Hello all! This is the first question I am posting on this forum and I hope it isn't too stupid...:o

Today was my first day of interval training; I am bulking but I plan to do interval training once a week to improve my cardiovascular conditioning. As time goes on, should I aim to increase the duration of the entire session (e.g. today was 20 mins, up to 25,30,35 etc.), the duration of the individual intervals (e.g. today was 80 sec intervals, up to 2 mins etc.), the speed of my work interval, or the speed of my rest interval to best improve my cardiovascular conditioning.

I am leaning towards increasing the duration of the whole session but I am worried that the more important point of this HIIT style training is to increase the intensity of the work period.

Sorry if this is confusing to anyone but this is the best way I could put it!

Thanks,
Josh

I plan to do interval training once a week to improve my cardiovascular conditioning. As time goes on, should I aim to increase the duration of the entire session (e.g. today was 20 mins, up to 25,30,35 etc.), the duration of the individual intervals (e.g. today was 80 sec intervals, up to 2 mins etc.), the speed of my work interval, or the speed of my rest interval to best improve my cardiovascular conditioning.

Shorten the time of the rest interval. It's a bitch, but it's effective.

Shorten the time of the rest interval. It's a bitch, but it's effective.

Thanks for the quick reply!

That actually makes a whole lot of sense, since eventually you are working towards running the whole workout at the work interval speed, which would be a huge jump in CV shape.

The only problem now is to figure out how to tell the treadmill at my gym to make the work intervals longer than the rest intervals....I can't do this without a treadmill because I never pace myself well enough.

Thanks
Josh

The only problem now is to figure out how to tell the treadmill at my gym to make the work intervals longer than the rest intervals....I can't do this without a treadmill because I never pace myself well enough.

When I do HIIT on a treadmill, I set the treadmill for 12 mph. Then I do that from a standing start until I get a quarter mile. Then, I stop the treadmill and stand around until I'm ready to go again, then I start the treadmill manually. There is a little ramp up - it doesn't hit 12 mph instantly, but that's OK.

There is no program. I don't really need one this way.

By the way, there is no reason you need a treadmill or a program to pace yourself. You can use a heart monitor. Do whatever your hard interval is, and then just stop and wait until your heart is back to where you want to go again. (I typically pick this recovery heart rate at something a bit harder than LISS - I pick a number). Then there is no "pacing". You just go all out, and then you rest until it's time to go again.

It's technically easier not to stand around during the easy interval, because you get some circulation help from moving the legs. It doesn't seem to be a big problem for me though.

Sometimes I see how many deadlifts I can do in 20 minutes; I did 10x6 last time. This comes out pretty much with the same heart rate pattern as HIIT. So I get my HIIT and my deadlifts in. No treadmill needed. This is an example of how a heart rate monitor frees you from having to do the same thing for cardio all the time.

When I do HIIT on a treadmill, I set the treadmill for 12 mph. Then I do that from a standing start until I get a quarter mile. Then, I stop the treadmill and stand around until I'm ready to go again, then I start the treadmill manually. There is a little ramp up - it doesn't hit 12 mph instantly, but that's OK.

There is no program. I don't really need one this way.

By the way, there is no reason you need a treadmill or a program to pace yourself. You can use a heart monitor. Do whatever your hard interval is, and then just stop and wait until your heart is back to where you want to go again. (I typically pick this recovery heart rate at something a bit harder than LISS - I pick a number). Then there is no "pacing". You just go all out, and then you rest until it's time to go again.

It's technically easier not to stand around during the easy interval, because you get some circulation help from moving the legs. It doesn't seem to be a big problem for me though.

Sometimes I see how many deadlifts I can do in 20 minutes; I did 10x6 last time. This comes out pretty much with the same heart rate pattern as HIIT. So I get my HIIT and my deadlifts in. No treadmill needed. This is an example of how a heart rate monitor frees you from having to do the same thing for cardio all the time.

Hmmm...this goes against everything I was taught in cross-country; we always focused on "active recovery" between sets to increase cardiovascular endurace. Is there simply no CV benefit to this? Perhaps it is all in my mind, but I always feel when I run and then stop that I am being lazy :confused:

I also may think about investing in a heart rate monitor; since you always seem to be on top of CV training do you have a recommendation? Probably one with a chest strap, no?

Thanks for any help,
Josh

Hmmm...this goes against everything I was taught in cross-country; we always focused on "active recovery" between sets to increase cardiovascular endurace. Is there simply no CV benefit to this? Perhaps it is all in my mind, but I always feel when I run and then stop that I am being lazy :confused:

I also may think about investing in a heart rate monitor; since you always seem to be on top of CV training do you have a recommendation? Probably one with a chest strap, no?

