HIIT Training Hits Me Hard41.2 lbs LOSTso farSeptember 23, 2007 by Israel Lagares | 12 comments
In my ongoing quest to lose weight and get back into shape I keep coming across many individuals that are proponents of HIIT Training. It is my understanding that HIIT is an acronym for High Intensity Interval Training. I have done some minimal research on it and most resources state the same: Perform short bursts of high intensity cardio followed by short bursts of low intensity cardio. You do this for several cycles in increments of 30 seconds to 2 minutes. It really depends on the person performing the HIIT and their fitness level.
A friend of mine has always told me to sprint instead of jog but I am jogger not a sprinter. I enjoy going for long runs testing my endurance. He has always told me to do 40 yard sprints so that I can lose weight and build some muscle. He would always refer to Olympic sprinters and their muscularity. Knowing this, I would still avoid sprinting and HIIT. But recently I started some HIIT training, and boy did it kick my butt.
Everyone that I asked about HIIT would tell me to wait until I lose some more weight before trying HIIT. Being the kind of person that I am, I did not listen. I like challenges and figured this would be a good challenge. It was! What I did was search for different types of HIIT routines and then adapt them to my treadmill and stamina. I began by jogging at about 3.5 MPH for 5 minutes. That was a good warm up. Then I upped the speed to 4.5 MPH for another 2 minutes. After that I cranked it to 5.5 MPH for 1.5 minutes. I started sweating immediately as my heart rate picked up. I then reduced the speed to 4.5 MPH for another 1.5 minutes. I did this cycle about 5 times and then finished off the run with a 3 minute jog at 3.5 MPH and a 4 minute walk at 2.5 MPH.
This seemingly simple looking workout left me panting and craving water. But it also left me wanting more. I felt invigorated and energized. Afterwards I wanted to keep running but I knew that my legs had had enough and that I needed to rest. I plan on doing this 5 times a week for about 3 to 4 weeks and then switching off to long distance jogging routine. I think it will assist with my endurance and fat loss. We shall see.
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The HITT training program has been my focus for the past couple years and I have gotten great results. I believe everyone should try it at least once as the results are worth it.
running/sprinting = muscle killer, seriously you know how much they have to think about while eating to not loose muscle mass.
Fast walking is the fat burner, if you’re not sure on what to do talk to your doctor.
I think you are right and wrong.
HIIT is only short and it is high intensity. HIIT builds muscle it doesnt kill it. Cortisol kills muscle, and that is released in long distance running, or LISS.
Thats why sprinters are buff and marathon runners are very small.
LISS, never heard of that. I do agree with what you say about sprinters and runners.
I love HIIT. I can’t stand doing exercise for an hour at a time. Twenty minutes of sweating my ass off and I’m done…on with life. And it does a great job of burning fat and getting you fit quickly.
krillz - fast walking alternated with slow walking can work well…as long as the fast walking poses enough of a challenge to a person. Personally, fast walking wouldn’t give me the same workout as my recumbent bike.
Just my .02.
I love it too. I prefer something more than just plain walking when I workout. Walking is good for me, but only when its to talk a stroll around the block.
Good to see you have come around to the idea of HIIT! If you ever need a HIIT guest blog in return for ad slot just shoot me an email - check my site for examples.
Hi, thanks for commenting. Shot you an email.
Fitness Friday Tip #1: High-Intensity Interval Training
It’s that time of the week. Thank goodness it’s Friday, ’cause I got a tip for you. A big one. And now, here’s week one of the Fitness Friday series!
It’s just another day in the gym. You just spent a good hour lifting a…
If you are going to get benefits from HIIT as advertised (increased resting metabolic rate, increased VO2 max, increased strength), you need to do real HIIT. What you are doing is not HIIT. You need for example: 30 seconds sprint, then 30-60 seconds very slow pace. This will be repeated 5-10 times.
You are getting some benefit from what you are doing, but believe me if you will do faster, shorter intervals you will see much better results.
Okay, David, I will give that a shot. At the time of this post above, I was just starting out. Now I am more advanced. Thanks.