HIIT

Does anyone know of any good intermediate HIIT cycles which are good for building up cardio rather than just being fat loss looking to improve my fitness



any advice is appreciated

I began training around four years ago when I was at my all time heaviest (18stone/252lb) and I began with light resistance training (didn't really know what I was doing back then and had nobody to show me) and interval training.

All I did was warm up with a brisk walk for a couple of minutes, then proceed to jogging for two minutes straight, then I'd run for 30 seconds. I could just about manage that but after a few weeks of repeating that process for 30-40minutes at a time, I found myself running for 2 minutes then sprinting for 1 minute. If it's stamina you want to increase, that kind of aerobic cardio is great, you'll even shed a good few lbs if your diet is on point too.



Personally, over the past couple of years I've gotten into weight training/resistance training/bodybuilding (whatever you wanna call it) and have adopted the attitude that lifting weights is the best form of cardio. It's low impact and so beneficial to your health and overall wellbeing in my opinion. I have a fairly physical job and used to be absolutely shattered by the end of the day, yet since I've been training seriously, my job is a piece of cake and I have more ham enough energy to hit the gym for a couple of hours even after a long, hard day. My stamina is crazy, I'm stronger than I've ever been, my skin is clean and clear and I feel awesome most of the time! And I'm not even half way to the level of fitness I want to achieve yet ðªð¼



If you're just starting out, realistically the type of interval training you'll be doing won't be high intensity, hence "HI", although it'll probably feel like it is ;) but it will be soon enough and you'll notice your progress and it'll feel awesome! Also, don't take too long rests. Test your body, keep it guessing, don't do the same thing for too long and do what makes you happy! There's nothing worse than feeling like you've gotta do something that bores you, so if you don't like running, try swimming, lifting weights, cycling, freakin trampolining, whatever! If I'm not in the mood to hit the gym I sometimes go play badminton or squash and go cycling or even walk the dog but throw in some uphill sprinting/box jumping up steps, where nobody can see me obviously haha



I wanna know how you get in with whatever you choose to do, so keep us updated :D

I did the opposite to you as i started with resistance training and ive been doing that for 1 1/2 years and i agree a heavy back/legs is great cardio but its still fairly short bursts, i think this will allow me to keep up with beginner HIIT workouts so i can start to work my way up to being fit without having to run or swim which to me are just monotonous whereas HIIT seems fun and can be switched up to keep your body guessing and i dont really have a social group of people who play sports like badminton otherwise that would be great.

At the moment though i get worn out if i try to run a mile which has meant cardio really is something that needs working on as at this stage in my life a run like that shouldnt feel like my lungs are on fire

I will be trying tabata as suggested in the 1st comment and possibly the sprint thing ( if i dont feel to ashamed of myself haha ) ill let you know how i find them

Go to Arnold's 1%...if you want cardio(he posts a lot on reddit about fitness too), but don't want to loose mass then cycling in sprint intervals are the best...or anything that gives your leg full range of motion.

http://www.schwarzenegger.com/fitness/post/your-body-is-all-you-need-the-worlds-oldest-training-method-and-a-1-workout