Choice of HIIT training: Training hard or hardly training?

Summer is coming; its time to up the training, high intensity is your poison of choice. If you are planning on doing HIIT training you are probably in one of two camps:

Just turn up and sweat until you can’t sweat no more
You are a bit lost and end up plodding along on the treadmill or bike doing a sort of high intensity but not actually monitoring your intensity at all.

If you are one of these two people, fear not. 180 Strength are here to guide you through the minefield that is HIIT training.

What is HIIT?

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) has rose in popularity in the past decade due to its relatively simple protocol, short time duration and high intensity. HIIT alternates between high intensity and low intensity and can span across all energy systems depending on your protocol. This definition is pretty broad in itself, and can mean that a lot of people end up getting confused. So lets look at how to build a HIIT program.

Building your protocol

Have a goal in mind: This is probably the one bit that people miss in there training, especially when it comes to your high intensity work. Try and progress your sessions week on week. Too many people fall into the trap of making things harder but with no purpose, or doing the same high intensity sessions for months on end. Either way you are most likely to be leaving some progress at home.
How to progress your HIIT training:
1. Work duration – You can measure this as either time or the amount of reps you do. Shorter and harder is better for power, where longer will build endurance. So if power and strength is your goal increase the load as a progression but keep the rest times longer. When endurance based try increasing the reps or time under tension.
2. Rest duration – More rest again is power based, less will help build cardio. Short rest times will mean each set will need to be less intense but overall the intensity is there. Longer rests you’d expect your working time to be super demanding.
3. Intensity – Use a scale of 1-10 for your working interval. You want the interval to be hard but also consistent to show improvement. For example if you are at a 9/10 at the end of the workout after week 1 then as you progress the sessions in difficulty you are expecting it to stay at a 8 to 9 out of 10 week on week. That way you can monitor progression. If your difficulty drops below an 8 out of 10 you need to progression more aggressively next time.
4. Volume – If you jump in at the deep end and you can’t swim you’re probably going to drown. Start with low volume (amounts of sets) in week 1 and build up over the weeks.

Example power based 4-week HIIT session

Week 1 – 6kg DB each hand*

5 strict press

5 thrusters

5 lunges each leg

20 push press

2m rest

Week 2 – 6kg DB each hand*

10 Strict press

10 thrusters

10 lunges each leg

20 push press

2m rest

Week 3 – 8kg DB each hand*

5 strict press

5 thrusters

5 lunges each leg

20 push press

2m rest

Week 4 – 8kg DB each hand*

10 strict press

10 thrusters

10 lunges each leg

20 push press

2m rest

*Weights are there to show progression and not set in stone for every individual

Example fat loss/endurance based 4-week HIIT session

Week 1

500m row

300m run

10 burpees

90sec rest

3 rounds

Week 2

500m row

300m run

10 burpees

90sec rest

5 rounds

Week 3

500m row

300m run

10 burpees

45sec rest

3 rounds

Week 4

500m row

300m run

10 burpees

45sec rest

5 rounds

Increase in rounds and decrease in rest time shows progression

Complimenting your HIIT

HIIT can be used in your training for fat loss, muscle mass gain, increased cardiovascular health, fun, a challenge blah blah blah. The list goes on. Matching your food intake with your goals and training is only going to speed up the process. If you haven’t already figured out your macronutrient needs try following the rules below as a starting point. Or get in contact with the team at 180 strength for a more in-depth insight:

Fat Loss

Maintenance = 12-14kcal per LB of bodyweight

High protein = 0.8-1g per LB of bodyweight

Take 10% off for an aggressive loss

Take 5% off for a less demanding loss

NOTE: more athletic individuals will have a higher maintenance.

Muscle Gain

Maintenance = 12-14kcal per LB of bodyweight

High protein = 0.8-1g per LB of bodyweight

Add 20% for an aggressive gain

(Chance of gaining fat mass with the muscle mass)

Add 10% for a less aggressive gain

(Less fat mass but lower rate of muscle mass increase)

Final Thoughts

There are a few instances when you may want to limit HIIT style sessions.

If you are feeling super fatigued already and tired from months of hard training, adding another HIIT session in is most likely going to be counter productive. Sometimes less is more. Make sure to listen to your body and if you are feeling a bit flat, take a deload/lighter intensity week to recover before starting your new HIIT protocol. If you haven’t got the timeline to deload then adding some steady state or low intensity cardio (LISS) is probably a more effective method.

If your main goal is increasing muscle mass use HIIT as an addition to your strength and hypertrophy training and not as your primary focus.

HIIT is perfect if you are short on time, like to work hard and have a pretty good cardiovascular base. Just make sure when you are implementing your protocol what HIIT stands for. HIGH INTENSITY. Work hard but work Smart. Get results.