[sbgrace]

I'm really interested in trying HIIT. Is there a good way to learn about and do this at home?
We live rurally so no gyms or anything similar in my town. I've done a lot of googling and can't find anything helpful.

 

[frogguruami]

HIIT really is pretty basic.

Basically you choose two intervals, one shorter and one longer. Common ones are 30 sec/1 min, 1 min/2 min, 20 sec/40 sec (high intensity/low to moderate intensity) During the high intensity you go all out as hard as you can. During the low to moderate you recover from that. On a treadmill it would look something like sprint for 30 seconds, recovery jog for 1 minute. If you don't have a treadmill you can do something like jumprope for one minute and walk or jog for 2 minutes.

I do HIIT with a variety of things,

kettlebells (15/15 sec is typical if you're trying to improve Max V02 or 20/10 sec is Tabata Style and is usually a painfully short and sweet workout! LOL)

Gazelle (1 minute as fast as I can go and 2 minutes recovery pace)

Jump rope and hula hoop (1 minute jump rope, 2 minute recovery hula hooping)

If you run (I don't) then you can really make it easy on yourself and sprint from one block to the next and then recovery jog the next block, and so on.

Start with a short warm up and then try three rounds and a short cool down. It doesn't sounds like much but if you do it right then you will be wiped out! LOL As you adjust then you can add another round or two.

Have fun!!

 

[sbgrace]

Thank you! That helps a lot!
This is probably a bad question...I'm really clueless about this stuff...but could I just use aerobic exercise but make my pace as fast as I can for 1 minute, slow/recovery for 2?
I'm trying to avoid equipment (other than a timer) until I know for sure I can stick with this.

 

[lifeguard]

You can use any exercise - as long as you are going as hard as you can for the high intensity intervals. Try jumping jacks, star jumps, burpees, turkish get-ups, skipping, etc.

My trainer calls this the ultimate fat burner - lol!

 

[frogguruami]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sbgrace Thank you! That helps a lot! This is probably a bad question...I'm really clueless about this stuff...but could I just use aerobic exercise but make my pace as fast as I can for 1 minute, slow/recovery for 2? I'm trying to avoid equipment (other than a timer) until I know for sure I can stick with this.

Sure, a purist would say that exercises that are intrinsically "muscle building", like push-ups, squats, burpees, should be avoided because it isn't true HIIT.

But, I am not a purist. LOL Or maybe it is that I am not in good enough shape yet that those exercises are "muscle building" only for me! LOL I don't care for machines at all!

A jump rope might be a good place to start as far as "equipment" goes. You can get a decent jump rope for a few dollars.

 

[studentmama]

Any websites I can read more about this?

I tried running, but I found I like sprinting far better and I might actually stick with it doing it this way.

 

[Picturesque]

Quote:

Originally Posted by frogguruami Basically you choose two intervals, one shorter and one longer. Common ones are 30 sec/1 min, 1 min/2 min, 20 sec/40 sec (high intensity/low to moderate intensity) During the high intensity you go all out as hard as you can. During the low to moderate you recover from that. On a treadmill it would look something like sprint for 30 seconds, recovery jog for 1 minute. If you don't have a treadmill you can do something like jumprope for one minute and walk or jog for 2 minutes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lifeguard You can use any exercise - as long as you are going as hard as you can for the high intensity intervals. Try jumping jacks, star jumps, burpees, turkish get-ups, skipping, etc. My trainer calls this the ultimate fat burner - lol!

I just did this for the first time. OMG! I did 50 jumping jacks to warm up, then did 3 sets alternating 30 seconds of star jumps with 60 seconds of jogging in place. Finished with 50 more jumping jacks then marched in place to cool down. I cannot believe how pooped I am! Please tell me this works!!!

 

[frogguruami]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CashewMommy Please tell me this works!!!

It works well. As long as your diet is in check!

 

[accountclosed3]

yup, HIIT is great for getting lean--but your diet does have to be balanced too!

and, as the others mentioned, antthing will do. you can even just walk intervals or do stairs or any other thing you can think of.

 

[Picturesque]

I did it again last night. Whew! Talk about feeling like I'm getting the best "bang for my buck"!