Posted: 7/28/2010 3:44:43 AM EDT
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Where to start?
I've traditionally been an LSD guy (long slow distance) ...mostly running. Time is at a premium, can't workout 2-3 hours a day as much as I'd like to. |
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Are you jsut trying to lose weight or actually get into good physical shape/
HIIT is great for loosing and burning fat. It is not a good overall workout though. Crossfit is great but if time is an issue then it may not be for you unless you do the WOD's by yourself. |
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Quoted:
Are you jsut trying to lose weight or actually get into good physical shape/ HIIT is great for loosing and burning fat. It is not a good overall workout though. Crossfit is great but if time is an issue then it may not be for you unless you do the WOD's by yourself. IIT can be amazing overall workouts, its all iin how you do it. HIIT is High Intensity Interval Training so your going to see a spike in metabolic needs, and also strength needs as long as the workout is structured correctly. OP what are you looking at for available time? |
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Thanks guys.
I typically have no more than one our to get it done. Just lolligagging around the track a few times ain't doing it no more. My body has built up a tolerance it seems, to increased mileage (I'm an ex marathoner). Weight control is the intial goal, obviously that ties into longer term health. |
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Crossfit... It works!
If you are looking for a specific effect on short to medium term endurance, then workouts like the tabatas, "Fight Gone Bad", and the "Filthy Fifty" are up your alley. However, the weight lifting in Crossfit will give you additional benefits and help everywhere else, including in the LSD department. |
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Be careful in your choice of workouts, I've seen a lot of my friends get hurt doing crazy crap. Lot's of neck / back / shoulder injuries as well as serious ab strains.
HIIT has it's place, but I don't think it's the "perfect" workout for long term, extened usage. |
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Quoted: Be careful in your choice of workouts, I've seen a lot of my friends get hurt doing crazy crap. Lot's of neck / back / shoulder injuries as well as serious ab strains. HIIT has it's place, but I don't think it's the "perfect" workout for long term, extened usage. Agree and disagree- yes, you have to be careful or injury is likely. IMO HIIT is perfectly sustainable as the workouts are quick and beneficial which allows people to see progress quickly and stay motivated rather than get burned out. If DONE RIGHT it's more sustainable than many other methods, if done wrong it can lead to injury and/or burnout (just like any other program). |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Be careful in your choice of workouts, I've seen a lot of my friends get hurt doing crazy crap. Lot's of neck / back / shoulder injuries as well as serious ab strains. HIIT has it's place, but I don't think it's the "perfect" workout for long term, extened usage. Agree and disagree- yes, you have to be careful or injury is likely. IMO HIIT is perfectly sustainable as the workouts are quick and beneficial which allows people to see progress quickly and stay motivated rather than get burned out. If DONE RIGHT it's more sustainable than many other methods, if done wrong it can lead to injury and/or burnout (just like any other program). FORM FORM FORM, this is the leading cause to issues with HIIT. There are too many guys that have HORRID form in the gym but go it enough to see minor results, then all of a sudden go hey I can do that just as much as that guy can. They go do a HIIT workout and because of their form they screw themselves. Also progression is key, adjusting workouts to your abilities and then working up to the full workout is key. You are going to see lots of the injuries, the same I am seeing more and more injuries from barefoot running. People think they can do everything with just a video or a google search. Its not possible 80% of people out there need some sort of instruction and then form correction. As for it being sustainable it is far more sustainable than most like roland said. You are looking at relatively low impact exercises (compared to an hour long run) and a high cardio need and adaptation by the body. and not to repeat again but the fast results and ease of adaptability make this and awesome choice for long term health. Just go to some of the classes and watch the 50 year old guy next you kick your ass, and then give you a hard time about it. 
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I like Tabata drills. I'll just pick any random exercise in which I can workout with intensity and set an interval timer … Last week I did an 'Undulating Ropes' workout Tabata style and that was a TON of fun … 4 minutes and I had a shirt drenched with sweat. I do a lot of very simple sprint sessions as well. I like to do these barefoot on grass down at the local athletic fields.
Another new thing I tried this past week was a slightly longer HIIT structure than Tabata, and did intervals of 1 minute at INTENSE alternating with 1 minute of slow paced recovery on the Jacob's Ladder at my gym. Did this for 6 cycles for a total of 12 minutes. I've literally never seen so much sweat running off of my body. According to the machine I climbed the equivalent of a little over 1000 feet in that time. 
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Quoted:
yup, i've been running tabata intervals on the track ... was wondering if there was anything else in the toolbox. Here's a great HIIT Drill that I do a lot that's all simple bodyweight exercises … If you go all in on the intensity and don't cheat yourself, if you can bang 3 full cycles out that's a helluva workout. HIIT Bodyweight Routine Youtube is great for finding tons of different short routines. Lots of good, free instruction out there. |
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youtube vid
I've been mixing this in with my workouts for a couple months now. 
Has given me great gains in my 1.5 mile run. |