I've been searching through the posts and it seems the info regarding HIIT is kinda spread out all over the place, so I wanted to start a thread where we could try and keep info/suggestions together for future referrence.

I've been studying up on this after reading David's article on fat loss basics (btw...great article Dave). I've been stuck in that mind-frame that only long sessions of cardio (30+ min) will cause fat loss, so I'm going to give the HIIT program a shot.

Obviously, the time spent doing cardio is greatly reduced when doing HIIT. So, my question is, if I've been doing 30 minute sessions of cardio at medium intensity, how long should the sessions be for HIIT? Is this one of those things where you should just "listen" to your body until you adjust to it?

Edit: For a quick link to Loki's article on HIIT - click here

Edit: HIIT article by Dave Draper (link from Grave) - http://davedraper.com/hiit-cardio-training.html

Ok...from what I've been able to find on the web, this seems to be the common routine for a HIIT program.

Each cycle consists of a 30 second sprint followed by a 30 second recovery period (if in example you are running, do a sprint followed by 30 seconds of jogging). If you are in excellent shape or are used to doing long periods of cardio you can probably up the time spent for a cycle (save my @$$ from lawyers disclaimer: always consult a physician before starting a workout program). I would suggest though that anybody that has never done a HIIT routine start at the bottom and work your way up. This program can be adapted to pretty much any form or cardio excercise such as bike, stair climber, elipitcals, etc.

Week 1 -
4 minute cycle x 2 days
5 minute cycle x 1 day

Week 2 -
5 minute cycle x 2 days
6 minute cycle x 1 day

Week 3 -
7 minute cycle x 2 days
8 minute cycle x 1 day

Week 4 -
8 minute cycle x 2 days
9 minute cycle X 1 day

Week 5 -
10 minute cycle x 2 days
11 minute cycle x 1 day

It's suggested to follow this formula until you have done it for 8 weeks then take some time off ( 1-2 weeks +) and start over. At the 8 week mark you should be at 2x 14 min cycles and 1x 15 min cycle. HIIT programs have shown to burn more fat than long endurance cardio sessions which tend to end up causing greater muscle loss.



Thanks to Shawn Phillips for this information.

This post has been edited by Skate on Apr 14 2004, 10:13 AM

This time of the year, I also go for leaning up. Must have something to do with living at the shore. Anyway, I usually run 2-3 miles on the boardwalk because it "gives" saving my joints.
I run first thing in the morning 3x per week, after an overnight fast. If you can handle a little hypoglycemia without overdoing it (get the shakes ) then try it because you'll metabolize 3 times more bodyfat for energy because glycogen stores are low. Make sure you eat some good carbs and protein within the hour so you don't waste muscle. Keep your sessions under 30 minutes at first.
If you opt for HIIT, your sessions will be low at first anyway. I guess the main point I'm making is to get use to hypoglycemic cardio!

30jog 30sprint proved to be too tedious for me.
I do 60jog 30sprint...........im starting my 2nd week and im still only on 4mins.

HIIT is a pretty simple concept that simply involves intervals of full-out intensity alternated with low-paced cardio. The exact timing of each isn't really too important as long you are within reason. Most importantly however, when sprinting, or performing the equivulant, you have to go all out. So with that said, 15/45s is a good starting point. Works for me.

Also if you wanna know if your sprinting fast enough.............you should be able to cover 1/8th mile in the 30sec, if not your goin too slow.

hey, newbie here, been lurking for a while, thanks for all the info!

i got a couple question about HIIT before i start, i'm going to be doing this on my elliptical so...

1) i should ignore the calorie counter right?

2) do i want the resistance and incline on the machine to be lowered so it'll be like being on flat ground, or should i increase these for anything?

thanks!

-vasu

i just did 4 minutes of the 30/30 and i'm going to DIE. my lungs are going to seize up and implode. i can't catch my breath still. my heart is still pounding abotu 15 minutes after the fact. i'm coughing and wheezing when i breath too.

this is INTENSE. thank god it's only 3 times a week for such a short period.

-vasu

p.s: ow.

