My 1st attempt at H.I.I.T. cardio, Critiques?

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teknotexan

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OK, so a rode my bicycle to the track today, kept it mellow. Est. dist = 2 miles. First off, I warmed up with some dips (3x10) and pull ups (3x6), and then some hanging leg raises (3x10). By then my grip was gone!

On the track, I sprinted for 30 seconds, then walked back.
It was hard, so I could only go 8 rounds of that! My time between sprints was around 1.5-2 minutes, basically enough time to catch my breath but not let my heart rate slow down too much.

Am I waiting too long between sprints? Should I do more?

Thisis all so new to me b/c I love to jog for hours on end, hence my fast twitch muscles aren't used to this. Any critiques would be appreciated!
 
Don't take this the wrong way, but...

Why the hell to people do resistance exercise to warm-up for cardio and cardio to warm-up for resitance? That's totally backward.

The HIIT sounds fine. As you get better, do 30/60, then 30/30 and increase the number of intervals to 20.
 
No problem. I can't do my dips, pull ups, and leg rasies at home. And it was beautiful California day too, so I rode my bike to the track. I'll eventually cut off my cardio from my resistance training. It just seems so natural to me to get my blood pumping before cardio. But you seem to be the expert.

Anyways, back to your answer: So what my goal should be is sprint for 30 seconds, then rest for 20. Repeat? How many intervals? I've never done cardio like that, so it was intense.
 
Cynic said:
Don't take this the wrong way, but...

Why the hell to people do resistance exercise to warm-up for cardio and cardio to warm-up for resitance? That's totally backward.

The HIIT sounds fine. As you get better, do 30/60, then 30/30 and increase the number of intervals to 20.
Click to expand...


hahah. i agree, its the other way around...

he's a newbie :) can't blame him hah
 
teknotexan said:
No problem. I can't do my dips, pull ups, and leg rasies at home. And it was beautiful California day too, so I rode my bike to the track. I'll eventually cut off my cardio from my resistance training. It just seems so natural to me to get my blood pumping before cardio. But you seem to be the expert.
Click to expand...

Here's how I do it, adapted from the advice of a CSCS:

Five reps at 60% of working weight.
Three reps at 75% of working weight
Three resp at 90% of working weight

You don't want to fatigue the muscles you're going to use, but you do want to increase weight each time so the muscles, tendons, cartilage, joints and connective tissues are prepped for the lift.

Anyways, back to your answer: So what my goal should be is sprint for 30 seconds, then rest for 20. Repeat? How many intervals? I've never done cardio like that, so it was intense.
Click to expand...

Half and half, once you get conditioned, up to 20 intervals, 2-3x/wk.
 
Here's how I do it, adapted from the advice of a CSCS:

Five reps at 60% of working weight.
Three reps at 75% of working weight
Three resp at 90% of working weight


Cynic, could you give me an example of how these numbers transalte into actual lbs per set?

And how can variate the percentages if my weight is fixed per set (i.e. my legs or body in leg raises or pull ups or dips)?? Thanks!

And with your advice on cardio vs resistance training, can I find that in the N.R.O.L.?

Sorry I'm so full of questions but it is true I am a noob.
 
Say at a 180lbs squat:

180x0.6 = 108lbs
180x0.75 = 135
180x0.9 = 162

So, 5x110, 3x135, 3x160 (round to the nearest 5lbs).

For fixed, two possibilities: for dips/pull-ups, if you have an assist machine, use it. Figure your body weight to be about 90% of the whole when on a dip or pull-up.

Or use bands.

The other is simply do the 5x, 3x, 3x using body weight.

The cardio gets mentioned, but Lou isn't a cardio person, neither am I, but I will still try to get out and do it sometime soon.
 
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Thanks! So the 180 squat, that would be my max single rep weight, then I work from there? I have never tried to find my max weight on anything, too scared to hurt myself. I used to work out at tyhe same gym Anthony Clark and his power lifting buddies did, and I saw one get hurt really bad one day. Kinda traumatized me since then in relation to max weight efforts.
 
No, no. 180lbs would be your working weight. I work with 3x15x110 right now, but my 1RM is undetermined.

My warmup for the exercise is: 5x65, 3x85, 3x100.
 
if you can get yiour resting heart rate...wait until you have recovered about 90% (however you work that out, maybe add 10% to resting heart rate and wait til then???) of that before sprinting again...the idea of sprints is to make them max efforts so you need rest to keep the intensity up
 
I am taking in all of this!
Thanks guys!

So, should I invest into a heart rate monitor?
And if so, what brand should I buy?
 
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