Pretty dissapointed in myself

[efk]

I did my first semi-real session of HIIT this morning. Got on the eliptical and warmed up for 2 mins, then did an interval at about 175bpm (took 20 seconds for it to show that high), and kept it up for a minute. Slowed down until I was about 120 (2 mins), then had another go. Got about 30 seconds in and I was sucking too much wind to continue
that was at 7:20am, its now 9:45 and I'm still doing the little cough thing you do when you're outta shape (not very often)

This is really a great indicator of how far I've fallen, I was in shape for most of my life, its REALLY crappy to not be in shape, and be THIS out of shape :/

I know - patience, but I know what my body is capable of (or WAS capable of ). I just have to turn this around to be motivation, but damn its disappointing...

[daveo]

Dude, it's "High Intensity" for a reason

I'm gasping for breath when I'm done with each interval as well!

Since you're beginning, I'd suggest you use musclemedia.com's HIIT guide. It slowly ramps you up to HIIT, adding 1 interval every 3rd workout. (Google for 'hiit cardio' and it'll be near the top).

I'd get comfortable with 30-45 minutes @ 70-80% max HR before starting HIIT. There's nothing wrong with that, you've gotta start somewhere.

Personally, I think you'll be that much more satisifed when you look back at how far you've come. That's always how I turn bad news into motivation

[efk]

Thanks for the encouragement...
I'm probally going to start adding cardio on to my lifting days as well, I think CV fitness and fatloss are much more important to me at this stage then strength/size gains.