HIIT Cardio
 

hello, I have a question regarding cardio. I pretty much avoid long bouts of med/low intensity cardio in favour of HIIT. I was wondering if it MUST be done BFL style.. or of any type of intervals are ok. For example, there are some stairs nearby - it takes me 10 seconds to sprint to the top. That does not do THAT much for my heart rate but if I sprint up, run down, and sprint up immediately my HR is waaaay up... then I take it easy for the next 30-60 seconds and repeat the double sprint and continue this for about 15-20 min. My other routine is on a mountainside and I sprint for 20-30 seconds, walk until my HR is no longer crazy and repeat. Is there some reason that BFL cardio should be done instead of these?

My other question is, I LOVE doing these cardio sessions. I sometimes do them 2x a day. Can I do them every day and still train my legs? Should I cut my legs training to 1x week and only 2 exercises high volume or?

thanks,
Meg

HIIT is a general term
 

HIIT actually just means high intensity intervals - Bill Phillips is showing you an example of one version, but you should choose the one that works for you and that you like. Bill, in his magazine, talks about biking outdoors on nice days and it looked like 'regular' interval training. The fact that you like the intervals you are doing means that you will continue to them and that is a big plus. One of the best HIIT routines (from Japan) is quite effective, but is so brutal that people give up on it after only a short time. With your intervals, you can do things like play with the 'rest' time - work at level 10 for 70 seconds, level 6 for 50, for example then work towards 80/40, etc.

The twice-a-day part may not be good for your muscular development (more muscle burns more calories) because aerobics can end up burning some muscle, too. This is why BFL only uses 3x a week and why BodyRx uses none (but accepts 2-3 times a week).

I should have phrased my question differently, when I said if any type of intervals would do I was referring to high intensity intervals with periods of low intensity between them.

However I believe that I may not work up to the amount of it that I had initially hoped to... mainly because it is so intense that the next day if I am not painfully sore my legs are like lead. I guess if I go by how I feel the question answers itself.

Thanks for the response!
Meg