HIIT routines to help with fitness

chases0102

Hi all,

My fitness levels have become an absolute joke. I used to partake in games of 5 a side or tag rugby sporadically, but in recent years, I have been content to go to the gym in fits and spurts, and just generally avoided all levels of running, knowing how bloody unfit I was; essentially, a case of "don't ask...don' tell"...I just did not want to be aware of how unfit I was.

Played a game of 5 a side on Saturday morning however...mother of God, I was so unfit. It was embarrassing. No air in my lungs, legs heavy. I'm 29.

Furthermore, the OH recently got me a phone which can tell you your Heart Rate...my resting heart rate is so bad, almost constantly at the higher end of the indicators that they give.

A friend of mine recently told me that actually a really effective way to get fit was HIIT - as in shuttle runs across pitches, for example.

Long distance running never appealed to me - so I was wondering, if anyone had any recommendations of HIIT routines that I could try?

iwillhtfu

chases0102 wrote: »

Furthermore, the OH recently got me a phone which can tell you your Heart Rate...my resting heart rate is so bad, almost constantly at the higher end of the indicators that they give.

There's no phone out there that can accurately tell you your resting heart rate. Also you should be checking it first thing in the morning.

I found a great training method for picking up pace which would probably suit for 5 aside is to go to a local football pitch and sprint the widths and jog/walk the lengths. Then as you get fitter swap them around.

Keep up the 5 a side though and your fitness will come back in time.

chases0102

Cheers for that response, iwillhtfu!

colossus-x

Any exercise is an effective way to get fit. You increase intensity over time and you get fitter.

What was it about HIIT specifically that appeals to you? Because maybe the session would be short therefore you'd have a quick way to get fit?

Have you ever heard the expression don't run till you can walk? Well if you can't run at a constant medium pace for 20 minutes then you not going to be able to do a high intensity run over 20 minutes either.

Built up your running stamina over a few months to 45 minutes at least before you consider HIIT. HIIT is more appropriate for people with at least some basic level of fitness which you admit you don't have.

Mellor

iwillhtfu wrote: »

There's no phone out there that can accurately tell you your resting heart rate.

I've an app on my iphone that measures my heart rate with very good accuracy. It's measured through the camera.

iwillhtfu

Mellor wrote: »

I've an app on my iphone that measures my heart rate with very good accuracy. It's measured through the camera.

Let me guess a Samsung S5.

I wonder why all the doctors and nurses aren't equipped with these. :rolleyes:

BTW I have the same phone it randomly spikes and is not consistent let alone accurate.

misslt

Mellor wrote: »

I've an app on my iphone that measures my heart rate with very good accuracy. It's measured through the camera.

iwillhtfu wrote: »

Let me guess a Samsung S5.

I wonder why all the doctors and nurses aren't equipped with these. :rolleyes:

BTW I have the same phone it randomly spikes and is not consistent let alone accurate.

Um...

Anyways. The iPhone one isn't bad, I've checked it against my Polar HRM for the craic (what a life I lead) and it was fairly close!

iwillhtfu

misslt wrote: »

Um...

Anyways. The iPhone one isn't bad, I've checked it against my Polar HRM for the craic (what a life I lead) and it was fairly close!

Fairly close is a medical term I'd be reluctant to rely upon but yes even a broken clock is right twice a day.

You could mix the likes of couch25k with HIIT, so you're getting endurance with stamina.

So C25K 3 times a week, HIIT 2-3 times a week, with one day off.

Zillah

iwillhtfu wrote: »

Fairly close is a medical term I'd be reluctant to rely upon but yes even a broken clock is right twice a day.

I don't know why you're so adamantly against the idea of a phone camera/light/software heart rate measurement. It's perfectly reasonable and works very well. I'd imagine hospitals don't use them because they have technology that doesn't require you to gently hold your fingertip against something for a minute. My Fitbit does resting heart rate perfectly well but they don't use those in hospitals either.

Mellor

iwillhtfu wrote: »

Fairly close is a medical term I'd be reluctant to rely upon but yes even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Why are you going on about it in a medical scenerio? How is that relevant?
They have other technology when very accurate readings are required, but when doing rounds they'll often just measure it with fingers and a watch, which is a fairly broad guess.

My phone matches my polar well. I don't need anything more than that tbh. Why would you possibly need medical grade accuracy in s domestic situation.

How does a camera measure your heartbeat?

iwillhtfu

Zillah wrote: »

I don't know why you're so adamantly against the idea of a phone camera/light/software heart rate measurement. It's perfectly reasonable and works very well. I'd imagine hospitals don't use them because they have technology that doesn't require you to gently hold your fingertip against something for a minute. My Fitbit does resting heart rate perfectly well but they don't use those in hospitals either.

Quite simply because it's bull ****.

Why not work out your heart rate the old fashioned way if you have to. Why would anyone stop in the middle of a session to unlock their phone start an app and check their heart rate.

OP if you want your resting heart rate when you wake in the morning check your pulse and count it on a 15sec interval multiply by 4. Resting heart rate. Check 2/3 times if you want an average.

