hiit

[guitarpro1992]

hey i was just wondering if your body can get use to hiit like other exercises. I like my hiit exercise and how i feel when im done. i do 5 min warm up and 5 min cool down with 8 intervals in between. 30 seconds at 10 mph and then 1 min 10 seconds at 3.5 mph. all of this is at a 2% incline. since its epoc and not the actual exercise, will my body get use to it and not burn that many calories? ive been doing this routine 3 days per week for about 2-3 months

 

[Lizabell1]

it would make sense to me that your body is capable of adapting to whatever "routine" you throw at it.

Like with other forms of exercise, you'll probably have to add either time and/or intensity to your HIIT session in order to keep seeing results.

Do you do other forms of exercise ie. cardio on opposite days or on the same day? Weight training?

 

[guitarpro1992]

yes i do weight training 3 times per week and also do other forms of steady cardio like the eliptical plus i have a job that keeps me quite active.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for hiit treadmill routines? im ready to shake it up because my body has deffinatly gotten use to this one

 

[Steve]

hey i was just wondering if your body can get use to hiit like other exercises.

Your body doesn't "know" what exercise you're doing. It simply knows a stress is being placed upon it and it adapts to said stress, assuming it's above and beyond what it's accustomed to.

So sure, if your HIIT isn't above a certain threshold, you'll stop seeing improved fitness.

That said, don't get this confused with the idea many seem to have where you'll get so efficient at doing a specific mode of exercise that it will no longer burn calories. It still burns a nice chunk of calories.

It's just that, if you're not progressing, you're cardiorespiratory system, etc. will stop adapting.

I like my hiit exercise and how i feel when im done. i do 5 min warm up and 5 min cool down with 8 intervals in between. 30 seconds at 10 mph and then 1 min 10 seconds at 3.5 mph. all of this is at a 2% incline.

True HIIT, in reality, is impossible to plateau in terms of intensity b/c the high intensity intervals are meant to be done at max effort. If you're conditioning is always improving, you're max effort is always increasing.

If you're always doing these same exact parameters, yes, your body is going to accommodate to that level and volume of stress. But again, it'll still contribute to caloric expenditure.

since its epoc and not the actual exercise,

I'm not at all sure what you're trying to say here. I can almost promise you though that you're misunderstanding epoc. EPOC from HIIT (or any exercise for that matter) isn't great at all. It's waaayyyyy in the backseat compared to the energy expended *during* exercise.

will my body get use to it and not burn that many calories?

See above.

 

[Big D]

the body has a nasty habit of saving energy, that's just eons of evolution you have to contend with. Where you may not have become more efficient in the sense you're thinking of, your body will start to hold back because it knows this routine.. mentally you'll do it if you're on your own. Its an instinct to always leave "something in the tank" if its not a dire emergency. Few people really know how to really override that inborn aspect.

Or, if you have actually challenged yourself, your limits may have gotten further, but you're still exercising at the same old level, so yes, their perceived effect is lessening.