What's HIIT??

[Doug M.]

Hi...i was wondering if anyone could give me a little info on HIIT....i think im going to incorporate it into my workout because it seems as though it will help me for soccer...
Thanks in advance!

Doug

[Kevin T.]

good question...What is HIIT?

[BjsAust]

Someone will find a link or two for you I'm sure, but basically HIIT is High Intensity Interval Training. Different workouts will have different intervals, but basically it involves a short period of very intense effort, followed by a recovery phase, then repeat. When I'm doing HIIT I do about 4-5 mins warmup where I work up to a pretty good pace and back off for a bit towards the end. Once I feel warmed up I'll sprint basically flatout for 30 secs (the way I think of it, is to run the pace I would if I was competing in a 200m race), then I recover for a minute. People say slow jog, but I tend to walk for 30-45 secs before easing into a jog towards the end of the minute, then sprint again for 30 secs.

Trust me, its harder than you think [img]tongue.gif[/img] .

Its a good idea to ease into it, maybe only do 5 sets the first time out, and build up by 1 when you feel capable until you're pushing out about 10. With warmup/cooldown thats about 20 mins effort and works you much harder than just steady state jogging for 20 mins.

[bryanc]

There are a ton of posts on HIIT on this forum, never mind the rest of the 'net. Search and you will find.

[downtown10_2000]

http://www.wsu.edu/~strength/hiit.htm

http://www.musclemedia.com/training/hiit.asp

here are some

[BiggerThanYou]

Originally posted by BjsAust:
Someone will find a link or two for you I'm sure, but basically HIIT is High Intensity Interval Training. Different workouts will have different intervals, but basically it involves a short period of very intense effort, followed by a recovery phase, then repeat. When I'm doing HIIT I do about 4-5 mins warmup where I work up to a pretty good pace and back off for a bit towards the end. Once I feel warmed up I'll sprint basically flatout for 30 secs (the way I think of it, is to run the pace I would if I was competing in a 200m race), then I recover for a minute. People say slow jog, but I tend to walk for 30-45 secs before easing into a jog towards the end of the minute, then sprint again for 30 secs.

Trust me, its harder than you think [img]tongue.gif[/img] .

Its a good idea to ease into it, maybe only do 5 sets the first time out, and build up by 1 when you feel capable until you're pushing out about 10. With warmup/cooldown thats about 20 mins effort and works you much harder than just steady state jogging for 20 mins.

He pretty much hit the nail on the head here. HIIT is superior for fat loss. You get more out of the amount of time spent on the track. With steadily paced cardio sessions the only way to add increased resistance (make your workouts harder) is to go further. This is not very useful unless you need the endurance for a marathon or other high-endurance sport. For fat loss, steadily-paced, long distance cardio is not the prime choice as so many people think. HIIT gives you an anaerobic as well as aerobic workout. This means that you are going to be burning calories for long periods after you have actually finished the workout, where as with steadily-paced cardio you stop burning calories shortly after the activity has ceased.

[BjsAust]

Plus if you're anything like me its more fun [img]smile.gif[/img] . Jogging along for long periods of time isnt very stimulating, but flat out sprinting for short periods is fun and challenging. It feels good to give 100%.

Its like lifting, it just feels so much better to squat some big weight rather than mess around with light weights on isolation exercises [img]smile.gif[/img] .

[massive member]

bump on the fun part. plus its quicker and burns calories over the whole day, not just in and around the workout