High Intensity Interval Training

[Cliffhanger]

Thought I'd start a thread on this because it is a pretty effective type of training, and may also be a suitable solution for some.

Personally I am a big fan of running, especially first thing in the morning. It just feels good, so I was perhaps not as thrilled as other when I discovered that 15 minutes HIIT training did more to boost your fitness than an hour of jogging.

Anyway I've finally given in and began doing HIIT, personally I either go for mountain climbers or explosive squats. (I'm not completely giving up running but for the sake of my feet slowing down).

For those unfamiliar with HIIT it stands for high intensity interval training, so basically you do a high intensity workout then rest for a short period, before doing another set or whatever. Most effective one is a 2 to 1 ration of exercise to rest. So take it I was doing mountain climbers, I'd do a minute of mountain climbers (which is f**king painful) and then rest for 30 seconds. Obviously to start out with your ratio can be 1 to 2, or 1 to 1, until you get the hang of it.

Anyway who else does HIIT?

 

[Joker's Wild]

Tabata intervals are also great (20sec flat out, 10 sec rest x 8 rounds)

I often combine pushups, squats, inverted rows, double unders (skipping the rope twice in 1 hop) and dumbbell swings into 5 rounds of 8 intervals each.

 

[adamkungl]

Hmm I need to change up my gym routine, will definitely throw in some interval training, should keep me in decent shape through offseason

 

[Joker's Wild]

Mate, if you do it right and dont slack off it will smash you good and proper

My fitness went through the roof when I started doing intervals instead of 10k runs

 

[Thomas]

Yeah. I just had no time for an hour long run so started hitting the gym more. I do resistance stuff combined with heavy weights and slot in a HIIT once or twice a week.

I do mine on an exercise bike and it sure does smash you. I went for a run on the weekend and felt really good. Put in an effort 5km run and felt great afterwards.

 

[adamkungl]

Mate, if you do it right and dont slack off it will smash you good and proper

My fitness went through the roof when I started doing intervals instead of 10k runs

ppsh i dont do long runs anyway. Boring as shit. Offseason i currently just play touch, do weights and light cardio at the gym.

 

[Joker's Wild]

They're good to clear the head and think (and get away from the missus for awhile) but are pretty old hat when it comes to maintaining fitness

 

[Cliffhanger]

The disappointing thing is long runs don't actually improve your fitness, the only reason your running ability and endurance appear to improve the more you run is because your body has figured out how to get rid of unnecessary movements and stops engaging muscles which are not needed, this results in you being able to go for longer because your body is able to do more with less and thus you won't get as tired.

What's worse is you are far more susceptible to injury when running than when doing most other exercise.

 

[adamkungl]

most i've ever run for fitness is about 3km. Touch footy, sprints and interval training are far more interesting and probably effective for me, especially in a team environment.

 

[The European Polynesian]

90% ov my fitness training is HIIT. Way better for conditioning and mental toughness.

 

[Cliffhanger]

Can you make me a two hour HIIT workout schedule?

I tried a HIIT session of core rows with dumbells (8.5 KG each) holy f**k that was painful.

The hardest part was not so much lifting the weights as it was balancing my hands on them.

 

[aqua_duck]

Always finish off my cardio/conditioning sessions with 6 30/30 intervals on the rower, 30 seconds flat out rowing (aiming to row 150m in 30s) rest for 30s, repeated 6 times, by the last interval im struggling to hit 140m

 

[Thomas]

Always finish off my cardio/conditioning sessions with 6 30/30 intervals on the rower, 30 seconds flat out rowing (aiming to row 150m in 30s) rest for 30s, repeated 6 times, by the last interval im struggling to hit 140m

I did that today. Jesus wept.

Mind you, I did a whole bunch of super sets so I was pretty knackered anyway. It took me a while to stop feeling ill afterwards.

 

[aqua_duck]

One of my mates played Toyota cup and he said they used to do it alot, he was still hitting 155 on his 6th interval.

 

[Desert Qlder]

I use intervals to increase fitness.

What I'd like to know though is doing interval training good for decreasing times on 10 and 15km runs?

 

[Thomas]

I use intervals to increase fitness.

What I'd like to know though is doing interval training good for decreasing times on 10 and 15km runs?

Yes. Interval training is generally the best way to increase your running speed. I'm not talking about on a bike or rowing machine but sprints.

The best way to increase your 5km and 10km time is to break up your running sessions. Have a looong run (14km) once a week and 3 other sessions. Make at least one of those sessions a Fartlek session. Basically it is interval training. You run at near-max speed for a certain distance and then ramp it back. Repeat for 30 minutes or so.

 

[The European Polynesian]

Can you make me a two hour HIIT workout schedule?

I tried a HIIT session of core rows with dumbells (8.5 KG each) holy f**k that was painful.

The hardest part was not so much lifting the weights as it was balancing my hands on them.

2 hours ov HIIT shouldn't really be possible if you're doing it right. 15-30mins I'd say, depending on what you're doing.

I have done a little bit ov conditioning stuff with weights in the past (strongman style training) but found it wore me down too much when added on top ov my regular trainings as well (wouldn't dare now with the smashing my lower back gets in the gym in a week). I mainly just do HIIT work with shuttle runs/sprints/x-trainer etc.

Always finish off my cardio/conditioning sessions with 6 30/30 intervals on the rower, 30 seconds flat out rowing (aiming to row 150m in 30s) rest for 30s, repeated 6 times, by the last interval im struggling to hit 140m

Mean, I'll give that a go later in the week and post back. I just started using the rower (never have before), was doing sets ov 250m sprints starting on every 90s. It's hard yakka.

We should keep this thread up for people to share their brutal HIIT challenges. The more variation the better IMO.

One I did last week: 10 burpees then run 50m, starting each set on every 90s for 12 sets. Ended up being about 45s on/45s off from memory. Had a quick rest then did 6 sets ov shuttle runs, out to the 22 and back then 50 and back, making sure my pace was 30s. Resting 60s between sets.

 

[Cliffhanger]

But would this be effective if not done straight after each other?

A jump rope session, 2 minutes with one minute rest -= 30 minutes
Running session 2 minute at 16 ks/h 1min at 10k/h = 30 minutes
Mountain climbers 1 minute 30 second rest = 15 minutes
Toyotas 1 minute / 30 second rest = 15 minutes
Core Rows 1/minute /30 second rest = 15 minutes
Explosive squats 1 minutes/30 second rest = 15 mins

I'm still experimenting with it and don't want it to lose its effectiveness.

This week I'm doing HIIT and ladders.

 

[Joker's Wild]

Have you done this yet?

If you are doing it with fair dinkum intensity then I would say its next to impossible and you'd be risking injury

If I were you, Id do them back to back but only spend 4-5min on each exercise. Im not sure how you could possibly go that hard for 2hours

 

[Cliffhanger]

Nope, yesterday and today did the jump rope, mountain climbers and core rows one. Because I'm used to do doing over 5000 skips a day the skipping HIIT training while causing me to work up a sweat didn't really exhaust me. The mountain climbers and core rows destroyed me though.

But there was a good few hours between each session, however on top of that I did my usual weights session and ladders session of military press, inverted rows, let me ins and pushups.