Taking Beavs Advice and Starting New Thread...How Many and How Long HIIT

carres1973

carres1973

Cathlete
Thanks Beavs for the suggestion (no disrespect, thank you very much, how you doin').

Fellow Cardio Coach devotees...since CC is a modified form of HIIT, how often do you think it is safe to do it? There was a link posted in another thread (link originally posted by LauraMax http://stronglifts.com/forum/hiit-and-cns-t11431.html), that states HIIT should not be done for longer than 20 minutes at a time and no more often than 2-3 times per week because it could be detrimental to your central nervous system. What do you pros think? My favorite CC workout is volume 7 which is about an hour. Heck, even the shorter iTrains I like are 30-45 minutes.

My former step aerobics instructor at the "Y" who taught the interval class said you didn't have to workout as long when doing interval work but she didn't say you shouldn't. Her point was that you can burn the same amount of fat and calories in less time.

What are everyone's thoughts? Should I make shorter playlists:D:D??

Carrie
 
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Adding to the confusion is Weight Watchers. I have recently "enrolled" (am doing Core to TRY to get clean and healthy). Right on their Fitness page it says if you are at least 40 pounds overweight, you should not work out at a high intensity level "without professional supervision."

It is confusing to know exactly what to do. I really want to burn fat, lose weight and get healthy but want to do it in a way that is best for my health.

Carrie
 
Well, with WW, most of it (I feel) seems to be geared toward older women, so their advice is probably sound if you are, say, over 50 and very overweight.

If you already work out regularly, I wouldn't stress about it that much.

MC
 
carres1973 said:
Right on their Fitness page it says if you are at least 40 pounds overweight, you should not work out at a high intensity level "without professional supervision."

Carrie
Click to expand...

You don't consider Sean "professional supervision?" :p:p;)
 
carres1973 said:
Adding to the confusion is Weight Watchers. I have recently "enrolled" (am doing Core to TRY to get clean and healthy). Right on their Fitness page it says if you are at least 40 pounds overweight, you should not work out at a high intensity level "without professional supervision."
Click to expand...

I'm not 40 pounds overweight, but I would me more than willing to have Sean come to my house and professionally supervise me:D:D:D

All kidding aside, I have taken CC into the high red zone on accident. I guess that warning is for people who may have a heart condition? I don't know:confused:
 
carres1973 said:
Right on their Fitness page it says if you are at least 40 pounds overweight, you should not work out at a high intensity level "without professional supervision."

Carrie
Click to expand...

You don't consider Sean "professional supervision?" :p:p;)
BTW, I know many here are loathe to search for information but even a cursory search of PubMed turned up some interesting literature on HIIT.
 
I wanted to mention....I do not consider true HIIT interval unless it is level 4/ red zone. I think CC has very few level 4 intervals. Some level 3's will take you into a 4.
Before CC, I followed Body for Life cardio... 25 minute HIIT sessions with 5 minute warm-up, 6-8 cycles alternating one minute level 2, one minute level 4, ending at a level 2, then cool down.
 
Certainly no professional, but here's MY input. I do HIIT (the BFL way) 3 times per week. It's an all-out, killer 4 interval workout!!! I mean all out! It's short and to the point. It's 'prescribed' by BFL to do it for 20 minutes. I need a longer warm up before just starting intervals and a longer cool down after to catch my breath (the runner in me needs that) so I add 5 minutes of steady state running at the beginning and at the end. But in between, it's 4 intervals where I take my intensity from a level 6 (on a scale of 1-10), to 7, to 8 to 9 for 3 intervals at one minute each. Then the 4th and last interval is level 6, 7, 8, 9 and ALL OUT 10!!!

I mean...yesterday, I felt like I could puke! LOL

But let me tell you! It's short. Quick. Effective in many ways (I've lost weight and leaned out, and my running speeds for races has dramatically improved).

On days where my PF is acting up, I take it to the stationary bike.

Again, no professional, but that's my 2 cents!

Gayle
 
Well, I'm certainly no expert on HIIT, and I only do CC for my cardio workouts. I do them, no more than 4 times/week, but usually only 3.

My whole point in posting here is to say that it's ALWAYS wise to take Beavs advice. I don't make a move without consulting Beavs and she has never.let.me.down! She's da bomb diggity!! :D
 
I don't really considered Cardio Coach to be true HIIT. Especially since some of his 'treks' are on the longer side. I personally do Cardio Coach 2x per week. It has really helped me slim my legs.

I would guess that Weight Watchers only has that disclosure to protect them from liability since we live in such a sue happy society.

Monica
 
I don't consider CC to be HIIT either. It's definitely interval training, but not HIIT. As someone already mentioned, true HIIT is defined as an all-out effort for a short burst, followed by a recovery and the whole deal shouldn't last more than about 20 minutes. You shouldn't be ABLE to keep it up for more than about 20 minutes.

Imax 2 and 3 can be considered HIIT if you do the blast-only premixes, not the full workout.
 
moni_stout said:
I don't really considered Cardio Coach to be true HIIT. Especially since some of his 'treks' are on the longer side. I personally do Cardio Coach 2x per week. It has really helped me slim my legs.

I would guess that Weight Watchers only has that disclosure to protect them from liability since we live in such a sue happy society.

Monica
Click to expand...

As I was in the shower last night after posting this question (I do my best thinking in the shower:p), I was wondering the same thing. Maybe for it to be truly HIIT, you would have to do some of the hill/sprint challenges only. No "long" recoveries in between.

Thank you to everyone who responded. I did also google HIIT frequency and came up with some good information. All seemed to concur that it should be done for longer than 20 minutes and no more than 2-3 times/week. They said it should be alternated with weights and longer steady state cardio. One site even said (and now I can't find it!!!) that you should do HIIT workouts on the same day as leg weight training:eek:! I guess it makes sense but man, my legs are jelly after CC!!

I also agree on the WW disclaimer. Maybe it is meant more for those who don't workout at all and are just starting. We wouldn't want a total couch potato going to level 4:eek:!!

Carrie
 
I would not do more than 2 days of HIIT in a week. It is THAT intense. Definitely not on consecutive days, either. Shouldn't be more than 20-25 minutes, tops, or you weren't doing HIIT.

Here's one of my HIIT days on the tread:

Alternate a minute recovery walk with sprint 30-40 sec on 10.2ish. Cycle 10 times. Twenty minutes - ba da bing ba da boom, done.
 
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