New HIIT Research: A Practical Model For High Intensity Interval Training

How intense were these workouts?

Hi Tom,
I used to do a boatload of steady state high intensity cardio, or "H.I.S.S", as you affectionately call it. I got great results because I REALLY pushed myself. I would wear a heart rate monitor and would average in the low to mid 170s, and sometimes even low 180s. Obviously I was burning a plethora of calories, but eventually I incurred overuse injuries (plantar fasciitis).

Most of my cardio at that time was restricted to running on the treadmill, and sometimes outdoors. I was doing the same thing over and over, and my waist was shrinking, seemingly by the day, but it became onerous. I started to dread my workouts, even though they were effective.

Once I began incorporating H.I.I.T. into my fitness repertoire, my results were magnified, and most importantly, I was enjoying myself in the process. I would alternate work intervals of 60 second sprints on the treadmill, at between 10 and 11 mph, and recovery intervals of walking at 4 mph.

It was arduous, to say the least, but it taxed my central nervous system like no other. I got the idea from Rusty Moore, who advocates 20-30 minutes of H.I.I.T., followed by 20-30 minutes of steady state, if one is so inclined.

That is what I'm doing nowadays. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I will do H.I.I.T, for 30 minutes, followed by a bout of steady state for the same period of time. Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, I do 45-60 minutes of H.I.S.S.

I've also included mountain biking, and jump roping, to my arsenal. Between utilizing the two modalities of cardio, coupled with new activities, my results have been outstanding, and my cardio routine has been sustainable.

I know if I keep going, my midsection will eventually resemble thaf of the great fitness model, Greg Plitt. His body is absolute perfection IMO, although yours isn't too shabby either LOL.

Thanks for all you do! Your website is a veritable treasure trove of useful information.

Andrew heres what the paper said on intensity:

"60 second effort of high intensity cycling at a workload that corresponded to the peak power achieved at the end of the ramp VO2peak test (355 +/_ 10W. These intervals were interspersed by 75 seconds of cycling at a low intensity (30W) for recovery."

Thats pushing very hard for a minute (but not 100%), then backing off to a very slow pace for 75 seconds X 8-12 repeats.

Hi Tom,
Thanks for always keeping us up to date on the latest info.
You are indeed a treasure to those of us that continue to need education.
You're like a "Fat-Burning" Encyclopedia!
Keep up the great research...we appreciate it!!

Well, this is good news for me. I am a 61 year old female who has been working out at some level since I started swimming competitively at 13. You name it, most likely I've done it -- or some variation of it. For about two years now I have been doing something similar on the ergometer (which I love) but 30/60 or 60/120 - 2/3x week. The high intensity bursts are fun and tough. However, what I have learned over the years is change is good. It keeps the body challenged, the mind engaged,fights boredom and reduces the chance of injury. My current new 3 month core program is kettlebell centered -- but I also do some kickboxing, smoke sessions (Iron and burn with the kbs), spin, a 10,000 steady row once a week, swim and yoga or pilates. Stick to the core principles and mix it up every once in awhile. And good nutrition. Stay focused while working and enjoy it.

Great post!

To answer the intensity question: elite athletes can maintain this power output (100% of VO2 peak) for about 7:00. Fit adults would for about 4:00.

I look forward to seeing this modality (100% VO2 peak) compared with all out intervals in the same study (all out intervals are usually 250% VO2 peak). This should tell us whether pushing ourselves so much is worth it in the end.

Good job Tom.

CJ

This recent research is definitely great news and has been something that Angie and I have sworn by for the past 7 years. As much as the main stream 'experts' were trying to tell us that it had to be all out during the working phase we found that activities such as skipping, jumping jacks, and knee up worked just as well. We also combined them with higher intensity exercises such as burpees, jump squats, and sprints.

I absolutely love variety. We can get a load of variety from H.I.I.T. as well as long duration cardio. For me, it's all about fun and pushing myself to become better while enjoying and appreciating my surroundings.

I sure appreciate all the work that you do in an effort to provide us with the most honest and up to date fat loss research out there. I know for certain that it's no easy task.

Thanks a million Tom!

This sounds like a pretty cool workout. I am still working on getting down my weight. I've never been 'thin' a day in my life. First of all as a kid I learned all the WRONG eating 'skills'. Plus I have a condition which makes it take longer for my muscles to heal and I'm always anemic. I have gotten bruises from doing just about any kind of exercise...weights, rowing, running etc.

I used to just give up because I got tired of being tired and sore all the time. But then I learned a few things. I decided that before anything else I had to do whatever to get myself consistently to the gym. The only time I don't go is if I have a bleeding issue. Then I do a brisk walk instead or yoga at home.

I have been consistently going to the gym for 6 months. I'm at the point I know I will feel better after I leave the gym. I love the point I break out in a sweat...and love even more when its dripping off me! I'm at 170lbs at 5'7 med/large build. Maybe it sounds bad but at my worst I was 240lb and miserable.

and SOOO....this seems really cool because I find cardio kind of tough because it's hard for me to stay focused! this type of training will also keep my mind more focused on exercising. But being the geek at the gym I am....can anyone explain more clearly how you do this. I understand constant load...but what are you really doing in recovery intervals? The things I like to do the most are rowing and swimming (freestyle and breaststroke). Any advice and info would be greatly appreciated!!

As I've progressed through my workouts, I notice that it takes me longer to get to a cardio heartrate, and if I stop for some reason, my HR is dropping off faster than it used to. I just wonder what I'd have to do to make HIIT effective for me.

