HIIT help?

Question for the knowledgeable folks on here.

A few weeks ago I started HIIT on the crosstrainer.
Twenty minutes in total, every two minutes go hell for leather for 20 seconds, then back to a pretty fast pace but one in which I can breathe (and wipe the sweat from my face) 20 seconds madness again etc.

Anyway I'm finding it easier now, well when I say easier I mean I'm not about to fall over after taking the crosstrainer from its fixtures.
So to push myself harder do I:

A) Increase the length of time I go as fast as I can
Increase the repetitions, ie, still do twenty minutes but hit the accelerator every minute instead of every two
C) Increase both the total length of time and the repetitions?

Just to add, I'm pretty fit. After the HIIT I'll hit the treadmill for a short run and then on to half an hour or so of weights, another 20 mins stretching etc.
Thanks in advance.

edited to add: I'm female, if that makes any difference.

EileenG

Whatever you like. You can increase the length of the sprint intervals, or reduce the rest intervals, or both. If you can do more than 20 minutes of HIIT, you are probably not doing it hard enough.

I'd suggest you do your weights before the cardio, so you have the most glycogen available for lifting.

I'm impressed with 20 minutes of stretching, I'm too lazy for that much.

EileenG

EileenG wrote: »

Whatever you like. You can increase the length of the sprint intervals, or reduce the rest intervals, or both. If you can do more than 20 minutes of HIIT, you are probably not doing it hard enough.

I'd suggest you do your weights before the cardio, so you have the most glycogen available for lifting.

I'm impressed with 20 minutes of stretching, I'm too lazy for that much.

Thanks Eileen.
So I should hit the weights first? I suppose once I'm five minutes into a warm-up on the crosstrainer I figure I may as well stay on it! I'll give it a go though.

About the stretching, well I'm also involved in martial arts and my instructor has us doing some pretty tough stretching. It's also very difficult to get the most out of a class if I'm any way sore or stiff!

EileenG

True, I often suffer for not stretching properly. I did heavy squats and deadlifts today, I'll probably be a cripple tomorrow. Want to see a grown woman cry every time she has to pee?

It's not set in stone, but generally a good warm-up, followed by weights, followed by cardio and stretching tends to give good results. Too much cardio early in the workout can mean that you have very little in the tank by the time you come to lift weights.

EileenG

EileenG wrote: »

True, I often suffer for not stretching properly. I did heavy squats and deadlifts today, I'll probably be a cripple tomorrow. Want to see a grown woman cry every time she has to pee?

It's not set in stone, but generally a good warm-up, followed by weights, followed by cardio and stretching tends to give good results. Too much cardio early in the workout can mean that you have very little in the tank by the time you come to lift weights.

True, I was knackered today. That may have had something to do with the Hindu squats though!
Thanks again, much appreciated.

Mr E

When I started HIIT years ago, I was doing 2 minutes easy, 1 minute hard. You'll get used to that very quickly though.

Here are some alternatives:

1-2-3-4: Do easy for one minute, harder for second, harder again for third, and the hardest for fourth, then back to easy again. 5 sets in 20 minutes.

1-2-3: Same as above. 7 sets in 21 minutes.

1-1: 1 Minute recovery, 1 Minute hell for leather.

On the cross trainer, you can increase the resistance for each interval, or keep the same resistance, and just increase strides per minute (there should be a number on the display for SPM).

Finally, if you really want to test yourself, do 30 seconds easy, 30 seconds hard. Shorter recovery time - v.tough!

Mr E

Mr E wrote: »

When I started HIIT years ago, I was doing 2 minutes easy, 1 minute hard. You'll get used to that very quickly though.

Here are some alternatives:

1-2-3-4: Do easy for one minute, harder for second, harder again for third, and the hardest for fourth, then back to easy again. 5 sets in 20 minutes.

1-2-3: Same as above. 6 sets in 21 minutes.

1-1: 1 Minute recovery, 1 Minute hell for leather.

On the cross trainer, you can increase the resistance for each interval, or keep the same resistance, and just increase strides per minute (there should be a number on the display for SPM).

Finally, if you really want to test yourself, do 30 seconds easy, 30 seconds hard. Shorter recovery time - v.tough!

Great stuff, gracias. I've noticed that 20 minutes goes by very quickly when you're at this craic!

gabgab

Hey what are your goals from the HIIT.....?

What about some heavy cardio involving weights or bodyweight stuff? Particularly if you are martial arts or fighting etc,

HammerHeadGym

I might have missed it but you don't mention how long the rest periods are. Have you ever tried tabtha intervals? Basically they are 20 seconds of all out effort followed by ten seconds of rest. The rest period is a dead stop though. Just do nothing.

You could also try mixing your machines up. Do crosstrainer today and rowing machine tomorrow or something like that. Or maybe try tabatha intervals with kettlebells or dumbells or something heavy.

