How to do HIIT?

Sierra · 07-14-2005, 11:31 PM

Could someone just go over the basic guidelines or the rules and things i need to know for HIIT?

Irishdazza · 07-15-2005, 05:42 AM

Warm up for 5min.

Go as hard as you can for 30sec. Go a little bit easier for 30sec of active recovery. Repeat.

Warm down for 5min.

If you can do more than 20min, including warm up and cool down, you're not going hard enough.

At first you should be lucky to do 5 of actually HIIT.

Terry Monk · 07-15-2005, 07:32 AM

ID forgot to add "stop, throw up, continue" into the equation.

lol. If you're new to HIIT, you're gonna wanna puke. But then, that means you're actually HIITing it hard.
Be sure to work up to the 20 like ID said, this is an intense workout if you do it right.
Good luck. Let us know how you like it.

eastcoastsurfer · 07-15-2005, 08:24 AM

Does 30 secs on 30 secs off work as well as the 1:3 ratio
suggested by Berardi? For example, 30 secs on 1:30 off then repeat.

Blackjack · 07-15-2005, 08:50 AM

A 1:1 ratio is going to be pretty tough for someone just starting out. I would maybe start with a 1:2 or even 1:3 for a week or two then work your way up to 1:1. Craig's TT suggests beginners do 1:2 ratio but only go at 70% during the intense portion of the workout for a period of two weeks. Then bring the intesity level up to 90%, but stick with the 1:2. Ideally, a 30 second sprint followed by a 1:00 active rest.

Ted

Kevin T. · 07-15-2005, 09:06 AM

Yea i've really only read about a 1:2 ratio for beginners and even some intermediates. 1:1 could potentially be brutal

Craig · 07-15-2005, 10:12 AM

You wouldn't start out doing 30 sec on and 30 off. That would defeat the purpose of the work interval. People need to recover so they can work hard in the work interval. Hence the point of the whole exercise.

A beginner might do 60 seconds on and 120 sec off. Depends on exercise mode or equipment used.

There is no universally best interval length for fat loss. For sport-specific fitness, it is a lot easier to define specific time ranges.

craig

OldGuy · 07-15-2005, 10:26 AM

Craig, for HIIT on a stationary bike would you hike up the rpms while leaving the resistance the same, or increase the resistance while keeping the rpms the same?

Craig · 07-15-2005, 11:06 AM

Keep RPMS same. Between 80 and 100. Hiking RPM is a waste.

Craig

OldGuy · 07-15-2005, 11:14 AM

Thanks Craig.

TTfFL here I come.

Irishdazza · 07-15-2005, 11:27 AM

Craig,

Why not raise the RPM? I thought the reason cyclist maintain rpm was to be more energy efficent. Arn't we aiming for the opposite?

I rarely use the bike, usually use a jump rope, but wouldn't raising the rpm be more like raising the pace than messing with the resistence?

Craig · 07-15-2005, 12:03 PM

Mechanical work is higher with resistance. All research studies on bike intervals use heavy resistance b/c that is what works (causes adaptations) - Not increasing RPM.

Southpaw · 07-15-2005, 01:09 PM

I did farmers walks as a HIIT workout the other day. It was difficult but I liked it. With farmers walks, you can change up the weight, distance, speed, rest periods. But to keep on topic, 1:2 ratio worked pretty good for me.

Irishdazza · 07-15-2005, 01:11 PM

Thanks

Blackjack · 07-15-2005, 01:37 PM

Another point that Craig has made in the past is to change things up every 4-6 weeks. Just like weight lifting, your body will adapt quicker as you get more experienced. In order to maintain that stress that your body has to overcome, the training parameters need to change.