Far to many people relying on smart phones/gadgets to do simple things

Alf Veedersane

Should this be moved to the Apps forum yet?

iwillhtfu

Mellor wrote: »

when doing rounds they'll often just measure it with fingers and a watch, which is a fairly broad guess

Eh.. No it's not.

Transform

iwillhtfu wrote: »

Quite simply because it's bull ****.

Why not work out your heart rate the old fashioned way if you have to. Why would anyone stop in the middle of a session to unlock their phone start an app and check their heart rate.

OP if you want your resting heart rate when you wake in the morning check your pulse and count it on a 15sec interval multiply by 4. Resting heart rate. Check 2/3 times if you want an average.

Far to many people relying on smart phones/gadgets to do simple things

like sending text messages instead of using postal

come one most are absolutely fine and offer a nice easy way to log and track some basics

Zillah

iwillhtfu wrote: »

Quite simply because it's bull ****.

But it's not, it's accurate. You don't like the idea, for some reason, but that doesn't magically make it stop working. My fitbit says my heart rate is 67 right now, the app says 68. Counting is manually gave me...68! Shocking.

Isn't it bizarre that there is more than one way to do things???

Why not work out your heart rate the old fashioned way if you have to. Why would anyone stop in the middle of a session to unlock their phone start an app and check their heart rate.

He said resting heart rate.

How on Earth anyone ever got such a massive chip on their shoulder over such a ridiculous thing I have no idea.

Zillah

Deleted User wrote: »

How does a camera measure your heartbeat?

It turns on the light beneath the lens, and you gently press your finger tip against the camera lens. The light shines through your skin (your whole hand is actually fairly transparent, try putting a torch against your palm in a dark room) and it can see the pulsing from your heart beat.

It's really a very clever use of the technology for which is was never intended.

So the camera is facing out, with the display facing inwards? Or does it use the front facing camera? Either way, that's mad.

Mellor

iwillhtfu wrote: »

Eh.. No it's not.

If they count beats in a 6 second second window, the result will be a multiple of 10, But the actual HR could be up to 5 beats either side. A range of 10 BPM isnt accurate.
If they want more accurate than that they'll get an exact figure.

LuckyLloyd

If you can play five a side more regularly that will help to bring your fitness up in of itself and if it's something you enjoy all the better.

Have you considered a concept II rower? Can be very useful for building your fitness up and is a great tool for people who have let their fitness go to pot as it doesn't impact your joints so you can hammer away at it with less risk of injury.

Zillah

Deleted User wrote: »

So the camera is facing out, with the display facing inwards? Or does it use the front facing camera? Either way, that's mad.

Yes, you turn the screen towards your face where you can see the app interface, and you put your fingertip against the lens behind the phone, and it turns the light on and starts measuring when you hit go. It takes a couple of seconds to calibrate but it's really quite clever.

Just downloaded one there. That's mad.

Tar.Aldarion

My amiigo tells me my resting heart rate and sleeping heart rate but not in real time, rather annoying, must check out the apps. Well not that I generally want to know as it's mostly the same every day.

Zillah

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

My amiigo tells me my resting heart rate and sleeping heart rate but not in real time, rather annoying, must check out the apps. Well not that I generally want to know as it's mostly the same every day.

You might be surprised how much it varies. My heart rate will go from 52 to 70 even while asleep (one night it apparently spiked to 120 for a few minutes...must have been having some pretty wild dreams). Even getting up and walking to another room will cause a change, and having a conversation will keep it up higher than, say, reading a book.

Mellor

Deleted User wrote: »

Just downloaded one there. That's mad.

It's a bit mad at first, but the technology is completely sound. (similar to fingertip devices in hospitals observing how blood close t the skin absorbs light at a given wavelengths)

The next gen of this technology is where it gets really impressive. MIT developed an algorithm where amplify movement and colour change observed through any normal video (CCTV, mobile phone). So you can see read people pulse remotely through a camera. This can be real-time, or a recording.
The applications of this go far beyond heartbeat a simple heartbeat.

https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_rubinstein_see_invisible_motion_hear_silent_sounds_cool_creepy_we_can_t_decide?language=en

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9ASH8IBJ2U

Zillah

MIT are wizards.

Alf Veedersane

Zillah wrote: »

MIT are wizards.

I can confirm this. I met Wolfgandalf Ketterle a few years ago.

He even said "You shall not pass!" to a classmate of mine.



He didn't. Amazeballs.

Mellor

Zillah wrote: »

MIT are wizards.

Yeah some truely crazy stuff comes out of MIT. What impressed me most was the fact is was reading those changes from video shot on bog standard cameras.
All the info has always been there, we just did know it.

Tar.Aldarion

I was thinking of that video when i read about the apps mellor, it's very cool.

Zillah wrote: »

You might be surprised how much it varies. My heart rate will go from 52 to 70 even while asleep (one night it apparently spiked to 120 for a few minutes...must have been having some pretty wild dreams). Even getting up and walking to another room will cause a change, and having a conversation will keep it up higher than, say, reading a book.

Yeah I suppose I meant my average every day stays mostly the same. Your're definitely right though, moving around, even eating changes it. My average resting heart rate is around 52 but whenever I am stressed in work or emotionally it's in the 60s.

Can also see that reading a book will make my amiigo think I'm asleep.