HIIT or miss?

After my post last week on Body for Life workouts, I got a comment about whether my workouts are shorter:

Overall, I am in the gym more days of the week, but I spend less time in the gym per session.  Before BFL, I used to spend at least 50 minutes in the gym, because anything less felt like an incomplete workout.  Heck less than a year ago, I trained to run (and finally did) 16km on the treadmill.  However over the last 5 weeks that I’ve been following BFL, I can be in out of the gym within 35 minutes and still feel like I gave it my all.

Despite my initial doubts about only doing 20 minutes of cardio 3 times a week, I am convinced it works because of the High Intensity Training (HIIT) employed in BFL:

HIIT training raises your metabolism to a high level, and keeps it there long after the workout is over.  Unlike longer, steady-state sessions of cardio, the effects of HIIT are most apparent after the workout: during the following 24 hours, your body expends more energy recovering, thus increasing your resting metabolic rate and overall calorie burn.

The specific kind of HIIT used in the program is known as the High Point Technique, and can be performed on any kind of cardio machine (I stick with the treadmill or arc trainer).  It involves 4 repeated sets of high and low intensity intervals, and follows a specific structure based on RPE (rate of perceived exertion).  Over the 20 minutes you repeatedly take yourself to a point where you are breathing very hard, and then reduce the intensity to recover before repeating the process.  Minutes 18-19 is referred to as your high point, where you max out.  Here is a sample way to complete the HIIT workout on the treadmill:

Speeds will vary according to fitness levels

While we each have our own ‘high point’ (a.k.a. a level 10), a true high point is one where’s there’s no question whether you could have given a single ounce more of energy.  Although I have no desire to continue the HIIT workouts for even a minute over 20, I normally follow the sessions up with a 10-15 minutes cool-down of moderate-intensity cardio.

The BFL technique of HIIT is probably the most challenging cardio I’ve done, but it’s also the most satisfying.  Each of the 20-minute cardio sessions are hard work but if it means sleeping a bit extra in the morning, and then feeling both sensational and accomplished after I’ve finished the workout, they are definitely a “hit”!

48 thoughts on “HIIT or miss?”

  1. Love the pic. The little girl reminds me of you when you were younger and the pretty young runner sure looks like you now. Great post!!!

  2. I love this post! I use to think I had to be in the gym for over an hour to be productive, but then I realized if I gave it my all for 30 minutes every day then it was just as beneficial. And can I say that the picture gets me every time I see it!! So true, and so me! I feel like I’m an Olympian when I run but I know I look like that little girl!! Thanks so much for the info

  3. This makes complete sense. You know where I struggle is, as someone trying to increase my endurance and a runner who’s goal this year is to run a full marathon I am always doing cardio – and “wasted miles” so to speak. I also want to get strong and increase my muscle mass but I don’t really know how to do both?!!?!? so complicated. Maybe after I complete a marathon I’ll just focus on having cardio as interval work for my heart only.

  4. This was SO informative girl! I used to do HIIIT waaaaaay too much a few years ago and it wreaked havoc on my body. I don’t think I ever gave myself adequate rest ya know? That being said, I sure do love it every once in awhile though, it’s the best sweat maker EVA!! 😀

  5. Thanks for sharing the sample plan! This may be a dumb question but…do you have any tricks for getting used to adjusting the treadmill speeds so often? Like do you bring a printout of your plan, or do you have it committed to memory?

    I think I’d have a hard time remembering all that (and not falling off the treadmill as I tried to read / adjust / keep running at the same time!

    1. Not a dumb question at all! Initially I had it saved on my iTouch so I could glance on it during my run! Now the speeds are somewhat down to memory but I change the speeds up according to the day (i.e. reduce it if I’m not feeling it or increase it if I’m blasted with energy on a particular morning!)

    1. To some extent yes but spin classes are more along the lines of interval training in the notion that it’s not steady state, i.e. hill climbs, seated flats, sprints, standing hills etc. However HIIT training is full blown out 95% of your max HR effort followed by brief recovery, repeated for a few more times…technically you shouldn’t physically be able to do more than 25 minutes of HIIT if your maxing out. Hope that makes sense!

  6. I did few intervals last week, just like the chart you posted above.
    YEAH, I got worked!! I was thinking that “if this 25 minutes didn’t feel like enough exercise, I’ll just run extra 20 minutes or mild running….” yeah. didn’t do that. More like couldn’t do it.
    When you really give all you have during the “high intensity” run, you are exhausted after the whole set!
    I love the photo you posted in the end, because that’s how I feel too when I’m running! 😉

  7. I am really loving HIIT workouts and tabata-style stuff lately. I don’t have 2 hours to spend in the gym and I like that these can work up a good sweat in no time!

    That last pic is soooo me. 🙂

  8. I LOVE HIIT 😀 It’s pretty awesome to get a killer workout in anything from 10-30 minutes! It was actually the main reason why Ioved the BFL plan so much when I did it last year, cardio DONE in no time! That way I focused more on the weights part 😀

    Hahah and yep – that pic is me to a tee. Coz then I trip and fall and it’s not pretty at all.

  9. HAHA ok at first I didn’t read the chart properly and I thought it was in miles per hour and I was like “Woah, Khushboo, you BEAST!” Haha! 😛

    I like to do one run per week that incorporates HIIT. But I never really follow a plan. I want to try yours next time!

  10. this sounds so intense.. it’s good you go everyday for a shorter duration. btw.. i’m back in the US.. and i was so sad leaving india. i’m going to do a non-biased post on my experience. in terms of safety, what have you heard? mumbai is safer or delhi? I’ve heard mumbai is safer.

    1. I have heard that Mumbai is much safer than Delhi! I don’t know how true this is but apparently it’s unsafe for girls to take cabs alone in Delhi? I can take cabs here even at 8/9pm without worrying about my safety. Looking forward to reading your post!

  11. I don’t do much HIIT on the treadmill – but my track workouts are kinda like HIIT! I do it on the elliptical to cross train though and it kills!

  12. Pingback: Body For Life: The Eats « Khushboo's Blog

  13. Pingback: Wednesday Waffle « Khushboo's Blog

  14. Pingback: To eat or not to eat? « Khushboo's Blog

  15. Pingback: Body For Life: Final Recap « Khushboo's Blog

  16. Pingback: The need for speed « Khushboo's Blog

  17. Pingback: Staying active in London « Khushboo's Blog

  18. Pingback: A golden run | Khushboo's Blog

  19. Pingback: This post discusses sandbells workouts

Leave a Reply to Hansa Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *