Tips for HIIT cardio?

So I've started to attempt HIIT cardio and I'm almost sure I'm doing it wrong. Most of the info I've seen about it states to do a cycle of sprints for 30 seconds and do moderate effort for 60 second. I already have good endurance to jog at a decent pace so I've been warming up for 5 minutes, then sprint for 1 minute with all-out intensity and then 2-3 minutes of recovery, and I cycle it for 20 minutes. I finish with 5 minute cool down. So I'm wondering if this is the wrong way to do it and if I should stick to the 30/60 second routine instead. I just have a hard time tracking that kind of time when I'm running. It's easier for me to deal with minutes and I also "feel" like my work out is more intense. As in, my face is flaming red and my heart feels like it's going to jump out of my chest for those 1 minute sprints. 

I'd like to know what other people do with their HIIT routine and if there is wiggle room. Happy running.

I believe that the point of the 30 seconds it to go so fast that you can not go any longer. If you are finding that you are having success with the 1 minute sprints then keep it up!

It's pretty impossible to go 100% for a minute. After about 20secs, your performance and speed starts to drop. I'm sure you are still benefiting from it somewhat, but it is not traditional HIIT.

That's why typically you go all out for 20secs, then rest for 40 or 60secs, depending on fitness level. As you become more fit, the rest time gets shorter.

I personally dont follow any book regiment on HIIT and most of the people I know dont either so if what you are doing is working for you then go for it.  My "modified" HIIT is done on a treadmill and it is the following:

.4 miles walking

.1 miles running

repeat but increase the walking and running speeds after each mile.

I do this for 8 miles.  I am sure someone will say oh that isnt HIIT and I would agree and disagree with it.  The one thing is certain is "it is what it is" and "it works for me".  BTW I use this to train for 10ks and so far every year my completion times have gotten better.

Original Post by dave98z3:

I personally dont follow any book regiment on HIIT and most of the people I know dont either so if what you are doing is working for you then go for it.  My "modified" HIIT is done on a treadmill and it is the following:

I am sure someone will say oh that isnt HIIT and I would agree and disagree with it.  The one thing is certain is "it is what it is" and "it works for me".  BTW I use this to train for 10ks and so far every year my completion times have gotten better.

 

You're right, it isn't. So why call it that? People come to these forums for advice and information. I'm assuming they come for correct information.

What you are doing is regular interval training. I'm not trying to down you or anything, but none of us want to see people getting misinformed.

Original Post by bmx419:

Original Post by dave98z3:

I personally dont follow any book regiment on HIIT and most of the people I know dont either so if what you are doing is working for you then go for it.  My "modified" HIIT is done on a treadmill and it is the following:

I am sure someone will say oh that isnt HIIT and I would agree and disagree with it.  The one thing is certain is "it is what it is" and "it works for me".  BTW I use this to train for 10ks and so far every year my completion times have gotten better.

 

You're right, it isn't. So why call it that? People come to these forums for advice and information. I'm assuming they come for correct information.

What you are doing is regular interval training. I'm not trying to down you or anything, but none of us want to see people getting misinformed.

 Again I agree (stated above) however, as I have always said if you dont like the channel you are watching turn it to another channel. 

 *Edit - here are just a few links to show you more than one way to do HIIT...enjoy.

http://www.youronlinefitness.com/Fitness_Arti cles/hiit_and_other_interval_training.php

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

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

 http://www.askmen.com/sports/bodybuilding_100 /135_fitness_tip.html

 http://www.projectswole.com/conditioning/what -is-hiit-high-intensity-interval-training-and -how-should-you-use-it/

Thanks bmx for your info. I didn't realize performance drops after 20 seconds and it's something I will definitely be mindful of next time I run. I'll try to incorporate a traditional method into my week and see how it goes.

Dave, thanks for all the links! Very helpful and useful information. Guess a "whatever works for you" approach can be taken even if it's not true HIIT. If walking and then running is what you can do for now, then that's a place to start. I'll still use my modified version since it makes me "feel" good after a work out. But I should probably test out the right way of doing it.

It also depends a lot on what you're training for - HIIT is very often overused with performance athletes. What the data from studies by Tabata and a whole bunch of other show is the same thing Arthur Lydiard found 50 years ago - after three weeks of HIIT performance improvements stop, so it's best used as a peaking technique before a competition, not as a year-round training method.

 'Course, as Dan John said about his original article on doing Tabata intervals - "I feel like I should apologize to Izumi Tabata for making so many people taking his name in vain". The intensity level of performing the actual Tabata protocol is such that you'd need to hold a gun on the athlete to make him go back for a second round, and even then your odds of hearing "oh go ahead, kill me now" is only about 50/50 - real Tabatas are painful and you only have one set in you for that day. The goal is to make it the full 8 rounds, but Tabata's research subjects wound up collapsed on the floor by round seven as often as not and throwing up was not unheard of.

 I know that when I've trained people with the Tabata protocol in the past they've actually started making excuses for why they can't do it that mostly boil down to having sprained their motivation; but I don't use the protocol all that often anyway based on the fact that it's best reserved as a peaking exercise.

 Incidentally, when a protocol calls for performing double Tabata intervals with only 5 minutes of rest between, it's not actually physically possible to do that. You can do some nice high-intensity intervals which are useful in and of themselves, but reaching that special level of lunatic intensity of the actual Tabata protocol (170% of your VOmax) isn't something you do more than once in a workout.

 Where high intensity anything comes into play is - well, almost all professional endurance athletes train using the "miles build champions" method where they spend 70-80% of their training time in the low endurance zones. But that's not workable for anyone who can't spend 30-40 hours a week training so you have to change out your emphasis to doing a level of intensity that's sustainable for the time you've got available to train.

 Given that - if you've got 20-30 minutes 3xweekly you'll probably see better results doing wind sprints and/or fartlek-style training, but as soon as you've got an hour or more your results wil be better if you lower the pacing to something you can sustain for your available time.

 Every possible training method is a tool, useful for something. It's just that sometimes people get a bit hung up on the tool as opposed to the goal they're training for and try to use it for situations where it's not a good choice.

I'm just trying to maximize calorie burn in a shorter amount of time. Not trying to be an athlete or anything. I try to do steady cardio for 1 hour but on some days I only have 30 minutes available for exercise. I'll look into the wind sprints and fartlek style you mention. I've never heard of them so I'll do some research and see if that's an option for me to save time.

Thanks!

The goal is a 2:1 ratio of Intense activity to less intense activity.  In a laymen sense, you should really get your heart pumping during the intense activity and feel it reduce when you're not as intense. 

There are specific and effective programs designed for this, but the basic goal of keeping your body off balance is key.  You body isn't dumb, it knows how to adapt to you running for an hour every day at a normal pace and use the least amount of energy possible (hence HIIT). 

My personal experience advice is to use what fits best/gets results.  I find running on a track (or measureable service that's pretty easy to sprint on) works best, figuring out how long I can intensely run and then adding a few paces more so I know I've maxed out and then using that same distance over and over for a set. 

Try a few programs, modify or combine them but find what works best for you.  My best advice is to make sure it's challenging.  When you're challenged, you'll lose weight which is your goal.