My first experiment with HIIT

[elsie3]

I tried this. I'm not sure if I did it right, but I think it qualifies.

I was at my In-Laws cabin this past holiday weekend. I usually do a long run, hitting all the roads in the cabin association. The hills are hard--it is on the side of a mountain. But there is one hill I cannot run. Just hiking up it at a good pace gets my heart-rate into it's upper training zone. So I thought I'd do a shorter run and experiment with HIIT.

For a warmup, I ran from the lower parking lot to an upper road and then flat across to the bottom of "killer hill." Then I alternated 30 seconds of running with 30 seconds of walking up the darn thing. I reached the top around interval 8, so I "tried" to sprint for 30 seconds for the last 2 intervals. I then ran back down the main road and hit a couple of relatively flat roads on the way down to the parking lot to make it 30 minutes total.

Would that qualify as HIIT? When I was running up the hill, I could barely make it to 30 seconds--I actually cheated by 2 or 3 seconds on a couple (I used the interval timer on my Timex Ironman for the first time).

Thanks for your input.

 

[kgalas]

Sounds like an awesome session of HIIT to me! The length of the interval doesn't matter so much as going all out for however long you can. And you were running intervals on an incline which is even more difficult! I do HIIT on my treadmill and do a 5 minute w/u at 4.0 followed by 10 intervals of 30-45 seconds at 9.0-9.5 (depending on how I feel) alternating with 60-90 seconds of recovery at 4.0. I finish with a 5 minute c/d.

Great job Elsie!

 

[morningstar]

Sounds great to me too! Here's my current favourite sprint running HIIT session that I have created so far (I use my own Cardio Coach premix and run on the street):

• Total Time: 65 minutes
• Warm up: 4.5 minutes
• Warm up challenge: six 30 second sprints, 30 second recovery
• Walking: 2 minutes
• Challenge 1 (3 parts to the challenge; no rest between each part): six 30 second sprints with 30 second recovery; six 20 second sprints with 40 second recovery, four 10 second sprints with 30 second recovery
• Walking: 2 minutes
• Challenge 2 (3 parts to the challenge; no rest between each part): six 30 second sprints with 30 second recovery; six 20 second sprints with 40 second recovery, four 10 second sprints with 30 second recovery
• Walking: 2 minutes
• Challenge 3 (3 parts to the challenge; no rest between each part): six 30 second sprints with 30 second recovery; six 20 second sprints with 40 second recovery, four 10 second sprints with 30 second recovery
• Cool down: 4.5 minutes
• Stretches: 10 minutes
• Total: 54 sprints

When I go absolutely full out for every sprint, the absolute best I can do, not saving anything for the next sprint, I feel like I have not only got in a great workout, but that I have achieved something. I did this run this morning, and covered 8.3km, a bit more than usual.

 

[sancho]

Morning Star,

Do you still know which CC pieces make up this workout? I'd like to put one together for my ipod. This looks really good. I have most of the CC's.

TIA,

Lauren

 

[morningstar]

Here you go, Lauren! (the "V"s stand for the Volume #)

V2: Warm Up (4:13)
V3: Challenge 1 (6:02)
V1: steady-rest (1:48)
V3: Challenge 1 (6:02)
V1: Challenge 1 (6:00)
V3: Challenge 3 (2:56)
V1: steady-rest (1:48)
V3: Challenge 1 (6:02)
V1: Challenge 1 (6:00)
V3: Challenge 3 (2:56)
V1: steady-rest (1:48)
V3: Challenge 1 (6:02)
V1: Challenge 1 (6:00)
V3: Challenge 3 (2:56)
V8: Cool Down (4:38)
V7: Stretch (12:00 )

Enjoy, and let me know how you liked it!

 

[2121]

Sounds like an awesome session of HIIT to me! The length of the interval doesn't matter so much as going all out for however long you can. And you were running intervals on an incline which is even more difficult! I do HIIT on my treadmill and do a 5 minute w/u at 4.0 followed by 10 intervals of 30-45 seconds at 9.0-9.5 (depending on how I feel) alternating with 60-90 seconds of recovery at 4.0. I finish with a 5 minute c/d.

Great job Elsie!

Klaudia, You inspired me to try your workout. I have only done the HIIT from Body for Life. Anyhow, I did a 3 minute warmup and alternated 90 seconds at 3.5 and 45 seconds at 8.5 for 14 minutes. Then a three minute cooldown. I started with 4.5 and 9.5 like you. However, my legs felt out of control at 9.5. Now, I am sweating like I was standing in a downpour. I'm impressed with your speed. Melissa

 

[kgalas]

Thanks Melissa! I'm glad you liked it! I love HIIT cause it's short-I'm not a cardio fan-and effective. Don't feel the need to go so fast-I only go that high when I'm feeling really strong and rested. Go as hard as you can for as long as you can. I'm trying to work up to 1 minute intervals at 9.0-it's tough! Knowing I only have to do it for 20-30 minutes makes it easier on me Play around with speed, duration, incline-you have lots of options! Have fun!

 

[morningstar]

There's an interesting thread here on HIIT:

http://www.thecathenation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=262951

 

[sancho]

Here you go, Lauren! (the "V"s stand for the Volume #)

V2: Warm Up (4:13)
V3: Challenge 1 (6:02)
V1: steady-rest (1:48)
V3: Challenge 1 (6:02)
V1: Challenge 1 (6:00)
V3: Challenge 3 (2:56)
V1: steady-rest (1:48)
V3: Challenge 1 (6:02)
V1: Challenge 1 (6:00)
V3: Challenge 3 (2:56)
V1: steady-rest (1:48)
V3: Challenge 1 (6:02)
V1: Challenge 1 (6:00)
V3: Challenge 3 (2:56)
V8: Cool Down (4:38)
V7: Stretch (12:00 )

Enjoy, and let me know how you liked it!

Great! Thanks.