HIIT Training

[uncfnp]

I am far from an athlete but have been physically active most of my life. But the past few years have been a real challenge with both injury and age related changes.

I am not much into New Year's resolutions but I need something to get me back into fitness and stop this loss of strength and endurance and, yes, weight gain. I have fallen so far off the fitness wagon that my weak attempts at exercise are just depressing and I am finding motivation difficult. I am in that "I will start next week" black hole.

High-intensity interval training: Maximum results in a minimum of time

This week I saw Dr Jordan Metzl on the Today show discussing HIIT training and his new book. I have met Dr Metzl and attended medical conferences where he was a speaker. I was impressed by both his passion for fitness and his personal success. I knew of interval training but not specifically HIIT training. I bought his book. I am just to chapter two but I think this may just be the inspiration and workout I need to get me back into a fitness routine.

So why the post? Well, self motivation for one. To share the possibility as well. And to see if any fellow SBers have experience with HIIT and if so their insights or tips.

 

[lowviz]

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[uncfnp]

Hey lowviz. I saw her thread and very interesting but overeating is not my issue, although I admit I have a love affair with food. My problem is a too sedentary lifestyle and lack of fitness.

We all know health and fitness are related but this book really puts it into prespective. Chapter two is filled with references to studies linking disease and illness to poor physical fitness, more than any other health risk including obesity and diabetes. Its stuff we already know but still helps to have the message reinforced.

For example...

"A large study in the journal Epidemiology Research International 1 quantified the effects of various health risks on the likelihood of dying for a group of 50,000 men and women. Low fitness stood out as the biggest predictor of death, more powerful even than smoking, obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. Think about that for a moment. That means that if you’re a middle-aged, obese smoker with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes, the single best thing you can do to improve your health is exercise." from "Dr. Jordan Metzl's Workout Prescription: 10, 20 & 30-minute high-intensity interval training workouts for every fitness level" by Jordan Metzl

 

[lowviz]

I removed my earlier post as I later considered it off-topic. Nothing to do with HIIT. However, you did ask about motivation and I can reply to that...

Hey lowviz. I saw her thread and very interesting but overeating is not my issue, although I admit I have a love affair with food. My problem is a too sedentary lifestyle and lack of fitness. ...//... "A large study in the journal Epidemiology Research International 1 quantified the effects of various health risks on the likelihood of dying for a group of 50,000 men and women. Low fitness stood out as the biggest predictor of death, more powerful even than smoking, obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. ...

That is quite a finding!

Motivation:

... although I admit I have a love affair with food.

So do I. I love to cook. Cooking good food keeps my weight where it belongs. I like a more European approach. Go to the store more often, buy less and make most everything while it is still fresh. Cook more complicated dishes. PM me for suggestions if you wish.

Contrast this to the more US approach of stocking up for weeks or the month. Freeze everything you can.

I nibble while cooking so when I finally sit down, I'm not terribly hungry and eat a normal portion by preference.

... My problem is a too sedentary lifestyle and lack of fitness.

BTDT. I would come home from work and plop down. Years and years ago I got involved in martial arts training for exactly that reason. All of us found it hard to drag ourselves to the gym for every class.

The instructor said it best. "Your job consists of one and only one thing, just walk through that door. I'll take it from there." That was key. I had an obligation that had to be met or show up next time with a hat full of excuses.

Looking back over time, the forces that keep me active now are ones that I find hard to ignore or take a pass on. Right now, the biggest force is my dogs. I have four very active dogs that REALLY like their daily off-lead madness in the woods. Year around. Two days ago I was standing calf-deep in freezing water stuffing the remains of something through a hole in the ice to thwart my big retriever. I invented new words...

... the single best thing you can do to improve your health is exercise." from "Dr. Jordan Metzl's Workout Prescription: 10, 20 & 30-minute high-intensity interval training workouts for every fitness level" by Jordan Metzl

Yeah, that sure would work.

-but is it sustainable?

I could find every excuse in the world...

 

[CarcharodonCarcharias]

Just got out of my HIIT class. LOL.

