Thread: what exactly IS HIIT

yea? and how do i go about doing it.

High Intensity Interval Training. Can be done on a treadmill or track or any cardio machine really. AT the track::: warm up for 5 minutes, normal walk, then sprint as fast as you can for about 20 seconds, walk or jog for 40 seconds, do this about 8 times, then cool down, normal walk for 5 minutes. Another way, is warm up one lap, sprint the straights, walk or jog the curves, Do this about 8 sprints, cool down one lap. Hope this helps. You can do it very many different ways. The idea is too change it up every few minutes high, then low. Confuses your metabolism. I love it!!!!

In terms of how good it is...is it a very good thing to do? Will it burn fat or will it raise metabolism faster than other workouts?

It's a very good thing to do if you wanna lose weight. It will burn fat but not muscle.

HIIT = High Intensity Interval Training
Short name: intervals

Basically consists of alternating intervals of rest and high intensity activity. The idea behind it is to activiate particular energy-utilizing systems in the body. Ideally, this system of training allows you to burn as much fat (if that's your goal) in 1/3rd the time per workout of other systems.

The intervals for activating the fat burning energy system your body is 1:1 - so if you do 20 seconds of easy activity, you do 20 seconds of hard activity (or if you do 1 minute of easy activity, you do one minute of hard activity, and so forth).

Doing at higher ratios (e.g., 1:2, 1:4, 1:6) results in varying combinations of energy systems.

Ok, nice description. How is this routine:

1% incline on everything

2 minutes 3mph walk
1 minute 4mph speed walk
1 minute 5mph low jog
1 minute 6mph fast jog
1 minute 7 mph run
1 minute 8 mph fast run
1 minute 9 mph sprint

the down to 5mph, up to 9mph and down 3mph etc.

That's not really an interval so much as a steadily increasing routine. What you want is something more like this:

1 minute 3mph walk
1 minute 8mph sprint

rinse, repeat

what's rinse mean?

Also this should not be done every day? As in, 1 day 40 minute jog, next day HIIT for 40 min?

"rinse, repeat" is an expression, haha. It's at the end of the directions on any shampoo bottle. It just means "repeat"

You can do it daily, it's really up to you, but I recommend doing a couple of HIIT exercises a week and a couple of endurance exercises each week.

haha, ok well thanks for all the help!

Originally Posted by ijt

Also this should not be done every day? As in, 1 day 40 minute jog, next day HIIT for 40 min?

If your doing HIIT the right way, I doubt you could do 40 minutes worth. Besides that is one of the benefits of HIIT you don't have to go as long. About 22-25 minutes is sufficient.

We used to do HIIT in cross country, and we easily did about an hour of it each day. But then again i was a stick back then and we had been running for about 2 years. :-D

Originally Posted by wvpumpkin

If your doing HIIT the right way, I doubt you could do 40 minutes worth. Besides that is one of the benefits of HIIT you don't have to go as long. About 22-25 minutes is sufficient.

I did it a little different, 30 minutes is the longest ive done...but it's the only time ive done it correct.

If 22 minutes is all you need to compete with a longer workout then logic would suggest that if you went 40 you'll get double the effect.

Not necessarily. In an ideal situation you're able to get a complete workout in that time - i.e., you've tapped your energy and given your cardio system a full workout. Doing it for twice as long may mean you're only doing it half as effectively