Thanks for any help,
Josh

I don't think it goes against everything you learned - it's just another flavor.

Active recovery helps process lactate. But there is only a bunch of lactate if you spend a good deal of time much above your lactate threshold. So if you have long intervals at moderate intensity (like running a mile) then yeah, you will have some lactate and just standing around will not process it as fast as some light activity.

But in the case of HIIT, the hard interval is much harder than anything you can sustain for a few minutes - more like 90 seconds is forever at high intensity. So even though the exertion generates lactate as fast as your body can, it doesn't last long enough to generate very much. And if you do a lot of endurance training, then you should have a high lactate threshold, and can clear lactate like a house on fire. In which case it's not necessary to try and get an advantage in clearing lactate by increasing the mass of muscle which is moderately active. Your heart is going to eat a lot (probably most, if not all) of the lactate, so wiggling your limbs probably doesn't make that big a difference.

I've done it both ways - active recovery and just rest, and it doesn't really make that much difference. Since I go again as soon as the heart rate gets to my chosen recovery rate, just rest means I get the next hard interval sooner than I would with the active recovery.

I did a comparison last month between the workout of deadlifting 10x6x315# in 20 minutes and HIIT on an elliptical programmed to alternate for full resistance for 2 minutes and about 40% resistance for 2 minutes, for 20 minutes. Here's the way it shakes out:

HIIT: 342 Calories in 20 minutes
Maximum heart rate: 169 bpm
Average heart rate: 147 bpm

10x6x315#: 366 Calories in 20 minutes
Maximum heart rate: 176 bpm
Average heart rate: 154 bpm

It's kind of odd what happens - in the case of the deadlifts, I pretty much have to rest completely between sets in order to get all 60 done in 20 minutes. The game there is not to try and max out the heart rate. But in the HIIT, that is the objective, but that program, even with two minutes of full resistance, is no longer enough to get me to maximum heart rate. The active rest is part of the reason why - exactly what it is good for is getting a better recovery and that is one reason that the hard intervals end up with a consistently low heart rate.

As far as heart rate monitors go, the most affordable one that does the essential things I care about is the Polar M61. I haven't used that one. I have used the F11 a lot. The F6 is quite good with the only shortcoming there is you have to get your VO2max from exercise data or a lab test.

I don't think it goes against everything you learned - it's just another flavor.

Active recovery helps process lactate. But there is only a bunch of lactate if you spend a good deal of time much above your lactate threshold. So if you have long intervals at moderate intensity (like running a mile) then yeah, you will have some lactate and just standing around will not process it as fast as some light activity.

But in the case of HIIT, the hard interval is much harder than anything you can sustain for a few minutes - more like 90 seconds is forever at high intensity. So even though the exertion generates lactate as fast as your body can, it doesn't last long enough to generate very much. And if you do a lot of endurance training, then you should have a high lactate threshold, and can clear lactate like a house on fire. In which case it's not necessary to try and get an advantage in clearing lactate by increasing the mass of muscle which is moderately active. Your heart is going to eat a lot (probably most, if not all) of the lactate, so wiggling your limbs probably doesn't make that big a difference.

I've done it both ways - active recovery and just rest, and it doesn't really make that much difference. Since I go again as soon as the heart rate gets to my chosen recovery rate, just rest means I get the next hard interval sooner than I would with the active recovery.

I did a comparison last month between the workout of deadlifting 10x6x315# in 20 minutes and HIIT on an elliptical programmed to alternate for full resistance for 2 minutes and about 40% resistance for 2 minutes, for 20 minutes. Here's the way it shakes out:

HIIT: 342 Calories in 20 minutes
Maximum heart rate: 169 bpm
Average heart rate: 147 bpm

10x6x315#: 366 Calories in 20 minutes
Maximum heart rate: 176 bpm
Average heart rate: 154 bpm

It's kind of odd what happens - in the case of the deadlifts, I pretty much have to rest completely between sets in order to get all 60 done in 20 minutes. The game there is not to try and max out the heart rate. But in the HIIT, that is the objective, but that program, even with two minutes of full resistance, is no longer enough to get me to maximum heart rate. The active rest is part of the reason why - exactly what it is good for is getting a better recovery and that is one reason that the hard intervals end up with a consistently low heart rate.

As far as heart rate monitors go, the most affordable one that does the essential things I care about is the Polar M61. I haven't used that one. I have used the F11 a lot. The F6 is quite good with the only shortcoming there is you have to get your VO2max from exercise data or a lab test.

I get it...so the active recovery sort of limits how high you can get your heart rate in the work interval? Therefore by resting completely the work interval gets that heart rate closer to max?

In which case the best HIIT may be sprinting with standing rests between...

Anyways thanks for the advice and I will look into that heart rate monitor.

-Josh