Cardio Question

[WorkinOnIt]

I'm currently doing ABBH and following each session with 15 minutes of cardio.

I know HIIT is the prefered cardio method, but I have always had trouble getting the bike/elliptical/etc equipment to switch in a precise pattern between high and low intensity.

As a solution, I've been using the "random" setting on the bike. It varies intensity well (from 120 - 150 bpm range). However, it doesn't vary intensity in a uniform pattern, which seems to be a key component in HIIT.

Does consistency in the variation matter?

[Chad Waterbury]

Originally Posted by WorkinOnIt

I'm currently doing ABBH and following each session with 15 minutes of cardio.

I know HIIT is the prefered cardio method, but I have always had trouble getting the bike/elliptical/etc equipment to switch in a precise pattern between high and low intensity.

As a solution, I've been using the "random" setting on the bike. It varies intensity well (from 120 - 150 bpm range). However, it doesn't vary intensity in a uniform pattern, which seems to be a key component in HIIT.

Does consistency in the variation matter?

Don't let that stop you from doing HIIT. Sure, nothings perfect with equipment because there's always a lag between your walking/sprinting portions (it takes time to increase the speed of the treadmill or the resistance of the elliptical). But that doesn't matter, just switch between low- and high-intensity intervals and keep each interval as close to the recommendations as possible. If you do that, you'll be much better off.