High intensity training: what do you know about it?

[MillCreek]

I wonder if there is anything to this HIT. I am on the Schwinn Airdyne for 20 minutes 4-5 times per week at an average heart rate of about 130.  I wonder if I should do this HIT in addition to, or in place of, my usual cycling.  I am riding the bike not only for cardiac fitness, but to maintain my bicycling endurance during the winter months before I can start riding outside again.

http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-five-questions-mosley-20130413,0,2452558.story


Did you test any exercise programs on yourself?

I tested the claim that you can benefit from just three minutes a week of really intense exercise. When I first read that high-intensity training, or HIT, could make significant and measurable changes to my fitness, I was incredulous. But this apparently outrageous claim is supported by many years of research in a number of different countries, so I decided to give it a go.

The idea is that you get on an exercise bike and, after a minute or so of gently warming up, you pedal like crazy for about 20 seconds against high resistance. You then pedal gently for about two minutes before pedaling like crazy for another 20 seconds. After another two minutes of gentle pedaling, you do a final burst of 20 seconds. That is it for the day. You then simply repeat this three times a week.

How is HIT supposed to work, and did it work for you?

HIT uses far more of our muscle tissue than classic aerobic exercise — not just the leg muscles but also the upper body, including arms and shoulders — so that 80% of the body's muscle cells are activated, compared to 20% to 40% for walking or moderate intensity jogging or cycling.

Active exercise also seems necessary for breaking down the body's stores of glucose, deposited in your muscles as a substance called glycogen. Smash up these glycogen stores, and you create room for more glucose to be sucked out of the blood and stored.

The first thing I was interested in was the effect of HIT on my insulin sensitivity. Insulin removes sugar from the blood. It controls fat, and when it becomes ineffective, you become diabetic. My father was a diabetic and died from complications of that disease. Research from a number of centers has shown that three minutes of HIT a week improves insulin sensitivity by an average of 24%.

The second improvement I was hoping to see was in my aerobic fitness, which is an excellent predictor of future health. In both of these ways, HIT worked well for me.

[Northwoods]

I've known some Depuity Instructor Personell Special High Intensity Training.

But thats it.

[coppertales]

^^^^^^

Yeah, I have seen this training in action.....chris3

[Neemi]

when done right, HIT is fantastic. I'm out of practice at the moment, but I'm a fan of 1 minute bursts followed by 2 minutes at regular workout speed. Also used HIT when I was a competitive swimmer. I use it in as a part of the workout: the last 9-12 minutes on an elliptical or about 20 minutes when I was swimming.

If you aren't sure when/how to use it, I'd recommend talking to some kind of registered trainer. No sense getting an injury before it's nice enough to ride outside.

[dm1333]

I wonder if there is anything to this HIT. I am on the Schwinn Airdyne for 20 minutes 4-5 times per week at an average heart rate of about 130.  I wonder if I should do this HIT in addition to, or in place of, my usual cycling.  I am riding the bike not only for cardiac fitness, but to maintain my bicycling endurance during the winter months before I can start riding outside again.

Instead of running 1.5 - 3 miles a day on my run days I am working shorter sprints (100 -400) yards into my crossfit and other hiit workouts.  My run times have decreased along with the times of the people who work out with me.  I would do the hiit workouts in addition to your usual cycling.  I still walk, cycle, run and hit the upper body stuff.

[Ron]

The Body For Life aerobic workout is very similar to what is described as HIT.

[Ben]

[brimic]

I do a Tabata/HIIT workout about every other day.
20 seconds on/10 seconds off for 4 minutes, rest for 2 minutes, do it again.
For exercises I do kettlebell swings/snatches, or squat jumps to engage as many muscle groups as possible all at once.
It sounds really easy, but it feels like you are going to die in the last minute.
I always cool down with a 10 minute walk/jog afterwards.
I also notice that for a day after I do one of these workouts my heart seems to pump a lot slower.

[Ben]

It sounds really easy, but it feels like you are going to die in the last minute.

That's how I feel when I do heavy bag workouts. It's only 1-2min of punches per set, but holy hell does it wear you out.

[dm1333]

I do a Tabata/HIIT workout about every other day.
20 seconds on/10 seconds off for 4 minutes, rest for 2 minutes, do it again.
For exercises I do kettlebell swings/snatches, or squat jumps to engage as many muscle groups as possible all at once.
It sounds really easy, but it feels like you are going to die in the last minute.

I do something pretty close to this.

Start with a 400 yard sprint and do another sprint after every set of exercises.  I generally do 5 different exercises so my work out will look something like this.  When you are doing the exercises, like push ups, 20 seconds of exercise followed by 10 seconds, 8 times.  That gives you the 4 minutes of exercise.

Sprint
push ups
sprint
knees to elbows
sprint
pull ups
sprint
body weight squats
sprint
jumping jacks
sprint

Men's Health also has two different workouts, Spartacus and Spartacus 2.0, that will make you want to puke.

[MillCreek]

So this morning, for my 20 minutes on the Airdyne, every three minutes, I went at maximum effort for 30 seconds, so this interval was at 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 minutes.  I then pedaled/rowed at my normal pace until the next three minute interval.  Geez Louise, I thought I was in relatively reasonable shape before trying this.  Tomorrow morning, I am going to do this with my heart monitor on, so I get a sense of the heart rates during these intervals.

[brimic]

So this morning, for my 20 minutes on the Airdyne, every three minutes, I went at maximum effort for 30 seconds, so this interval was at 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 minutes.  I then pedaled/rowed at my normal pace until the next three minute interval.  Geez Louise, I thought I was in relatively reasonable shape before trying this.  Tomorrow morning, I am going to do this with my heart monitor on, so I get a sense of the heart rates during these intervals.

Try the 20/10 second intervals- but give 100% all-out for those 20 seconds.
The purpose is to get your hear rate to its near maximum speed for 4 minute blocks of time without vapor locking.
The weird thing, is that other than getting to the point of being able to finish a 4 minute block of time, they don't get any easier. The more efficient your heart gets, the harder you are able to work- its a viscious cycle.

[MillCreek]

So bearing in mind that I am on the bike, when you say 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off for a total of 4 minutes, does this mean that I am not pedaling at all during the 10 second intervals?

[dm1333]

Soft pedal during that 10 seconds.  Don't worry about the high pitched whistling sound, it is probably just you trying to breathe!   

[MillCreek]

So I was at my usual pedaling pace with a heart rate of about 130.  During the high-intensity intervals, it got up to about 165, which is supposed to be close to my theoretical maximum, at age 53.