What type of HIIT routines do you recommend? I’ve been doing my cardio over longer periods and think I want to give this a try. I’ve read a lot about it so far, but I’m not sure where to start. I’m going to use my elliptical for this because the weather sucks now. I read about a routine where you do a 15 minute warmup to get your heart rate up, then do 5 sets of 30 seconds all out, with a 60 second slow pace to bring your heart back down, finishing up with 15 minutes cool down. Is 30 seconds enough time? What should the heart rate drop down to between bursts? One site recommended my heart rate should drop to 120 between sprints.
The first problem I see is that you are doing your intervals on an elliptical. I understand that this is probably your only option but if you ever have the opportunity, do them on a rowing machine. Secondly, you aren’t doing enough intervals. 30-second all-out efforts can stimulate cardiorespiratory adaptations but you will have to at least double the number of intervals you are doing to get any effect. Lastly, your recoveries are too long. You don’t want your heart rate to come down too much between intervals.
My suggestion is to start with 30/30. Not only will it save you time and allow you to do more intervals but it will ensure that you maintain a relatively high rate of oxygen consumption (VO2). Remember, you don’t want complete recovery when doing intervals if your goal is to improve VO2max.
{ 2 comments }