Check out the guys at crossfit. They are big into the HIIT stuff.

What MA do you do btw?

phene

My personal trainer gave me an interval session on the crosstrainer. I say interval session and not HIIT as I don't know the ideal duration of a HIIT session. Basically with 2 minutes warm-up followed by 10 seconds fast, 10 seconds active rest, then 20 seconds on and active rest up to 90 seconds. Then repeat but using only half the time on rest.

I go to Jackie Skelly and I would set the crosstrainer there to go fast at 158 strides and over (general I would be at around 170) and rest at 140 strides. Resistance is set at 35.

As for mixing it up. Yep, upping the resistance and stides. I've heard different reports on how long a HIIT session should be so I'm not sure what the ideal is. Anybody have info on that?

As for doing cardio with weigths - I think it would really depend on your goals. The ideal would be to keep them separate but not everybody has time for several gym visits a day. Doing cardio first will fatigue your muscles (which may be what you want) and then you can do weights (but chances are not lift as much). As with changing the HIIT session it may be good to swap them around for a bit of variety.

Roper

Most of what is being described here isn't HIIT. I even hate the term HIIT now because it can mean anything these days.

Fast, intense (read crying) cardio can not be done for 20 minutes.

DAVE_K

here's the way I do it if it's any help

4 mins warm up

30 secs on/1 min off * 5

4 mins warm down

(i find a 2:1 ratio the best, 1:1 is too tough (for me))

I do it on an exercise bike - afterwards you should be shattered - not far off the shakes.

An alternative I've used to incorporate weights which hurts is

7 mins HIIT on the bike

(the following circuit)

10 press-ups
10 squats
10 clean & press
10 rows/wide-grip pull-ups

7 mins HIIT on the bike

phene

DAVE_K wrote: »

30 secs on/1 min off * 5

For the 30 secs on is it the case of head down and going for it? Or do you use the settings on the bike like RPM to make sure you're at some kind of speed/resistance?

gabgab

Roper wrote: »

Most of what is being described here isn't HIIT. I even hate the term HIIT now because it can mean anything these days.

Fast, intense (read crying) cardio can not be done for 20 minutes.

Would agree with this actually, I did a tabatha pull up test, thought I was going to puke not even half way through it

Macha

DAVE_K wrote: »

here's the way I do it if it's any help

4 mins warm up

30 secs on/1 min off * 5

4 mins warm down

(i find a 2:1 ratio the best, 1:1 is too tough (for me))

I do it on an exercise bike - afterwards you should be shattered - not far off the shakes.

I do this too, working my way up from 5 repetitions to 10. You really need to just go for it, head down, maximum effort. If your legs are getting tired, lower the resistance and up the speed - to make sure you're really working your lungs as much as you can.

I can barely make it up the stairs to the lockers after I've done HIIT.

DAVE_K

For the 30 secs on is it the case of head down and going for it? Or do you use the settings on the bike like RPM to make sure you're at some kind of speed/resistance?

I use the settings on the bike to increase the resistance (from level 4 up to 6 so it's just a case of hitting a button twice)...but it's also head down and as fast as you possibly can.

If you do it right you'll know you've hit the mark - your body will be wrecked for the day and any food you eat burns off really fast - you can find yourself very hungry.

Sonderval

Just to chime in: I'm a big HIIT fan too, doing 30 second sprints, 30 second very light jog.

On my good days, I can manage 8 mins of this.

You should be well exhausted if your doing it right.

Intensity, absolute commitment to giving 100%, is the key.

And yeah, you'll feel pretty hungry after a session of this.

Thanks for all the tips and info guys.

To answer a few questions, I don't have a goal as such, just want to mix things up a little. I've been doing some boxing training and that is a killer!
Not sure whether I want to die or puke, or both, during it.
We do circuits too at the martial arts class so I figured adding some interval training can't do me any harm.

And yes, I'm so wrecked after it I can't hold the hairdryer in the changing rooms and usually go home from the gym with wet hair. And ravenous.

El Torrente

I'm interested in getting more into HIIT for it's fat burning potential.

At the moment I run a fair bit but don't really do anything resembling HIIT.
I'll step on a treadmill and run 10kph for 10 mins or so, then spend the last 2-3 mins tiring myself out at a fast pace, by going to 12kph then up to 13 then 14kph which has me sprinting.
I'll stop for 3 minutes or so after the above, let my lungs catch up and then repeat the same process again, usually for slightly less time with each repitition though, as I get more tired.

Anyway, I want to do some proper HIIT like has been described in this thread, but I'm wondering, in terms of burning calories or fat, are the lengths of time you guys are talking about enough?
As far as I know when doing cardio at a moderate, steady intensity you've to exceed 30 minutes for calorie and fat burning to kick in, but you guys are saying you couldn't possibly do HIIT for more than 20 mins, so will it still have the same benefits or potential for burning calories and losing fat?

Thanks.