Is it bad to do HIIT everyday?

I do 10 intervals of
15 sec sprint
60 sec walk

Great thread! So cool to see the science added to fitness. (Very appealing for a geek/jock like me. )

I have been working my way back to a steady exercise regimen. In the past I was an primarily an avid runner, have also lifted/swam/various sports/etc, I knew that I needed to work myself back into a routine. The idea of going back out and running in the Florida heat/humidity right away was a very poor option. However with a pool available I had a great alternative there.

So for a month I was swimming for about 30m daily. Could not sustain that at the start but at the end was able to easily swim for the full 30m. With winter approaching and a full month of good diet and an exercise regimen I have made the move to running.

It was not a seamless transition as there were a few key muscle groups, mostly felt like those right above and below my hips, were not being utilized while swimming. That and I am dealing with, while not the summer heat of a month ago, a bit of lingering Florida heat. Overall thou I feel close to getting back to the type of running I remember.

I'm going to add HITT to my regimen and report back. Any input or critiques are welcome.

Vital stats: 37y old male, 6', about 220ish (I really need to get a scale.)

I do a modified version of hiit for now where I warm up for about 4 minutes with a light jog, then do cycles of 1 minute sprints at 6.0 or 7.0 mph followed by 2 minutes jogs of 4.0 mph. I finish it off with a 5 minutes jog to cool down.

I don't think I am ready to do the 10 sec balls out intervals...

I am planning to start HITT very soon, my usually gym routine is as follows:

40-50 Mins- Jogging 5.5mph (usually up the pace to 6mph last 15mins)
30 Mins- X Trainer resistance 25 (out of 100)
10 Mins - Bicycle (Warmdown)

This has been great for me, but my fitness levels are getting better so i need to start upping my work rate, i only started back in the gym January 12th and was so unfit it was crazy, but i am no stranger to the gym or excersice, i have ran a half marathon before and played endless amount of football (soccer) about a year ago so i think my body is just used to the activity, therefore the easier it is to get fitter quicker again.

Is it better to just add HITT running one day a week and take it from there? I dont want to go into it not knowing if im doing enough or too little.

Here's what I did yesterday - I went to the MAX speed I could

5 Min Warm-up @ 3.5 mph
20 Sec @ 9.0 mph
90 Sec @ 4.5 mph
30 Sec @ 8.5 mph
90 Sec @ 4,5 mph
30 Sec @ 9.0 mph
30 Sec @ 4.5 mph
30 Sec @ 7.5 mph
90 Sec @ 5.0 mph
30 Sec @ 9.0 mph

And so forth until 20 mins and then 5 Min Cool down.
IT felt AMAAAAAAZING!!

My legs had the good 'ache' and I thought I was going to "kind of" throw up but not too bad at all.. BUT

I had a question - In the past when I did HIIT - It was actually more of MIIT.. (fluctuating between 4.5 - 8.0). I did this for the first time and I kept waking up at night (Between 3:30 - 4:00 AM) - MAY BE these two aren't even related but I had to ask because I almost NEVER wake up in the middle of the night. I would love to have ANY kind of input on this....

THANKS!!

I know it's been a while since the post but I have to say this has cleared HIT up for me.

I have always found it hard to push myself to the 'all out effort' I think particularly if you train on your own it can be harder.

Thanks for sharing.

That's exactly what I have been doing, though I must say, at a much lower scale. I like to use sprinting. For example, I will sprint 50-100 yards and then I jog for say, 200 yards. I continue this routine until I can't take it anymore which is usually after about 3-5 miles currently. I hope that I can up my endurance level shortly.

Wow . . I've been doing this on and off for a bit, but started getting serious this week. I'm gonna have to build up speed because I'm not even close to the 10's and 15's you are all at. To be honest it seems impossible. I'm a big dude, and not just fat-wise.

Right now I'm doing -

2 minute light walk, 3 minute jog, 30 seconds at about 6.0-6.4, and then a 1 minute (sometimes 30 seconds) light walk to rest. I repeat this 8 times.

To be honest its gotten easier than it was starting off . . maybe its just time to step it up. I'll try to move up to 7.

Oh, and the 'fear of falling' on the treadmill, especially a home treadmill, is certainly a factor. Kind of annoying really.

That is the exact same that I am doing. It has helped a lot!

I have increased to 7.2 and want to gradually increase more. Also, that last cycle of sprints I go more than 1 minute.

So it's okay to feel like you want to puke, right?

lol, no i'd say you've taken it too far at that point!

I’m wondering if HIIT is ideal for a person like me. The other day, I stumbled over this forum and found this post about HIIT but not really sure how or if I should approach this kind of method.

I’m overweight and want to lose this fat. I’m 17, about 6’1” - 6’2”, and about 250 lbs. I’ve recently started using my treadmill, it’s been only three weeks, where I light jog/power walk on everyday/every other day for 20-40 minutes. I’ve regulating my diet as best as I can and I don’t eat much junk.

I’m pretty drawn into this kind of challenge but still unsure of how or if I should try this type of training. I’ll be using the treadmill if I decide to undergo this.
So should I get involved in this kind of challenge or should I try something else?

EDIT:
Well I ended up trying it out. I did a 2 min warm-up walk, then 10-15 seconds sprint and 60 seconds walks but only lasting about 11 minutes, and ending with a 10 mins cool down.
I wanted to push myself a bit more but I thought my lungs were going to burst. It felt like I was sweating more then what I normally did when I did my power walks/jogs. I don't really know if I'm doing this right or not but I'm going to continue to work on it.

Hi, Im really interested in this, I'm 167lbs and only 5'4" I do 3 sets of cardio a week (jam classes at my local Les Mills) pilates/yoga class twice a week, some added cardio on the bikes and also weights with my PT. Which i enjoy like crazy, but I'm not losing any weight.

I've never been a good jogger, It tends to make me want to die after only a short time, but I want to give Hiit a try.

What would be a good way to get into it. Something I could try without scaring me off too much! I've always been a good sprinter, short intervals have always geld well with me!

I tried it out today on a elliptical machine.
I did a 5min warmup on level 8, then pushed myself as hard as I could on 15-16(whatever level I got to, while spamming the up button) for 20-30 sec. then went back down to level 6 for 1-2minutes.
I repeated this 5 times. Then cooled down for 5mins.

sure made the time go quickly!! people kind of looked at me funny but it was kinda fun.
Now I need to work on getting more reps in, my heart rate only peaked on the last couple.
Think it estimated around 250c but for 17ish mins that's pretty good, and there are suppose to be more to come.

Not sure I liked it on the elliptical, didn't feel like I could push it as hard as when I sprint.