HIIT on a treadmill

[momto4]

I'm looking to drop a few pounds of body fat. For me running is the best way to do this, it's just what I'm most confortable with and I feel I get the best workout when I run. So my question is" how do I do HIIT on a treadmilll?"
My running pace is around 6.2 or 6.3 mph. How many minutes apart, how long should the intervals be, how fast ect. Any help is appreciated.

[RapidBreath]

Don't worry about your pace, just go by your heart rate.

[jdimascio]

Originally Posted by momto4

I'm looking to drop a few pounds of body fat. For me running is the best way to do this, it's just what I'm most confortable with and I feel I get the best workout when I run. So my question is" how do I do HIIT on a treadmilll?"
My running pace is around 6.2 or 6.3 mph. How many minutes apart, how long should the intervals be, how fast ect. Any help is appreciated.

Let's say you are doing 3 miles or 30 minutes on the treadmill. There are many ways you can do hiit. I would first start with a 4-5 minute warm -up, walk for a minute and then each minute go up .5 mph. So if you start with 3.5, go to 4.0 after the first minute, then go up every 30 seconds until you are at a comfortable pace. Then there are many ways to do hiit. For example:

1 minute jog, 30 second sprint (try to aim a little faster than 6.2)
repeat 4-5 times, rest for 2 minutes at a jog/walk
repeat the intervals again.

So the ratio here would be 2:1

You could also do 1:1, but your sprint might be slower than if you were doing 2:1. So 1 minute jog, 1 minute sprint

You could 3:1...whatever you feel like doing that day. Mix it up and have fun with it. Add hills too for variety.

I hope I am not confusing you, but the idea is to go hard, and then rest and recovery...and then repeat.

Make sure you end with a cool down too. If you need any ideas feel free to shoot me a PM.

[momto4]

Thanks for the reply, not confusing at all. I really like the idea of mixing it up from one day to the next. I probably wouldn't have thought of that on my own.
It's hard for me to go by my heart rate because I never monitor it. I just go by how hard I feel I'm working.

Originally Posted by jdimascio

Let's say you are doing 3 miles or 30 minutes on the treadmill. There are many ways you can do hiit. I would first start with a 4-5 minute warm -up, walk for a minute and then each minute go up .5 mph. So if you start with 3.5, go to 4.0 after the first minute, then go up every 30 seconds until you are at a comfortable pace. Then there are many ways to do hiit. For example:

1 minute jog, 30 second sprint (try to aim a little faster than 6.2)
repeat 4-5 times, rest for 2 minutes at a jog/walk
repeat the intervals again.

So the ratio here would be 2:1

You could also do 1:1, but your sprint might be slower than if you were doing 2:1. So 1 minute jog, 1 minute sprint

You could 3:1...whatever you feel like doing that day. Mix it up and have fun with it. Add hills too for variety.

I hope I am not confusing you, but the idea is to go hard, and then rest and recovery...and then repeat.

Make sure you end with a cool down too. If you need any ideas feel free to shoot me a PM.

[jdimascio]

Originally Posted by momto4

Thanks for the reply, not confusing at all. I really like the idea of mixing it up from one day to the next. I probably wouldn't have thought of that on my own.
It's hard for me to go by my heart rate because I never monitor it. I just go by how hard I feel I'm working.

Going by RPE (rate of perceived exertion) works too. Look at it as a scale from 1-10. Maybe start at a 3-4 for the warm up, and then during the intervals, do the sprints at about an 8, and the jog/recovery at a 5. If the sprints are shorter bursts, aim for a RPE of 9.

Hope this helps!!!

[Nanbo]

I did HIIT on a treadmill while on vacation. I did not use speed as the "HIITER", instead I kept my speed at a steady walk of 3.5 MPH and used the incline for the intensity factor. I alternated between 9% and 15% grades and mixed it up (varied the duration bewtween 30 seconds and 1 minute intense/recover intervals) for an hour! KICKED MY BUTT!!!!! I was drenched and loved it!

[jdimascio]

Originally Posted by Nanbo

I did HIIT on a treadmill while on vacation. I did not use speed as the "HIITER", instead I kept my speed at a steady walk of 3.5 MPH and used the incline for the intensity factor. I alternated between 9% and 15% grades and mixed it up (varied the duration bewtween 30 seconds and 1 minute intense/recover intervals) for an hour! KICKED MY BUTT!!!!! I was drenched and loved it!

I like that idea too!! Walking hills hit different muscles and at 15%, that is tough!!!