So I tried my own modified version of HIIT today, and I have to say I actually enjoyed it! It went by a lot faster than just my traditional 30 minutes of jogging on the treadmill. I know this isn't super high speed, but it worked for me for now:

I started out with a 4 minute warm up at 4.3 and then boosted it up to 6.0 for 60 seconds. Then I went back down to 4.3 for 3-4 minutes depending on how my body felt, and then boosted it up to 6.0-6.3 for 60 seconds. I did this for 20 minutes and then went back down to 3.8 for the last 4 minutes. I

I feel very energized and might try this again on Monday. I'm surprised it did go by as quickly as it did. Probably because I was listening to my body more and watching the time for interval changes instead of just focusing mindlessly on the TV.

Fantastic job!!
I find that intervals REALLY help move the time along because you breaking it up.
Plus it's great for you. And it makes you feel awesome when you bump up the speed.

I agree, I tried intervals myself in the morning and it left me very energetic throughout the entire day! It also has that afterburn effect as well which burns additional calories after the workout is done.

I love intervals! This sounds more like intervals to me than HIIT, but it's an awful darn hard interval! From everything I've read, true HIIT is something you can't sustain more than 20-30 seconds. All Out! But like you said, it's a modified version. I only bring this up because the biggest benefit you get from HIIT is the 24-48 hour after burn where your furnace is burning higher than it normally would. It's what makes it great for burning fat.

But other than that, I think it's great. I suggest doing some research on it if it's something you really want to pursue.

I do a 20 minute HIIT 3 times a week.
0:00-1:00 warm up 3.2
1:00-2:00 3.5 mph level 6
2:00-3:00 4.0 mph level 7
3:00-4:00 4.5 mph level 8
4:00-5:00 5.0 mph level 9
repeat minutes 1-5 until
18:00-19:00 5.5 mph level 10
19:00-20:00 3.2 mph cool down

Some people use more than 1 minute to cool down. I never do though. I love walking out of the gym and to my car and still feeling the high of the treadmill. Although these days it's the elliptical. You can adjust the speed for what you feel YOUR level 10 is. My level 10 used to be 4.0 in the beginning. I've gotten up to 6.0 lately for my level 10. Then I switched to the elliptical.

It's an amazing workout and it's easy to get out of the bed to go to the gym at 5:15 because I know it's only 20 minutes!

i agree that the majority ( 99%) of what anyone on these boards claims to be HIIT is just interval training--- which is GREAT.... the majory if peopleon this borad probably SHOULDT be doing HIIT. BUt interval work is great for a callorie boster, absolutely great for improving your fitness, your VO2Max, LA Threshold, etc etc..... nut call it what it is........ i myself doent even do HIIT........ regular, hard intervals are more than enough

There are also many ways to do HIIT. If you look it up on the net there are many other options than the one I gave. I follow the HIIT routine from the Body for Life program. Just google HIIT cardio and there are a bazillion sites, although of course you have to weed out the true HIIT And HIIT of course are intervals just with the high intensity attached!

Right. It's the "high intensity" part that gets left out, I think. Everything I've read stresses "all out" and if it doesn't, I don't read about it. I put a lot of intensity into my spin class, but I can't call what I do in that class anything more than intervals. We sprint sometimes and it comes close, but of course we only do sprint intervals for about 2-3 minutes and my legs are not jello when we're finished.