The HIIT thread - Post all questions, routines, and experiences here

Now I know I am not a moderator. However, it seems like we always have at least 1 or 2 new threads dealing with HIIT popping up. People either want to know what HIIT is, if they are doing it right, or the various ways HIIT can be done. I say that instead of clogging up the board with all of these HIIT threads, we limit it to one thread. I will leave it up to Melkor whether or not he wants to sticky this thread at the top with the others.

********************************************* ***************

How HIIT is Done : HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) mixes fast short bursts going as hard as you can with recovery periods. The "sprint" intervals where you go all out as hard as you can, usually go for 20-30 seconds and the recovery intervals usually go for 60-90 seconds. You start out with a three to five minute warm up, and then for 15-20 minutes, repeatedly go back and forth between your sprint and recovery intervals. Then finish with a 5 minute cool down. It is recommended that you only do HIIT up to three times per week on non lifting days or if you do it on a lifting day, wait 6-8 hours after your lifting session.

The Benefits : HIIT has become an extremely popular method of cardio due to the fact that it gets amazing results in a considerable less amount of time than regular cardio does. You only have to spend 20-25 minutes three times per week doing it. It specifically targets bodyfat, spares muscle, and raises metabolism for up to 12-36 hours after you are done. It also gives you an unbelieveable cardiovascular workout because you are working your heart at two different speeds (90-100% in the sprint intervals and 60-70% in the recovery intervals).

********************************************* ***************

Use this thread to post any articles you have found on HIIT, any routines you want to share, or overall experiences with HIIT and the results you have gotten from it.

Original Post by lindinig:

 Oh good. So, I must be doing something right then because I'm definitely above 85% of my heartrate, and I can get there within 30 seconds. Right now, my intervals are between 30-40 seconds, which is how long it takes before I trip over the rope and after the high interval, I walk for a good 90 seconds. I test my heartrate again before my next interval to make sure it has come down below 80%. I'm considering purchasing an interval timer because right now, I just use my watch, and I'm guesstimating the exact seconds I'm doing this.

 Here is what I did when I did HIIT with a jump-rope. I had a friend of mine time me on how long it took me to do 100 jumps at max speed. It turned out to be right around 30 seconds. So what I did from then on out, was do 100 jumps at 100% in my sprints, and then I used the second hand on my watch for my recovery intervals. It always worked too because everytime I would finish my sprint interval, I would check my watch right after and it always came out to be around 30 seconds.

Here is another trick that I was using, but it may not be for everyone. I would find a good workout song and find a portion that really pumped me up. I would look at the counter on the player from the time it started and then skip forward 30 seconds to find the part that hit at that 30 second mark. Then when I did my workouts, I would cue up the song to 5 seconds before that part, and as soon as it hit, I would start my sprint interval. Then when the section was done, I would use some time on my recovery interval to cue the song up to five seconds prior. Then when my recovery was 5 seconds away from being over, I would hit play and get ready to go again. Like I said, it may not work for everyone. But it is a guaranteed way to go for 30 seconds. Plus, a good workout song can help you get some extra intensity in.

Thanks vyperman! I kinda did the same as you, only I counted for 30 seconds while watching my watch. I counted about as fast as I assumed I was jumping when I was jumping rope, and came to 60 jumps in 30 seconds (you're much faster than me ). The other night, I made it to 80 jumps before tripping over the rope, so I assume I went about 40 seconds for some intervals.

I'll have my kids time me for my next session to make sure 60 jumps in 30 seconds is the reality. I really wish I could wear my ipod while jumping but I'm afraid the rope will hit my headphone and yank it out of my ear and break it!

Pardon me for a brief vent...

I started doing HIIT on the treadmill at my gym about a month ago.  HIIT was a replacement for a long slow run I was doing, which wasn't really neccessary as I'm not training for anything long distance.  At any rate, I'll do 3 min warm-up, 30s @ 8.6, 2m @ 3.3, and then get up to about 9.0 on the 7th or 8th cycle.  It's awesome. 

However, from reading the threads, I don't think I'm going "all out".  I'm going to switch to running outside, but I live in NYC and I'm dreading running into someone, or some pulled up sidewalk.  Keep your fingers crossed for me.  There is a track in my neighborhood, but it's pretty far away.

Vyperman, I know you recommend the bike, but I looooove to run....

