HIIT is fantastic and I've used it for about a year now. However, I do it to build up stamina and endurance. It really does wear you out though, especially wind sprints.
On the days I don't weight train I'll do five miles. I walk the first mile, run the second, walk the third, run the forth, and walk the fifth. On the days I do weight train, I will immedeately follow the session with a one mile wind sprint. I also do HIIT with shadow boxing.
For anyone who isn't sure, a wind sprint is where one sprints for 20-30 seconds, jogs for 20-30 seconds and repeats the two. It is extremely exhuasting.
The great thing about HIIT is that you not only preserve muscle, increase your endurance and build explosive strength, you continue to burn calories
long after you've finished.
As for progress through using it, I've never seen better results all around from any other cardiovascular excercise. Its really strengthened my ankles too which is a good thing for me since I've rolled them so many times.
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Originally Posted by Sultana
Could you post a link and/or and article describing HIIT training
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Men's Health article
Getting Up to Speed
They say that slow and steady wins the race. But the cardiovascular key to fat burning is using interval workouts - workouts that alternate high-intensity levels with lower-intensity effort. As I mentioned earlier, that formula keeps your body burning calories long after you've stopped working out.
Interval workouts mimic sports - start-and-stop motions with periods of sprinting or close-to-sprinting speeds followed by light jogging or rest. You can use interval workouts any way you want - running, cycling, swimming, on elliptical trainers, even walking if you alternate a speed walk and slow walk.
You can also vary the intensity levels in different combinations. To start, here are three options for setting your workout. (If you use exercise machines, don't choose the interval workout; choose the manual one, and create your own intensities by adjusting it yourself. It'll give you greater control over the speeds and will help you burn fat faster.) You'll derive benefits in as little as a 20-minute interval workout. As you build up endurance and strength, you can add time to your workout.
Interval Variation I: Standard
The following is a typical interval workout. You alternate the same period of low intensity with the same period of higher intensity.
3 - 5 minutes warmup (light jog, low intensity, gradually increasing at the end of the warmup period)
1 minute moderate or high intensity followed by 1 minute low intensity (repeat 6 - 8 times)
3 - 5 minutes cooldown (light jog, low intensity, gradually decreasing by the end of the cooldown period)
Interval Variation II: Pyramid
This pyramid structure allows you to start with short bursts of speed, and then you'll peak at the longest surge of energy in the middle of your workout before coming back down.
3 - 5 minutes warmup
30 seconds high intensity, 1 minute low intensity
45 seconds high intensity, 1 minute low intensity
60 seconds high intensity, 1 minute low intensity
90 seconds high intensity, 1 minute low intensity
60 seconds high intensity, 1 minute low intensity
45 seconds high intensity, 1 minute low intensity
30 seconds high intensity
3-5 minutes cooldown
Interval Variation III: Sports Conditioning
Sports are unpredictable. This interval simulates some of that unpredictability by having you doing different times and different intensities. You can mix and match the orders and repetitions as much as you want. Rest longer after the periods in which you use the most energy.
3 - 5 minutes warmup
2 minutes moderate or high intensity followed by 2 minutes low intensity (repeat once
30 seconds high intensity followed by 30 seconds low intensity (repeat four times)
60-yard sprints (or 10 seconds if not running) followed by 90 seconds rest (repeat 6 - 10 times)
3 - 5 minutes cooldown
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