Please opine - intervals on treadmill

Lil Messi · 10-08-2009, 11:28 AM

Sometimes when I do treadmill intervals I do them like this:

On the random incline setting (just for kicks, you know?)
3 mins fast at 8, then 8.5, then 9 (increasing speed ea. minute)
2 mins slow at 6-7 (depending on fatigue)

I know intervals are supposed to go the other way, 1 minute hard 2 mins slow, but if I were to do it that way, I'd need to put the treadmill on 10 mph for that one minute! And honestly, I'm afraid that due to the nature of the treadmill (i.e its catapulting effect) I may hurt myself, scare my fellow gym goers, break something (that's a lot of pounding!) or a combination of all the above.

While doing them this way is a challenge for me, esp for the 20mins that I do them, I'm concerned that this method is basically just conditioning me to be a more efficient runner, but not giving me those fabulous fat-burning HIIT results.

Anyways, if anyone knows anything about intervals etc., please opine:

Do you think the way I was doing the intervals as described above is an ineffective method of doing intervals?
Am i getting the same benefits of doing it this way as I would the conventional method of 1fast/2slow?
Do you know know how i might tweak my interval session to make it better? Perhaps do conventional method on a steady state incline? (but how much?)

Also, if you got any recs on doing intervals on the treadmill please let me know!

Espi · 10-08-2009, 12:35 PM

There's people who do intervals at 16km/hr (10mi/hr) but instead of running or walking during the rest period, they just straddle the TM & let it run its' course.. then jump on when the rest period is done.

My favourite: first ramp up incline to 15% then ramp up speed gradually till reaching anaerobic threshold. Not interval but more like a fitness test.
Detail1: I don't run but speedwalk.
Detail2: setting TM @ 15% burns a gazillion more calories than at 0-2%.

missjane · 10-08-2009, 12:50 PM

Here is an article on treadmill HIIT. I only do mine outside or on the track and I use the gymboss for timing.

http://www.hiitsource.com/treadmill-hiit-no-thanks/

GymBunny · 10-08-2009, 12:55 PM

I'm not an expert but I do think that you have to let your body recover from each fast interval for your workout to be considered HIIT. I would definatley be scared to run at 10mph, I personally don't go over 9.3 but I can only run that fast for 40 seconds. I would suggest doing 1 minute fast alternated with 1 minute slow. On your fast interval, run >9mph at an incline of 3.5+ and on your slow interval, WALK no faster than 4mph. If the incline doesn't get you huffing and puffing, then I would suggest doing your HIIT workout outside. It is much harder to run outside and you can push yourself to your personal max without having to worry about falling off of the treadmill.

Lil Messi · 10-08-2009, 01:08 PM

Thanks all!
This is great food for thought - just read the article missjane, sound advice.

Espi - i'm glad to hear there are alternatives to HIIT that are effective. So all my running on the treadmill wasn't completely for naught. I'll def amp it up to 15% and see how that goes.

GymBunny - completely agreed! Outside would be ideal for HIIT and yes, sooooo much harder than the treadmill. I'll keep doing it outside as long as weather permits.