HIIT and Interval Length

[K-Court]

I would appreciate anyone's thoughts on the appropriate interval length when doing HIIT. I have been following the guideline in Scrawny to Brawny of a 3:1 high intensity/low intensity ratio (i.e. 30 high/90 low; 15 high/45 low; 45 high/135 low, etc.). However, I see people all over the board on this - 1:1, 2:1, etc. I have been under the impression that you should have a fairly complete recovery between high intensity intervals, but is there any particular magic to this?

Rob

[Craig]

There is no best interval for fat loss.
If you are talking about sport conditioning, than you might need to get more scientific about rest intervals.
For fat loss, you might want to use a variety of interval and recovery durations changed every 3-4 weeks in order to apply a variety of stressors to your body...

Craig

[K-Court]

Thanks, Craig. I appreciate your thoughts.

Rob

[Lost Dog]

A little longer than this...

[Alcoholiday]

i laugh whenever i see that video.

i think it's funny how the blonde is doing the same thing as well.

[Cynic]

Originally Posted by Alcoholiday

i laugh whenever i see that video.

i think it's funny how the blonde is doing the same thing as well.

A couple of girls after a night of drinking, hit their apartment's fitness center and eventually the floor.

Yeah, I like it too.

[Lisa~]

Oh wow. I laughed way too hard at that. But I just couldn't stop watching or laughing!

Lisa

[Jimbo]

You have to score her at least an 8 for form on the bounce. Her legs must have been a couple of feet in the air on the back toss. I can't stop watching it either. LMAO

[Jimbo]

Hey K, If you decide to incorporate that move into your workout, be sure and video it to share here. You might want to wear jeans...or knee pads or something.

And pay strict attention to form.

[skim]

ROFLMAO! Now I know what *I* looked like when I did the same thing a few years ago on my first day at a new gym. (I was fiddling with my walkman while jogging and somehow forgot I was on a piece of moving equipment) It was so humiliating I never went back to that facility.

[karky]

someone mentioned sport conditioning. id be very interrested in that. Im thinking about starting with hiit and will be doing it primarily to get my endurance up and running. i noticed last night when i was playing fotball (for the first time in a LONG time) that i just couldnt keep up.

[K-Court]

OK, OK, everyone had their jollies. Now, back to the original question. Anyone else have any comments to make?

[gobbla]

It depends on what you're really trying to accomplish.

If you're going for fat loss then you'll want some moderate running with a chance to recover (so you can push harder\get more out of the intervals). That said there's pobibly a point in there somewhere where the ratio's won't really work too well. Go 30sec, wait 1:30. You go balls out for a minute, might need two to rest. You go hard for 4 minutes, you might need two minutes rest.

If you want to condition, you can do much shorter rest times. Tabita is 20sec on 10sec off x 4-8 intervals. But you're more trying to get the most speed for whatever time you're out there running. You're looking for something a little more pukey, pukey w\ that style.

My rule...try out a handful of things. Rate them from 1 to 10 on if I like them. Then do my least favorite.

[Lisa~]

I think Craig covered it really. For fat loss, they're all good. Change them up. Don't get used to any one interval protocol.

Lisa

[K-Court]

Thanks, Tony & Lisa, for your thoughts. I will start mixing things up more than I have been to date.

My rule...try out a handful of things. Rate them from 1 to 10 on if I like them. Then do my least favorite.

I think it would be tie ....