How do you do HIIT on the Elliptical?

I've been looking all over the internet but I can't find a real answer... enough of this "I get my heart rate to (X) BPM for 30 seconds then...."

I know heart rate is important, but I'm not familiar enough with the elliptical to know how hard I'm working.

I've done HIIT running sprints on the treadmill, but I hear that the elliptical is better and safer for it.. but how do YOU do it?

I don't want to know your heart rate, I just want an example of your routine; your strides per minute, the resistance on the sprints, the resistance on the recovery.. etc. You know, just something I can go off of to get an idea of what I'm doing.

The treadmill is pretty straightfoward go slow then speed up... jog at an easy pace, then sprint as hard as you can, then easy pace to recover for the next sprint... and so on.

The elliptical has resistance instead of actual speeds.. and the movement seems so unnatural, I just don't know what to do!

any advice or workout examples would be greatly appreciated

I use an elliptical for my cardio and just recently starting HIIT.  Dont know how much this will help, but here is what I do and it seems to be working great:

4 "sets" of 4 minutes

1st thru 3rd set:

1st minute - 110 SPM (Strides Per Minute) @ Level 4

2nd minute - 130 SPM @ Level 6

3rd minute - 150 SPM @ Level 8

4th minute - 160 SPM @ Level 10

Lather, rinse, repeat 3 times.  The last set actually has 5 minutes.  The 5th minute I go as hard as I can at level 12...Some mornings the intensity of this last minute is more than the others, sometimes less.  After the 5th minute I drop down to around 90 SPM (this slow rate also affords me the opportunity to clutch my sides while panting heavily and to dial 911 for an ambulance for my impending heart attack...)

Hope this helps :)

Original Post by stalyan:

I use an elliptical for my cardio and just recently starting HIIT.  Dont know how much this will help, but here is what I do and it seems to be working great:

4 "sets" of 4 minutes

1st thru 3rd set:

1st minute - 110 SPM (Strides Per Minute) @ Level 4

2nd minute - 130 SPM @ Level 6

3rd minute - 150 SPM @ Level 8

4th minute - 160 SPM @ Level 10

Lather, rinse, repeat 3 times.  The last set actually has 5 minutes.  The 5th minute I go as hard as I can at level 12...Some mornings the intensity of this last minute is more than the others, sometimes less.  After the 5th minute I drop down to around 90 SPM (this slow rate also affords me the opportunity to clutch my sides while panting heavily and to dial 911 for an ambulance for my impending heart attack...)

 

Hope this helps :)

^That's not HIIT. Not even close.

bmx beat me to it..LOL

HIIT is pushing yourself to the MAX on every intense section of the intervals. Slowly increasing the speed over time, is regular interval training. A beginner HIIT workout would be 5 minutes of warm up, 10 minutes of intervals (15 seconds @ 100% and 45 seconds slower to recover) and 5 minutes of cool down. As you become more fit, you can increase the amount of intervals until you get to 20 of them. Once you are able to do 20 intervals of 15/45, then start doing intervals of 20/40, and then 20/20, etc.. Just make sure you push yourself as hard as you can on every intense section of the interval you are on. That is why they call it HIGH INTENSITY interval training.

To the original poster :

My advice for you is to keep the resistance somewhat low so you can move faster. The faster you move, the more strides per minute, and the higher your heart rate will be. You want your HR to be in the 90-100% range of your MHR. These are the anaerobic levels of cardio training which is what you need in HIIT. If you make the resistance too high, you won't be able to move as fast. Save your resistance training for weight lifting.

Hey so i think this is HIIT on the elliptical but I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm mistaken!

I do about 20 mins regular elliptical then start doing intervals of 30secs as fast as I can  at level 14 - then recover 1min level 3ish and repeat.  I try to keep this going for about 15mins and listen to my body if I need to extend the recovery time I do.

I find if the resistance is too low you cant go as fast as it feels out of control and also when its up highish you have to work your arms too so everything gets tiered.

I like the plan above of working the intensity time up and recovery time down, think i will try 20/40 next time so thanks vyperman7.

Can you do resistance training for lower body on the elliptical? Do you just crank up the resistance and go slow?!?

Amber,

What you do is what I do. I didn't know it was HIIT, but I know I sweat like a mule and feel totally spent when it's done. The walk to the locker room on rubber legs is the best feeling ever!!