Great cardio workout. It pretty much works on your aerobic and anaerobic if you do it right - pending on duration and intensity level. I combine it with my long runs and it compliments each other. The long runs increase my endurance and cardio/pulmonary capacity while HIIT provides strengthening of my fast twitching muscles as well as making me leaner.

Just make sure you don't over-exert yourself in the beginning. Gradually build up your stamina. Your knees, hips, and shoulders might need some time adjusting to the intensity of the the workout you put on them.

I strongly recommend it and it is good to see people getting more active and exercise more.

Have a blast!

 

[dlofting]

Just make sure you don't over-exert yourself in the beginning. Gradually build up your stamina. Your knees, hips, and shoulders might need some time adjusting to the intensity of the the workout you put on them.

This is key when you start any new exercise program, particularly if you have a low fitness level. If you end up in pain all the time, you wont continue with your workouts.

 

[uncfnp]

This is key when you start any new exercise program, particularly if you have a low fitness level. If you end up in pain all the time, you wont continue with your workouts.

Most of my adult life has been high impact aerobics and weight training and my joints have paid the price.

Access to a gym would be ideal and I can almost track my decline with my move to the rural countryside with no ready gym access. When I moved I setup a pretty comprehensive home qym so its not the equipment I miss but the atmosphere and group motivation. And having the set routine. At home there are just too many distraction and chores to get done.

I am also hoping I can fit the HIIT routine into my 12 hour workdays. My days at work are the worst with way too much sitting. I have seriously considered if an exercise bike or elliptical would fit in my office but a short, full body workout with no equip would be ideal for those days.

 

[lowviz]

Any chance of you talking the docs into getting a METS test setup? Probably have the only one in the area.

-not ideal, but better than nothing.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

I have been doing heavy weights and high intensity cardio all my life and for a very long time I was a big believer in HIIT. There are many variations of HIIT so I would like to explain what I mean by the term when I use it. HIIT to me was a 20 minute session in which 1 minute of intense high impact cardio was followed by a 2 minute of recovery phase. It was great in the sense that it would get my out of breath quickly. I would then add 40 - 60 minute weight lifting sessions and in under 90 minutes but after draining myself with HIIT the weight training sessions were sometimes ...compromised.

Lately I have changed into longer cardio sessions. I am trying to go for an hour at a comfortable pace instead of HIIT. This has certain very observable advantages.

HIIT would take much longer to recover from. If I did an HIIT session, I would need a recovery period before the next "all out honest" session would be possible. This meant that the number of sessions I could squeeze in one month were lesser. This reduced the long term effectiveness of HIIT. If we were to compare single workout against a single workout then an HIIT session would be far more draining but when I compare 6 months of HIIT against 6 months of steady paces cardio then steady pace has been more beneficial.

Presently my workout schedule is looking more like this:

Monday - 40 - 60 minutes of steady paced cardio
Tuesday= 40 - 60 minutes of steady paced cardio
Wednesday = 40 - 60 minutes of steady paced cardio
Thursday - 40 - 60 minutes of steady paced cardio
Friday - Off
Saturday : Chest Tricep and shoulders
Sunday: Back Bicep and Legs

While this enables me to go heavy on weights on the weekends the weekday cardio sessions are not taxing so I can squeeze five of these into a week. So this is a variation to try if you wish to maximize recuperation.

 

[Frosty]

uncfnp- Id like to suggest a slightly different approach. Right now have a hunt and find a local race of some sort to enter. Something in 3-9 months time.
It could be running,cycling swilmming or a combination of all three Doesn't matter but just enter it.
With an actual goal event you'll find you have an actual motivation to get fitter. Ive also found thst people that actually pay to enter an event are more committed to workout.
if you are up for it running is the best way to shed pounds.-work up to it though not just trying to smash out 10 miles on your first hit out or you will hurt yaself real bad.
Im 175cm tall and Ive dropped 13kg in about 6-9 months, -but my BMI has also changed in a big way. Fat has gone.
In fairness im training 8-15 hours a week--run swim and bike.-did my first half ironman a week ago
Good luck