I just tried High Intensity Interval Training for the first time today, HELPPP!!!!!!!

[Davey32]

Hello,

My name is David. I'm 19 years old, 5 foot 9 inches, and I weigh 155 lbs. I've been trying to burn the layer of fat on my belly to show off my abs. I have a body fat percentage of about 18%.

I got off school about 3 weeks ago, and until today I had been running for about an hour each day and got about 4-5 miles (6.4-8 km), I'd burn somewhere between 600-900 calories when I did that. I would run all of that on my treadmill at home.

Today I decided to try HIIT for the first time, I warmed up for a few minutes then I put the treadmill on its highest speed of 10 miles/h (16 km/h) and sprinted for about 50 seconds, then I'd put it back down on 3 miles/h (4.8 km/h) and lightly jog for about 2 minutes and then sprint again.

I did a total of 5 reps before I got the most painful stitch in my left side, and figured that would be a good time to stop. In total it took me about 20 mins and burned only 330 calories.

Is this really more effective in losing my belly even though I'm only losing a third of the calories I used to lose?

Also does anyone have any information or tips on how I can make my workout more effective, am I running fast enough, and are my intervals the correct length?

Any other information to help a first timer would also be greatly appreciated, the goal is to trim my waist and show off my abs.

Thank you,



David Bassily

 

[Adumb]

You definitely have the speed right, whatever gets your heart rate going. For intervals I do 1 minute high intensity then back to low. It's almost a sprint. I would say that it is good to mix in HIIT with your regular cardio. Say if you do cardio 5 days a week, do HIIT 2 of those days and regular cardio on other days. Also, I would highly recommend strength training and a decent diet if you're trying to lose body fat. You really need all 3. By lifting, you not only burn a lot of calories, but by also being more muscular you will naturally burn more calories regardless of what activity you're doing. I would also recommend circuit training as well. This is a lot like HIIT, but it sucks really bad, lol. Depending on your desired intensity it really takes a lot out of you and it is recommended to not strength train for the rest of the day when you do a substantial amount of circuit training. By doing so, you create an oxygen deficit which will make your workout less effective.

If all you do is low intensity, you will eventually plateau. By integrating HIIT like that, you are giving yourself a way to break through those plateaus.

Good luck!