Quick Q: HIIT defined?

[Corsair]

Right, high intensity cardio is the way to go for helping with fat loss. I have hardly any, but a little more definition might be a good idea. So - 20 mins, 30 minutes tops at high intensity, I understand that...

But *how* high intensity?

Is there a particular heart rate/BPM area that might give me an idea of what to shoot for?

140bpm's plus?

I tend to favour stationary cycling for cardio when not playing hockey, and I'm more than capable of getting my bpm's way up there if neccessary on the thing, so that's my first choice.

The sun and I don't get along well, so I tend to prefer indoor cardio, so running/sprinting isn't really my first choice.

Thanks all

 

[Dr. Pain]

This is a tiny bit subjective unless you know your anaerobic threshold HR, Max HR and VO2 max...

The traditional formulae don't always hit this, and testing works best......unless you are a cyclist, this is usally done on a treadmill (the test)

So that said, if you feel that you are aerobic, say in the 110-130 range..then it would take momentary bursts near 100% output, and your HR may or may not climb to 150-160 plus..this is age dependant among other things.

So 20-50 beats.....would be considered "Higher Intensity:, but a "Preceived Effort" of 95-100% for 45-60 seconds would be a better measure...as your HR will/may not top that, in that short of time!

DP

 

[Arnold]

I get up to about 85% max.

I use the simple 220 - age X 85% = x

So, if you're 20 years old, 85% would be 170 bpm.

 

[Dr. Pain]

General rule yes.....my point being that many can't use that rule..and perceived effort is a better indicator...there are better formulae for Max HR too

I for one had a Max HR of 200 when I was 35, and a threshold of 190-191 (95%), VO2 @ 73.3......so I was never able to tweak my training to the max w/o that information....I would have been seriously undertraining had I used the "general rule"

DP

 

[Arnold]

Originally posted by Dr. Pain
....I would have been seriously undertraining had I used the "general rule"

DP

yeah, but you're super-human.

 

[Corsair]

right...so 85% of max HR is a good one to shoot for?

I'm not looking for a totally precise number, but I'm 21, and in quite good shape...personally I'd say anything over 150 or 160 bpm's is working it pretty hard...

 

[Arnold]

If you're talking HIT than yeah 80-90% is good.