-vasu

I just read an article on a type of HIIT that was new to me. It was created by this Jap dude who trained the Jap speed skatering team. Instead of doing moderate cardio or conventional HIIT he had them do a 14 minute (including warm-up/ cool down) psuedo HIIT. Where insted of going for say 30 sec and recovering for 60 sec, he had them spriniting for 40 sec and recovering for 20 sec. THis supposivly gave a 14% increase over 6 weeks in Aerobic capacity and a 9.5% increase in anaerobic capacity. Thus giving you better endurance and sprinting ablity. I think it was called the Tabata Protocol if anyone is interseted.


But I personally go with 1 minute sprint and 2 minute recovery for 15 minutes with a 5 minute warm up and 5 minute cool down

I started realizing that mid-life was taking away my "Bono" profile and replacing it with something more akin to the Hindenberg! I realized that 10 years ago I was 70lbs lighter! At 42 yrs old, I was well experienced with weights; but still using a typical "jog a mile a day" aerobics protocol—and it was doing nothing but living my knees and hips reasons to organize wild-cat strikes thought the day;-)

I tried going at the HIIT training WAY TO HARD when I first started. I pulled my hamstring the second day--ops. If you're not used to all out sprints, it s amazing how clumsy you can be (even if you don't fall down, you can pull something) After recovering from my injury, I started with walking intervaled with speed-walking. Then walking with Jogs, and so on.

I work on an indoor track with 5 laps to the mile; at this point it’s easier to figure my intervals on distance rather than time. I start by running the first 1/4 of the track at 70-75% of full-speed, then I walk the next 1/4, then 75% again, then walk that last. One lap (1/5 of a mile) finished.

The next lap I follow the same protocol, but I run full-speed sprints (rather than the 75%) interspersed with brisk walking .I keep this up unit I can't catch my breath. Then I walk until I can (usually 2/3 to ¾ of a lap) then start sprinting again. I complete five laps (not including warm-up or cool-down) every other day (three times a week).

This has worked wonderfully for me so far. I'm losing weight, keeping muscle and I'm injury free! When I get under 200lbs, I'll change the protocol to a sprint/jog format rather than sprint/walk, and focus more on time rather than distance. But for now, this protocol has spared my joints and really helped me feel and look better.

Hope that helps any newbie's--you can be quite over-weight and still make this training methodology work for you. Indeed, I think its actually easier on joints, etc than the normal “jogging.” Just take your time!
And Skate, thanks for the time you've put into making HIIT accessible to us all. I know most people on this list would know about it already—but I didn’t. And it was though reading a post of yours that I first became inspired to change my routine and try HIIT.

Ronn

man i felt the burn from those 4 minutes all day yesterday!

I got a couple more questions

1) What's the best way to keep with getting raped by this workout. Should I take a protein shake (which has a bcaa cocktail in it) before or after?

2) since my main purpose here is for fat loss, do I do HIIT 3 days a week and that's that, or do I still need to do endurance cardio the other days of the week (not sure if i can handle that!)

-vasu

3 days / week of HIIT is more than enough so long as you do it right. Regarding the protein, just make sure you have something in you an hour or so before hand. Whether you have any while training is a matter of preference - same goes with lifting. I just make sure I have a good meal 1.5-1h before hand, a good post-workout shake and then meal later on. What you do in between is a matter of trivial detail (aside from the training of course)

excellent, thank you!

-vasu

So would this HIIT program be good for people who are looking to add mass but burn a little fat in the process or is this mainly for people who are looking for something different than just the regular 1 mile or more runs?

ok i have a question
can this be incorporated into other things other than sprinting lets say something such as jump rope or swimming
thanks n advance

I would think so, although swimming may be a little tough to do. The key concept behind HIIT is explosive bursts of training performed at full intensity, coupled with a longer period of lower-intensity work. If you can't 'snap' into the higher intensity interval, it won't work as well. Running is just the easiest since you can apply 100% force and reduce it instantaneously - whereas swimming, you are dealing with water as a medium - much harder to explode into.