skipping/ HIIT

I was wondering if any of you have experience with skipping fpr fat loss. Cardio bores me to death, but I enjoy skipping.
How should I skip?
I tried to skip between every two sets today, for 1 minute at high intensity. Did a total of 10 minutes of skipping betwen sets.
Should I better skip after my workout, can I alternate sets and skipping. Would that count instead of regular HIIT? Should I skip longer? It seems like my spleen hurts a bit when I skip for longer than 1 minute and then I need to rest real long before my next set. I work comparatively heavy with moderate volume, not trying to grow, just maintain and get more cut up. I am at 13.3% bf at the moment, which is not bad for a girl, but I'd like to keep going lower.
Thank you:)
 
Hmmm. Gal, there's an ideal sequence for fitness activities in your workout. Sounds like you're exhausting yourself unnecessarily. Anaerobic exercise (If you can only handle skipping at the intensity you prefer for 1 minute,that's what it is) should be performed after weight training. Here is my recommended, and the generally accepted, sequence for training with some examples (If you like I can send you a more complete list,but I don't have time to type it all out at the moment:

1. Warm-up (5-10 minutes of light aerobic activity such as a slow jog, brisk walk)
2. Flexibility exercises (Stretching)
3. Torso-stabilization exercises (back presses and raises,supermans,crunches)
4. Joint-stabilization exercises (butt-ups,push ups, side-ups, rotator cuff work)
5. Core exercises (That'd be your weight training)
6. Anaerobic Trianing (Sprint/Walk or Sprint/Jog Intervals, Hill Sprints is what I do, for you this would be your intense skipping)
7. Plyometrics (I don't recommend you do these unless your in training for a martial art or a sport)

The reason for the order in which these exercises are performed as best I understand it is that a general warmup gets you going and helps to prevent injury, same with flexibility (though it's a component of fitness by itself), torso and joint-stabilization strengthen supporting muscles and also help to prevent injury, gets you going good. Then you do your muscular work (having done all that prep work makes muscular work much safer, though if you're not experienced with weight training, you'll notice a decrease in how much weight you can handle and for how long initially), and finally anaerobic training is last because it fatigues your system and would make subsequent exercises less-than-optimal. Which, actually,is the purpose of my response here. Doing anaerobic skipping like that while in the middle of working out is brutal to your system (Actually,I find that kind of impressive, being a bit of a fitness mutant myself,heh heh), and more importantly it's counter-active to your desired results. I hope I've answered some of your question.
 
That makes perfect sense. The sequence also does and is roughly how I work out on normal days. On strength days when I do only compound movements and low reps (like side press, bent press, renegade rows, swings, deadlifts, full contact twists, pull ups) I skip a bunch of the point 3 and 4 because my motivation goes to ****.
On a regular day where I want to include some more cardio, and I do circuit training I do almost exactly as your sequence above. I do some but not much plyometric exercises, mailny jumps and short jogs with carrying weight.

I do understand how skipping could be counterproductive, but what effect would that have on overall calorie expenditure and fat loss? My HR goes way through the roof when I do that, which is usually a sign of hard work, I feel similarly when I sprint/jog in the park. Should I skip only at the end and for a longer time, say 5x2 min or something like that?

thanks:)
 
Improving muscular strength and losing fat are generally two separate activities. Save the skipping for last, because you'll fatigue your body which will prevent you from getting the proper effect from your other training exercises. Depending on what kind of shape you're in,I suggest you skip for 10-20 minutes, alternating a intense skipping with a minute's walking around, or jogging in place. Skip,jog,skip,jog,etc. This should be at the end of your workout, and I don't recommend doing it more than 3-4 times a week, on alternate days. Also, Heart Rate is overrated. You can have a high heart rate and it can mean just about anything, a panick attack, you're having a diabetic reaction...you saw something you liked, whatever. Also, too high a rate is bad, depending on the activity. Normally I'd rant about the over-use of heart rate as an indicator,now, but the point is, save the skipping for teh end, and follow instructions as above. You'll feel better and see better results.

P.S.

As for the effect on calorie expenditure and weight loss:
Calories out > Calories in = Weight loss. That's all there is. When your calories are used up as nothing to do with it. In fact, skipping during your weight training probably decreases your energy expenditure for several reasons i'm too lazy to explain. Ask me and I will. Heh heh.
 
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