HIIT Advice

[StarShine1975]

Good morning!

I'm doing HIIT twice a week and wanted to make sure I was getting the most out of it. My current regimen is:

Treadmill:

Warm-up

1 min surge 9.0mph HR 170-180 (checked right after surge)

1 min recovery 4.5mph (walking) HR 155ish (checked right before surge)

Is there an ideal HR range that I should be getting to on the recovery to get the most benefit? 155 isn't that low and I'm wondering if I should be slowing things way down on the recovery to get more in the 130-140 range.

[The Tin Man]

FWIW I don't measure heart rate, but I do go slower in recovery. I do:

5 min warm-up at 5.5mph

1 min surge at 8.0

2 min rest at 4.0 (slow jog)

1 min surge at 9.0

rest

4x1 min surge at 10.0 with same 2 min rest

cool down

The first couple surges the slow 2 minutes feels long and I get antsy but by the end I'm praising anything that will stand still long enough that I have that long to recover.

As I progress I'm adding incline instead of speed (over 10.0 gets too scary for me on the treadmill). First just to surges, then to surges and rest. So as workouts progress I started with no incline, then I'll do 1.0 incline during surges and 0.0 during rest, then 1.0 all the time, then 2.0/1.0, and so on. Still only on 1.0 all the time though because HIIT isn't in my goals and thus has been consciously neglected.

I know I didn't really answer your question but the only way I knew to respond is with what I do.

[catspaw]

I prefer to do a 1-on 2-off ratio to bring my HR down lower, but then slowly increase each "on" period.

For example, my treadmill speeds last week were:

warmup

1 min @ 9.5

2 min @ 3.5

1 min @ 9.5

2 min @ 3.5

1 min @ 10

2 min @ 3.5

1 min @ 10

2 min @ 3.5

1 min @ 10.5

[Optimus Prime]

155 isn't bad, but you're probably not reaping as much benefit from the HIIT training. I would say to increase your rest to two minutes, as Catspaw already suggested.

[StarShine1975]

Yesterday I stayed with the HRM to track it. It takes about 90 seconds to get my HR back to 140ish at 4.0 mph. It seems to take longer with each rest too. There's no way my HR will go down to the 140s at 4.5 mph. So the jury is in, I'll make the recovery 90-120 seconds.

Thanks everyone!

[StarShine1975]

I prefer to do a 1-on 2-off ratio to bring my HR down lower, but then slowly increase each "on" period.

For example, my treadmill speeds last week were:

warmup

1 min @ 9.5

2 min @ 3.5

1 min @ 9.5

2 min @ 3.5

1 min @ 10

2 min @ 3.5

1 min @ 10

2 min @ 3.5

1 min @ 10.5

Oh and Catspaw, I live in the East Bay. *wave* =)

[aj_rock]

You want HR down to 120. Maybe turn the speed down even further and increase rest.

[catspaw]

Oh and Catspaw, I live in the East Bay. *wave* =)

Neighbours! That means when I complain about how it's getting dark at 4pm and rainy, at least someone on the forums won't be like, "you live in California, shut your face."

[StarShine1975]

lmao! And it's freezing!

[m00se]

You can always just mix it up.

- Do 20 burpees or 8-count bodybuilders for time. Then rest for a minute. Then repeat a few times until you're about to die. Then stop.

- Tabata sprints, on treadmill or bike. Bonus: only takes four minutes, start to finish. Downside: you may literally die.

[crowemagnonman]

Tabata sprints. 20 seconds on, 10 off. As fast you possibly can go. Four minutes of hell, but the results are something else.