That's cool if you love to run mexicon. I only recommend using the bike if you are going to do HIIT in the cardio room. If you prefer to do running, then you should definitely do sprinting outside. That way you can push yourself to your max, and not have to worry about switching speeds on the machine and waiting for it to play catch up. :)

I have done different things for HIIT over the months. First, I did a brief cycle with a jump-rope. Then I did ten weeks worth of sprints outside. Now I am onto the bike.

Original Post by lindinig:

 Oh good. So, I must be doing something right then because I'm definitely above 85% of my heartrate, and I can get there within 30 seconds. Right now, my intervals are between 30-40 seconds, which is how long it takes before I trip over the rope and after the high interval, I walk for a good 90 seconds. I test my heartrate again before my next interval to make sure it has come down below 80%.

I'm considering purchasing an interval timer because right now, I just use my watch, and I'm guesstimating the exact seconds I'm doing this.

Make yourself an MP3 or CD with alternate fast and slow music for the intervals, there are programs on the internet that will do this (look back at some of the previous posts, much better and interesting to train to music than a watch :)..

I'll have my kids time me for my next session to make sure 60 jumps in 30 seconds is the reality. I really wish I could wear my ipod while jumping but I'm afraid the rope will hit my headphone and yank it out of my ear and break it!

I put the cable of the earphones down inside my shirt so there is no cable showing, also I have bought a spare set of earphone for when I exercise which hook around the back of my ears so that they dont fall out with the running or jumping, and they are quite inexpensive too :)..

Hurray for HIIT!  I'd got totally stuck with the scales not moving for weeks.  I hate long cardio sessions and have been doing heavy lifting for about 4 months.  I love the lifting, and although it's definitely given me muscles the scales were refusing to budge.  The past fortnight I've switched to doing 2 sessions of HIIT and one of lifting and I'm down 4lbs (same calorie intake level of 1800-2000 per day).  I also love that I can be in and out of the gym in 30 minutes during the week. 

I totally recommend HIIT to anyone who has hit a plateau...it just kickstarts your metabolism like nothing else.

rachel,

That is great! I am happy that you have become so enthusiastic about doing HIIT.

In all honesty though, the scale is the LAST thing you should be paying attention to. Lifting weights makes you gain weight due to the increase in muscle. A scale is a tool for sedentary people who never exercise. A much better way to judge progress when you lift and do HIIT, is to monitor what your bodyfat % is. Go to your gym and have one of the trainers take your bodyfat% with the callipers. Then get new readings every few months or so. In the meantime between readings, keep track of how your clothes are fitting, how you look in the mirror, etc..

This is the main reason why I hate the BMI index. It is far to general because it doesn't take people who exercise/lift into account.

So after all of this HIIT talk, I decided to give it a try, but I'm not sure I'm doing it right, as I'm a newcomer to the exercise scene:

I hopped on an elliptical and did a three minute warmup at no incline and a resistance of about 10.

I then did 20 seconds full out (about 310 strides per minute) at no resistance, then transitioned to 90 seconds of 150ish strides per minute at a resistance of 13.

With about 30 seconds left in my recovery/medium intensity, I upped the incline to 5, then dropped all the resistance at the end for another 20 burst.

Repeated that, except upped the incline to 9 with 30 seconds left in recovery.

And again, upping the incline to 13.

Then I worked my way down the ladder to where I started, and finished with 5 minutes of cooldown of about 120ish strides per minute at a 7 resistance.

All told: workout was 19 minutes and change, 7 high intensity reps of 20 seconds, buffered in the middle by 6 medium intensity periods at climbing, then falling inclines.

Is this an acceptable routine?  Comments and criticisms appreciated.  Thanks!

I'm not sure if anyone has asked this....but could one feasibly do HIIT with jumping jacks?

I do HIIT on the stairmaster at my gym right now. 

Warm up for 5 minutes at a level of 5-7, run up the stairs at a level of 18-20 for 30 seconds , cool down at level 1-2 (super slow) for about 90 seconds or until I'm not dying, do this back and forth until the clock hits 25 minutes and then cool down until 30 minutes. I think I'm doing this correctly. I don't have a heart rate monitor but I'm pretty damn beat afterwards and the workout in its entirety is about 30 minutes. If anyone has any tips or recommendations about using the stairmaster for HIIT, that'd be awesome.