Fantastic article Tom. The first thing that comes to mind is the added benefit to a specific population that this is appropriate for, and also to support the continued point you make about "there is no time" excuse, which is of course nonsense.

As as personal trainer, I know the benefits of HIIT, and also steady state for lower intensity exercise for those that can only manage this type of training. I have many clients who need something in the "middle" and this is it!

Love the evidence based research too mate, keep it coming.

Regards, Clayton
Adelaide Personal Trainers

Love the concept and effectiveness of HITT but for me it isn't an option. I wanted to add to that past injuries etc are also a reason why HITT would not work for all people. I know I am one more injury away from a complete ankle reconstruction and am not supposed to run unless its life threatening.

I think it is important in our industry to put the truth out there that there is no set standard for cardio - it is what is good for the person and as long as they do something for cardio then that is a working option. There is just too much out there pushing that HITT is the only option for fat loss and it is very frustrating to have so many "frustrated" people who can't or do not want to do HITT - it shouldn't make them feel that they aren't putting their best efforts forward.

Great presentation of the real facts Tom.

Bear with me there is a question coming. . .I am using various workouts which I think of as high intensity interval weight training to burn fat pretty much in lieu of cardio. (e.g. 5 squats, 20 plank rows, 20 lunges, rest 60 sec repeat 6x/ or 50 sec of hang cleans 10 sec rest, 50 sec burpees, 50sec squat press up, rest 60 sec repeat 5x)

I increase the weight or tempo, or decrease the rest interval to try to increase the "intensity" as much as possible. Aside from just liking to feel like an animal, the reason i try to get the intensity high as I can stand is that I believe more intense workouts burn more calories because of the phenomenon of Excess Post Exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) (more than because of the extra calories you burn during the exercise itself.) I got this notion from an exercise book, which didn't cite any study.

Is this a myth or have you heard of this too? Does focusing on it make sense as a calorie burning strategy? Just curious if you know or have an opinion. Thanks for all the excellent information.

Eric, the high intensity training DOES increase post exercise calorie expenditure (EPOC), but not as much as many people think. The idea that you burn more calories after the workout is totally false, which is why we need to focus primarily on burning sufficient calories DURING the workout if fat loss is the primary goal. The "afterburn" effect is a nice and potentially significant added bonus, but total calorie expenditure should be the primary goal

This is an intersting study on the subject of EPOC:

Effects of exercise intensity and duration on the excess
post-exercise oxygen consumption, Laforgia et al, Journal of Sports Sciences 24:12, 1247-1264. 2006:

Quote:

"the earlier research optimism regarding an important role for the EPOC in weight loss is generally unfounded."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17101527

Thanks for posting- this makes a lot of sense: a happy median that's easier to stick to and less chance of stress injuries. I'll let you know in two weeks how it works...

This is great to hear as I moving into the older age bracket :)
I had a heart bypass about ten years ago which does not limit me in any way but at the same time I am mindful of what my body tells me.

My HITT exercise days are jogging or walking at a fast steady pace up a very steep grassy hill and then walking down. It is a steep hill, one that almost makes you have to run down. I just keep on going, up, down , up , down I will do that for about 20 min and then do some fast walking on a flat surface or some jogging/walking or slow walking if I am tired.

It isn't scientific but it works for me and I am encouraged my your post as I always thought I needed to get to the puke stage to have done a good job.

Thanks Tom.

Tom,

While part of the benefit of this type of work is time efficiency, if time is available, would it be beneficial to tack on 15-20 minutes of low intensity work (lower end for longer interval sessions and higher end for shorter interval sessions)? In a way this would just tack onto the cool down, but it seems like it would be maxing out the benefit of the low intensity work.

Of course added NEAT at any time will likely yield essentially the same overall results, but for fat burning, post interval training would seem like a very good time to tack on a small it of LISS work.

As a sports/fitness coach in New Zealand working with rugby and touch rugby players I can tell you that the guys I coach absolutely dread doing Tabatas. We have another high intensity exercise we use called Hennie Mullers which is just as brutal.

And therein lies a major disadvantage with high intensity stuff - its brutal nature can lead to mental fatigue. And that's why I intersperse ultra-short intervals with some longer intervals and also circuit training.

The sort of protocol described in the research is one way to add some variety, maintain fitness levels, and be less intense on the mind and body.

Thanks for pointing it out Tom.

Cheers

Ben

Hi Tom,
Thanks for the post. This is exactly what I've been doing since last summer! Except that my recovery intervals are only 60 seconds. After 10 intervals I continue until I've reached a total time of 35 minutes. I do this on my old Nordictrack ski machine. I find it very effective as well as more challenging & less boring than plain old LISS. It also saves a bit of time. Glad to know scientific research says I'm doing something right. LOL
Debbie :)

Hey Tom!
Thanks for the research update. I love interval training and mixing things up and it is VERY nice to know there is research coming out that states 'all out' bursts are not necessary for acheiving desired results. Appreciate you "Keeping It Real" and sharing!

Amy

I'm encouraged by this research, but noticed in the paper that the subjects were young (21), fit, men. I'm wondering how the benefits will translate to us older, more out of shape folks.
I'm definitely planning on trying it though. I'll set up my own case study of one!

Hello Tom,

I want to incorporate this kind of HIIT on my Tuesdays, Thrusdays and Saturdays mornings before I leave to work.

I already do light cardio on empty stomach on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Recumbent Stationary Bike.

My question:
Can I do this HIIT in the morning on empty stomach ?
If not, could you please provide some food intake advice before it ?

Thank you!