J-mom

Original Post by bmx419:

Original Post by stalyan:

I use an elliptical for my cardio and just recently starting HIIT.  Dont know how much this will help, but here is what I do and it seems to be working great:

4 "sets" of 4 minutes

1st thru 3rd set:

1st minute - 110 SPM (Strides Per Minute) @ Level 4

2nd minute - 130 SPM @ Level 6

3rd minute - 150 SPM @ Level 8

4th minute - 160 SPM @ Level 10

Lather, rinse, repeat 3 times.  The last set actually has 5 minutes.  The 5th minute I go as hard as I can at level 12...Some mornings the intensity of this last minute is more than the others, sometimes less.  After the 5th minute I drop down to around 90 SPM (this slow rate also affords me the opportunity to clutch my sides while panting heavily and to dial 911 for an ambulance for my impending heart attack...)

 

Hope this helps :)

^That's not HIIT. Not even close.

Here is where I got this http://www.intervaltraining.net/Body_for_Life _HIIT.html

Worked wonders for me a few years ago when I used it and now that Im back and working out again its what Im using now.  After a while I will go back to a more traditional method of 30/30 that you would probably consider true HIIT but Im using this first because it works wonders for ME.

Original Post by stalyan:

Here is where I got this http://www.intervaltraining.net/Body_for_Life _HIIT.html

Worked wonders for me a few years ago when I used it and now that Im back and working out again its what Im using now.  After a while I will go back to a more traditional method of 30/30 that you would probably consider true HIIT but Im using this first because it works wonders for ME.

 Your boy, Bill Phillips is an idiot then. That is regular interval training.

If it's working for you, go for it. I wouldn't be surpsrised if something different worked better though.

Yep - as BMX said, I'm sure that program will be useful, it just isn't HIIT.

Here's a HIIT schedule that I'd follow on the elliptical, back when I had access to one.

The elliptical (lifefitness, i think) didn't have strides or anything - just mph (which I'm sure were not at all close to actual miles, considering my "speed" on the elliptical compared to the treadmill.

If I remember right, I'd do something like 6mph for the "jogging" and then 11-12mph for the sprinting (again, don't think that I was actually going that fast). Essentially, I was going as fast as I could during the sprints, and then going into a loping stride for the jog portions.

In my opinion, don't go by speed or heart rate - do the same as you would in weight lifting - it's as hard as YOU can, not as hard as someone else can (or even as hard as you could a minute earlier - my hardest would always be slower in later minutes). Then recover.

thanks a lot guys, this has been helpful... still a little confused, but im sure once i play around on the thing a bit more ill be able to know what is "the hardest I can go" and whats a good recovery pace

the "HIIT" workout on the machine has the 90 sec recovery time at level 3 resistance, and the "sprint" at level 8 for 30 seconds

I guess you need to push yourself super hard for those 30 seconds and get as much SPM as you can, cuz otherwise a level 8 resistance is relatively easy at a 130-140 SPM pace

i find that "hiit" workouts are easiest when not on a machine because then you dont have to play with what resistance and speed works best for you. 

when i do hiit on an elliptical i just put on fast heart pumping music and try to use that as my guide. i try to do 30-60seconds all out and then recover until i know i can go full out again (about 30-60seconds also). sometimes ill make my interval slower by increasing the resistance, but generally i will crank out about 220spm at level 10 resistance, incline 6 to 10. my recovery will be at about 150 increasing to about 170 as i ready for my next interval. note however that i've been doing hiit workouts and spin classes for about  years and have strong legs for a girl my size (5'3" 105-110lbs depending)

id suggest playing around with the resistance and simply trying to go all out for 30seconds, rest 60. when you can do that for 20 minutes you could either increase the resistance or reduce the rest time.

oxygen.com has a lot of useful information about how to make a hiit routine for you.

hope it helps!

Original Post by carmenxox:

thanks a lot guys, this has been helpful... still a little confused, but im sure once i play around on the thing a bit more ill be able to know what is "the hardest I can go" and whats a good recovery pace

the "HIIT" workout on the machine has the 90 sec recovery time at level 3 resistance, and the "sprint" at level 8 for 30 seconds

I guess you need to push yourself super hard for those 30 seconds and get as much SPM as you can, cuz otherwise a level 8 resistance is relatively easy at a 130-140 SPM pace

 You're right, 130-140 would be too easy. I usually do a level 10 resistance, at about 200 SPM, for 20 seconds, then rest for 60 seconds.

Some people will tell you not to up the resistance for your sprints so that you can move your legs faster, but as amber110 mentioed previously, I find if you don't it gets sort of out of control, and the machine almost gets ahead of you. Plus, I can get my heart rate a lot higher with the resistance.

Good luck with your HIIT, this workout kicks my **** every time.