HIIT Training Hits Me Hard
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.
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.
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.
Good for you for biting the bullet and just going for it right away! Surely this helped your weight loss progress, instead of just waiting until you were “good enough shape.”
HIIT is a tool just like anything else when it comes to get in good shape, there’s no reason to leave it out.
HIIT is the way to go for fat loss. It’s due to excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). This results in fat being burned for many hours after the workout has ceased. You don’t have to train 5 days a week with it either. So many people think that loooooooong slow cardio is the way to go but it’s actually counter-productive.
Thanks for the note Chris.
first of all congrats on your weight loss journey ! you’re doing an amazing job !!
i was also severely obese and i know the pains that come along that is why I stepped up to give free advice to you bro.
DO HIIT ONLY 3 days a week . DO NOT do it everyday .IT is more effective that way (since your body does not get used to it ) i have tried it , tested it and it IS the BEST way to lose fat.
cheers !!
HIIT definitely provides a great workout. Plus it’s a time saver since you don’t have to exercise as long to get the same calorie burning effects of steady state cardio. However, as mentioned above, overtraining is a potential limitation. 2-3 days per week is more than enough. Steady state cardio can be done the other days.