Also, the other day I was being my usual impatient self and went to the gym to do this on an empty stomach at 5:30AM knowing damn well my energy levels wouldn't be as good as if I had eaten something. I was right. For me personally, I have to eat a decent meal at least an hour before I go and do this. It wasn't that way for steady state cardio. I could go for an hour and just deal with it but this stuff is pretty intense. What do you guys eat beforehand? I didn't read the entire thread so this may have been asked already. 

Also, I can't believe I used to sit on the elliptical for an hour or more everyday.

Vyperman said earlier to have something high in protein and low GI carbs an hour before the HIIT session.

I eat a peanut butter and banana sandwich on whole wheat bread, low fat yogurt and low GI fruit/veggie.

This morn. I did hitt on the treadmill.  I sprinted [12 mph] for 60 secs then jogged [5.5mph] for 30 sec. I repeated this for 25 mins. All on a 15 incline..

Man, it felt so bad that it was the AWESOMNESS!

I'm not sure if this has already been answered but when can you lift? I try to work out 5 times a week. Right now I do some cardio with varying resistance on an elliptical and then lift upper body one day and lower the next (along with cardio) so if i started doing HIIT would i lift the day after (arent your muscles now recovering from the HIIT workout so you shouldn't left then either?) or when?

I focus first on lifting, second on HIIT. I only do HIIT once or twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays because I'm religious about lifting on M-W-F. I do full body workouts on those days, not split. I haven't had a problem with either lifting or HIIT, as far as energy is concerned, and I do think I'm working hard enough, as I'm so exhausted after my session I just want to collapse in a little ball on the floor. About an hour later, I'm back to normal.

ya but either way you're lifting right after or right before a HIIT day...arent your muscles supposed to recover at one point?

Yes, that's true, they are, but since there are only 7 days in a week, I felt I had little choice if I was to do both. Other people have commented that they lift and do HIIT together, some in the same day. I still feel I'm making progress in my lifting, and I'm mainly doing HIIT for increased fat burn and for better cardiovascular health so something is working for me.

Doing HIIT incorporated with a full-body routine is really difficult because of how much strain it puts on your legs. Especially when doing fbr's like Starting Strength and Stronglifts that both have you squatting three times a week. When you do HIIT on your off days, you aren't getting enough recovery time for your next squatting session. So logic would dictate that you do HIIT on the same day as lifting. However, if you try to do HIIT right after doing a fbr, you won't have the energy you need. Also, even if you wait until later in the day (6-8 hours later), you are still somewhat wiped from lifting.

I tried the full-body route for a little while, but was starting to feel overtrained from it in regards to my legs because of all the squatting combined with the HIIT sessions. So what I did, was mix elements together from both the full-body and the split breaking muscle groups up but using mostly compound lifts. This allows me to get the strength benefits from the full-body routine, and more recovery time. This also makes it much easier to mix in HIIT.

My routine now...

Mon - Deadlifts (3x5), Barbel Rows (3x5), Squats (3x5), and Weighted Pull-Ups+ 20 min SS cardio

Tues - HIIT

Wed - Bench Press (3x5), Bench Press Lockouts (3x1-3), Close Grip Bench Press (3x5), and Weighted Dips + 20 min SS cardio

Thurs - Off

Fri - Squats (3x5), Standing Military Press (3x5), Front Squats (2x5), Rotator Cuff Exercises

Sat - HIIT

Sun - Off

All throughout high school I was a sprinter who did tons of HIIT sort of workouts. But, then I joined cross country and started doing basically all SSC workouts. As much as I like running, it's not really giving me the results that I want in terms of fat loss, so I decided to alternate and give HIIT a try.

The thing is- I'm not quite sure where to begin. I've searched around the site for basic information on it, but as a sprinter, what should I do? I really only have 3 speeds- walk, jog (6-8 mph), and sprint, and I'm not sure if I should start out with 30 second intervals (I'm concerned the starting and stopping so fast would give me another stress fracture), but I would die with a minute of all-out sprinting. And should I eat beforehand, as the only way I could workout outside is in the morning, as it gets incredibly hot and humid here, or would I be okay just rolling out of bed and trying it? Really, any advice anybody has would be awesome- thanks so much!

So, newbie. I've read a lot of these postings (though there are so many that I didn't go through that thoroughly). As someone who normally does an hour on the elliptical when not doing a spinning or step aerobic class, I'm a little skeptical of getting results from working out in less than half the time I normally do... I'm just not really sure where to start. I have read you can do HIIT on an elliptical. Do you guys recommend this?

If you could PM me with responses, that'd be great, as this is quite a large thread.