For those who follow such things, HIIT is the current best strategy ("latest fad?") for cardiovascular health. While "Aerobic" training is so ingrained in the culture (and in gym club machines) that its very dubious benefits are generally presumed to be great, in fact its benefits are exaggerated. Even Dr. Kenneth Cooper (MD) has backed off the claims he originally made when he coined the name, "Aerobics," to describe his exercise regimen of long periods of steady, high-heartrate, training.
For those who are not familiar with the terminology, "interval training" is a series of short bursts of high-intensity exertion, separated by rest periods. The high-intensity intervals MUST result in an elevated heart rate, so in my experience, they must mainly involve leg muscles. The earliest interval training, I believe, was the practice of doing "wind sprints" as training for various sports. The athletes would run, for example, a 40-yard dash, then walk back to the starting point and do another, and another, and another, until they were totally fatigued. It was known to be a great benefit to football and basketball players, but it's only fairly recently that exercise experts and cardiologists concluded that this type of training can be beneficial (heart and lung fitness) for just about everyone.
I am a 68 year old man who, after 35 years "on the road," gave up running (aerobic training) at 60 due to an unrelated injury. After doing considerable research, I latched on to a Dr. Barry Sears, who was advocating "progressive interval" training as optimal. As described below...
My personal application of HIIT (progressive intervals) is as follows. I begin my workout on a stationary bike with a short period of low-intensity pedaling (60 seconds), then raise the resistance to a moderate level and increase my pedaling speed to 100rpm for 90 seconds. Then I go back to the original low level and pedal for another 60 seconds. After this "rest" cycle, I increase the resistance to one level higher than it was for the previous interval, and pedal for another 90 seconds. And so forth. The complete HIIT workout involves 6 high-intensity cycles of 90 second bursts, and is finished in about 15 minutes, after which I am completely winded.
I monitor my heart rate at the end of each interval. FOR ME, the target heart rate after the first interval is 90bpm, and it increases after each interval. At the end it is 125-130bpm. Ideally, the recovery back down below 100 takes one minute or less. Dr. Sears suggests that if you have a good heart monitor, your heart rate will INCREASE by a beat or two during the first ten seconds after the interval, then gradually decrease for the next one.
Compare this to the Aerobic guidelines: the general rule for maximum heart rate is 80% of (220-your age), so in my case it would be 122.
Anybody else doing this, and how?
P.S. Ideally, HIIT is done by sprinting and walking, but I am unable to run due to a number of leg and foot issues.
For those who are not familiar with the terminology, "interval training" is a series of short bursts of high-intensity exertion, separated by rest periods. The high-intensity intervals MUST result in an elevated heart rate, so in my experience, they must mainly involve leg muscles. The earliest interval training, I believe, was the practice of doing "wind sprints" as training for various sports. The athletes would run, for example, a 40-yard dash, then walk back to the starting point and do another, and another, and another, until they were totally fatigued. It was known to be a great benefit to football and basketball players, but it's only fairly recently that exercise experts and cardiologists concluded that this type of training can be beneficial (heart and lung fitness) for just about everyone.
I am a 68 year old man who, after 35 years "on the road," gave up running (aerobic training) at 60 due to an unrelated injury. After doing considerable research, I latched on to a Dr. Barry Sears, who was advocating "progressive interval" training as optimal. As described below...
My personal application of HIIT (progressive intervals) is as follows. I begin my workout on a stationary bike with a short period of low-intensity pedaling (60 seconds), then raise the resistance to a moderate level and increase my pedaling speed to 100rpm for 90 seconds. Then I go back to the original low level and pedal for another 60 seconds. After this "rest" cycle, I increase the resistance to one level higher than it was for the previous interval, and pedal for another 90 seconds. And so forth. The complete HIIT workout involves 6 high-intensity cycles of 90 second bursts, and is finished in about 15 minutes, after which I am completely winded.
I monitor my heart rate at the end of each interval. FOR ME, the target heart rate after the first interval is 90bpm, and it increases after each interval. At the end it is 125-130bpm. Ideally, the recovery back down below 100 takes one minute or less. Dr. Sears suggests that if you have a good heart monitor, your heart rate will INCREASE by a beat or two during the first ten seconds after the interval, then gradually decrease for the next one.
Compare this to the Aerobic guidelines: the general rule for maximum heart rate is 80% of (220-your age), so in my case it would be 122.
Anybody else doing this, and how?
P.S. Ideally, HIIT is done by sprinting and walking, but I am unable to run due to a number of leg and foot issues.
