What is HIIT?
HIIT, or High Intensity Interval Training is a form of cardio exercise that is proven to burn 9 TIMES more fat than regular cardio, in less time! Learn how to get started here.
A decent interval timer is an essential tool for anyone half-way serious about HIIT and interval training. In the past I have reviewed the Gymboss Interval Timer which I used for months before I was sent a new timer by Vladimir from a company called Inventico. Interval Workout Timer (model TMR03) does what you would expect it to, track intervals, but it has a few key features that make it stand out from any other timer I’ve used.
The Low Down
The Fitness Timer is a fist-sized gadget with a large digital display and an easy to use interface. It comes in 3 colors, black, gray and off-white and sells for $22.99 through the Fitness Timer website.
To operate you simply set the number of rounds, set the duration of interval one and interval two, then press start. If you wish you can also save up to 3 interval settings to use later using the MY TIME button. 3 beeps indicates the end of interval one, while 1 beep means the end of interval two. 3 sets of 3 beeps means that your workout is over! Cleverly, this gadget also flashes the interval round you are currently in during the beeps. You are given all the information you need for a perfect HIIT workout. Read the rest of this entry »
In an effort to cut down on the time it takes for me to reply to everyones questions by e-mail, I have added a forum to the site. You can view the forum here or access it using the left navigation
The forum is extremely simple to use, and should be a great place to share HIIT ideas and methods.
The forum is brand new and still being tested so some browsers may not render the style properly, if you are having problems just email me using the contact form.
Check out this great news story that was aired in my home country of Australia. It’s more evidence of the weight loss capabilities of HIIT.
Please take note of the shortness of the intervals, and how slow the active rest intervals actually are. It’s a very common mistake I am seeing lately that people are going too hard in their active rest. It is walking pace only.
After hitting a training plateau with low-intensity, long duration cardio, I started doing some research and discover hiit. The web has been a great source of information - but it is varying information regarding the length of each high intensity session and each rest session, and the intensity of the session. I’m a 25 year old female, 5′7″ and 150 pounds – size 6/8.
Since staring HIIT 2 months ago, I have undoubtedly burned fat and built a lot of muscle. I’ve tried not to pay a lot of attention to the scale as I know my muscle mass has greatly increased. I’m pretty solid, but still have some fat that I want to get rid of that’s not coming off.
This is my workout: Hiit 3 times a week - alternate days. Elliptical twice a week- 3 miles in 38 minutes - more for endurance and toning my legs. I also do some ab & arm exercises 4-5 days a week.
I’ve read conflicting reports that my hiit workout is good, and others say it’s either “too long in session duration” “too long in total duration” “not intense enough”, etc. This is what I do:
Warm up for 7 minutes, start walking 4.2 mph up to jogging 5 mph at 2% incline.
Then Hiit Session 1:
1 minute running 7 mph at 3% incline – heart rate gets up to 170-180 bpm 2 minute cooldown jogging 5 mph at 2% incline – heart rate stays around 140-150 bpm.
Hiit Session 2:
1 minute running 8 mph at 1% incline – heart rate gets to 180 bpm 2 minute cooldown jogging 5 mph at 2% incline – heart rate stays around 140-150 bpm
Hiit Session 3:
1 minute jogging 6 mph at 5% incline – heart rate gets up to 170-180 bpm 2 minute cooldown jogging 5 mph at 2% incline – heart rate stays around 140-150 bpm
I repeat these 3 sessions again, and then session 1 again – totaling 21 minutes of “hiit”
I then usually spend a ½ mile cooling down. By the time I’m done, the workout has taken me about 35 minutes and my finished heart rate is still around 135 bpm. And while I am tired, I am not to the point of feeling like I’m going to throw up, like some sites suggest.
What kind of advice can you offer me? Do I need to shorten my sessions? Although the intensity doesn’t seem real high compared to what some other people do (12 mph, etc), my heart rate is still getting up there. Thanks for your help. Your site is great!
Jaclyn
Hello Jaclyn, thanks for the question.
First of all, punching the numbers into the HIIT Calculator you can see that you should be hitting about 175bpm in your high intervals and around 125bpm in your active rest intervals. You are definitely doing well to get to 180bpm, however I think this is due to the fact that your active rest heart rate is too high but I will address that shortly. Read the rest of this entry »
I am 26 years old, 277lbs and I havent done any kind of cardio work out in probably a year.I have been on a doctor monitored died for the past three months and have been able to drop from 316 lbs to 277 lbs. I have been really focused on this diet and in life in general. I want to take this focus and apply it to other aspects of my life such as exercise. I am really interested in HIIT but from what I have read it sounds like this is only for people that are already in a fairly good physical condition. How would you suggest that I work up to HIIT and at what point would I want to go from working up to it, to doing it?In the past 3 months I have set a lot and accomplished of goals for myself both with weight loss and personal ones. I know I have the strength to push my self as far as I need to. My next step is that by mid summer I want to be around 250lbs or less and be running on a regular basis.
Thank you in advance for any help you can offer.
Eric
First of all congratulations on your weight loss so far Eric! It’s good to see you are motivated this will really help you with your HIIT and losing more weight and improving your overall health and wellbeing. Read the rest of this entry »
Hi, I have been doing (I think) HIIT for the last 3 weeks on the eliptical trainer. From what i’ve read, you need to get your heart rate into the 90% max zone. According to This, my max is 187 which means I need to get the heart rate to 169. As a beginner, I do 30 seconds fast, 90 seconds recovery. I notice that during the 30 second high intensity, my heart rate only gets to about 140 - 145, but I am pushing myself hard. I honestly feel like any faster and I will fall over.
Now, I dont increase the tension on the eliptical, I just run at a steady pace on the easiest setting, then explode as fast as possible during the 30 second interval. Do I also need to increase the tension? What is it I’m doing wrong…?
The Gymboss Interval Timer is a nifty little gadget that I have been using during my High Intensity Interval Training sessions for around 2 months - and I’ll never go back to the stop watch again. Best of all, its only $19.99. What does it do?
For my HIIT workouts I usually use interval lengths of 10/15, or 10 seconds high intensity and 15 seconds active rest.
With the Gymboss I can simply set 2 different interval times of 10 and 15 seconds and select whether I want to be notified of an interval change with a beep, vibrate or both. Read the rest of this entry »
I posted a few studies that proved HIIT is the best way to burn fat a few weeks ago.
Alwyn Cosgrove has posted a new article on his blog about a newly published study with more evidence and some really solid figures.
Trapp EG, Chisholm DJ, Freund J, Boutcher SH.
The effects of high-intensity intermittent exercise training on fat loss and fasting insulin levels of young women.
Int J Obes (Lond). 2008 Jan 15; [Epub ahead of print]
There was no difference in total energy expenditure (calories burned) during the exercise period between the two groups over the 15 week period…the steady state group saw no loss in body fat (on average - the group gained 1lb), while the interval group had a significant reduction in total body mass, fat mass (11.2%), trunk fat and fasting plasma insulin levels. Read the rest of this entry »
The Tabata Protocol is a form of HIIT done on the erg in usually with short intervals. These intervals are 20 seconds on and 10 seconds off - pretty brutal to have a rest time shorter than your HI interval! Unlike traditional HIIT though, the Tabata Protocol is VERY short (4-6 minutes). Read the rest of this entry »
What is HIIT?
The Low Down
