), then recovered for 90 seconds, and repeated.

Now, 20 seconds doesn't sound like much, but when you're giving it your complete & total all, it's hell!! I made it through 4 cycles and had to cool-down & get off. I seriously worked myself to the point of fail, as it was physically impossible for me to muster anything more than a very slow gait after those 4 cycles. Last night, I felt like I'd ran for 10 miles and today I'm really feeling it. All from an 8 or 9 minute HIIT workout!

I've learned, from the research I've done so far, that beginning HIIT'ers aren't supposed to be able to go for more than 6-8 minutes, 10 minutes MAX, and that it's not uncommon to start out with a 3 or 4 minute workout. But, it's also said that these short little sessions WILL burn more fat over time. It's very intense & arse-kicking ... way more than I'd thought it would be. Bottom line is, if you're able to do it for more than 15 minutes, or you're able to do the high-intensity part of what you're doing for more than 40-60 seconds, it's not HIIT. You have to literally push yourself to the point of failure.

Oh, and like Mortalmonkey said, you're seriously not supposed to do it more than 3 times per week - ever. I'm going to stick with twice per week & see what my results are.

Here are some links I've found with lots of HIIT info - good stuff!

http://www.hiitsource.com/

http://www.freetrainers.com/FT/jsp/Message.js p?f_ix=23&t_ix=29

http://musclemedia.com/training/hiit.asp

http://www.intervaltraining.net/hiit.html

 

Original Post by librarygirl:

I would do the HIIT at the end, but sure, you can do weights and HIIT on the same day.

I agree. That's what I did yesterday - upper body weights - then did my HIIT session. Worked out great!

ok I will do my HIIT at the end! I'm off to the gym today actually so hopefully I can have a go for the first time! :D

i do both interval & hiit 2-3 times per week. i find that i cannot do hiit on a treadmill, trying to speed & slow down the treadmill just takes too long, its bad enough for intervals. so i do my hiit outside, usually up & down a nice steep hill till i feel like im about to throw up, which is about 5-9 times.  but both really increased my leg power for some of my longer runs or just plain running for the bus. i wish i could do it more & recover.

does anyone do HIIT on a treadmill ? if so what speeds do you go at for the rest period and also for the high intensity period?

what other cardio machines do people use for HIIT? thanks.

It's one of Troy Anderson's variations in his The HIIT Revolution for Fat Burning Success - basically, you use the treadmill as your recovery interval and do something like kettlebell swings or snatches, or perhaps snatches or cleans as your interval, and walk on the treadmill for your recovery.