I've been hearing so much about HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) cardio lately so I thought I'd give it a try.

Instead of my early morning run, I jogged over to the playground by my house - that was my warm up and then proceeded to run a series of sprints for twenty minutes in the parking lot. I ran for 20 seconds, then walked for 40 seconds.

I actually did better than I thought I would, lol. I didn't start to feel really tired until the last few minutes. I sweat much more than I ever did with just running. I can see where this would blast away much more fat and also turn on the afterburn effect like crazy.

Thankfully, it was so early (5 a.m.) that there weren't many people out at all so I wasn't embarrassed running/walking the length of the parking lot, lol. I was truly able to concentrate on what I was doing which was nice. I wanted to jog home but I didn't want to overdo it so I walked at a brisk pace instead.

I'm sold on this. I'm going to replace one run a week with this HIIT cardio session and increase my sprinting and decrease my walking as progress is made - i.e. - 40 seconds sprinting, 20 seconds walking.

I'll let you know how I progress with my HIIT. Has anyone else tried HIIT and if so, how have your results been? Just wondering.

Hey. Wow! Sounds like you got HIIT sussed! I've been doing it on and off as part of sessions with my trainer, its one of his favourites, cant say I enjoy doing it BUT I am convinced it works. We started using it when I hit a plateau back in Feb/March, its really improved my fitness and helped boost my weight loss. I cant honestly say I like it but am forced to do it. Honestly though I think I like itmore than longer runs as I find they can get a bit boring! Lol!

I do find it less boring than long runs as well. The time flew - before I knew it, the twenty minutes were up, lol. I read online about some HIIT cardio sessions you can do with jumping rope so I intend to figure that all out for when the weather gets cold again. I don't have a treadmill so I have to be creative. I kept thinking I was too old (at 39) but I did alright, I think. This will definitely prevent me from hitting a plateau with my running.

You can also do HIIT indoors with burpees! It's how I lost my first 5 lbs in 2 weeks...then I switched to 30DS+running and only lost 2lbs in a month I stopped because I felt like I might end up hurting myself because I was pushing my body so hard. Now that I've been working out consistently I think I might get back into it if my plateau doesn't break in a week.

I didn't even think of burpees! I will keep that in mind, thanks. I definitely want to pursue the jumping rope though b/c cardiac disease runs in my family on my father's side so keeping my heart healthy is a concern for me. My doctor recommended it to me and I almost laughed b/c I associate that exercise with either professional athletes or kids in elementary school, lol.

Well, it's the evening now and my muscles are crying out in soreness, lol. But I feel like I did something so good for my body today. HIIT cardio is much harder than all the running I've been doing. I haven't felt this sore since I started running a few months ago. I guess my body has to get used to the new routine. I just did some Pilates and am off to soak my tired, sore muscles, lol.

I hadn't heard of HIIT really. Since I'm cycling more I just researched it and it's kinda the same idea. Push yourself at a high interval, recover and do over. I think I will be doing that on Wednesday for my next ride! Thanks for the ideas!!

Oh and I've been hearing about burpee's so I looked on Youtube. OMGoodness!! I will be trying a few of those, and by a few I'm thinking I can do MAYBE 5 right now LOL!!

bodyrock.tv

I've lost nearly 20 lbs in 2 months aided by the body weight HIIT at the above website. She's got dozens upon dozens of workouts with zero equipment and I'm a sweaty hot mess after 12-minute routines. She also has workouts with jump ropes, pull up stations, sandbags, weights... and she tells ya how to modify if you don't have that specific equipment. The community there is a great support system, too.

I've actually heard of bodyrock.tv. I'm gonna check it out. I'm interested in her jump rope routines as well. Sweaty mess, I can relate. I was sweating way more in 20 minutes of HIIT than in 30 minutes of jogging. But I feel great today, energized. Still a bit sore but I'm doing okay, I think. Thanks for the information. Congrats on the weight loss. Awesome.

I majorly screwed up, lol. I didn't eat yesterday before doing my HIIT. I heard that my body might start to burn my muscle which is NOT what I want to happen. What should I have eaten? I guess I'm used to not eating beforehand because I run which is a simple cardio session. Someone suggested foods that contain glycogen. Help? Anyone?

It won't eat muscle after 1 session, you'd have to do it frequently for that to happen. I, personally, eat something a little carby like a piece of toast, or sandwich within an hour before the workout.. and then I drink some protein within a half hour after to aid in muscle repair. My protein drink is 1/2 cup plain nonfat greek yogurt (I like Fage), 1 tbsn peanut butter, 1/2 scoop chocolate whey protein powder from Cytosport (the makers of Muscle Milk lite, which I like but the whey protein has better nutrition.. and I got a huge bag from Costco)- throw it all in the blender with enough water to loosen it all up. Super tasty!

Good to know what little muscle I have was not depleted with just one session. So you suggest to eat like a piece of toast like 60 minutes before to obviously give the body enough time to properly digest prior to HIIT. I'm going to try that. I will set my alarm clock one hour before I want to head out from now on. The protein thing I've got covered b/c I would come back and immediately eat a breakfast of egg whites with fruit or cottage cheese with a banana or something along those lines. Thanks for the heads up. I guess live and learn, lol.

I LOVE HIIT. It's my favourite form of exercise at the moment. Teh time goes by really quickly and I love the release of sprinting at 14. Much more energising than my usual 30 minute slog at 8.5! At the moment I've only been doing about 15 minutes of HIIT followed by 20 minutes of uphill jogging and I've already lost 2lbs in a week. I'm giong to up my times this week to 30 mins of HIIT and then 15 minutes of the jogging...I'll let you know how it goes!

I could do uphill HIIT but I'm afraid to try it b/c I'm 39, lol. But I do run uphill but at a slow pace. I don't want to blow out my knee or something like that. Maybe I'll give it a try when I've done the HIIT a few more times. I really, at this point in my weight loss journey, want to lean out a little more and reduce my body fat. I'm aiming for 15% but 16% would be nice too. The HIIT is supposed to really stoke your metabolism much more than slow cardio which is what I've been doing up until now. Wow, I'm really impressed with your results. Very nice. Definitely check back in with me, I'd love to see how you're doing. Thanks.

So, I checked the link out and I was amazed at some of the success stories. Everyone seems to be saying the same thing, give it a month and you'll see awesome results in your abs, legs, arms, back, etc.

This seems to be just the thing to step up my cardio portion of my fitness. I gonna give it one month and honestly assess my results. I'm so excited!!