Why I abandoned jogging for HIIT

I received questions after my last post about HIIT and its advantages over steady-state cardio.  So, before moving on to the second installment in my "Our Healthy Transformation" series, I thought I'd take the time to go into a little more detail about why High Intensity Interval Training is right for me (and may well be for you too).

I am not generating any new knowledge on the subject.  I recommend anyone interested (or skeptical) do their own reading.  The paper that changed my thinking on the subject, Sprint Interval Training - it's a HIIT!, written by Dr. Mark J. Smith, and posted on www.strengthcoach.com is a great place to start.  But find your own sources you trust.

As I have learned already in my journey for "definitive" answers to the questions of health, fitness, and nutrition - there are strong advocates in all sorts of camps, citing all sorts of studies.  As soon as you Google HIIT for yourself, you'll find just as many articles condemning it as promoting it.  I have chosen to respect the findings of those who have demonstrated the best results, backed by the best scientific foundation.

I'm in training for life.

Let's take some basic definitions:

"CARDIO" - having to do with the heart and circulatory system.

AEROBIC - consuming oxygen

ANAEROBIC - not consuming oxygen, relying on stored glycogen in the muscle

TRAINING - preparation to improve performance toward a specific objective

I want to get strong, lean, and be better able to tackle the challenges that life throws at me.  My heart is fine.  I'm not training it to work better.  I'm also not practicing to get better at efficient oxygen consumption.  In my 41 years, I have yet to be put in a life situation that required me to move away from or toward anything far away at a steady, moderate pace for 20-30 minutes.  Nor, have I been forced to do 57 crunches in under 2 minutes to save my life (thanks military PT test for THAT survival skill). I'm training for life.

Aerobic cardio, by definition, does not involve producing significant power from your muscles.  Sprinting all-out for up to a minute forces your muscles to produce explosive force anaerobically.  This produces muscle adaptation that makes you stronger and faster.  It also induces the recovery mechanisms that are such a strong factor in your overall metabolism.

You can't phone it in.

When you are doing interval sprints, you have to be there.  You have to watch your timing, plan your next set - be engaged with your workout.  I've done a lot of steady-state jogging.  It's daydream central. If you're looking for zen and jogging is how you get it - by all means, carry on.  But when you kick the treadmill up to 12.5mph, your entire body and mind are completely engaged in a single purpose - hauling butt and not falling off that bad boy.  

I'm on the clock.

Like many of us, I have to integrate my workout time into a fairly busy day.  As you improve in steady-state, you have to go longer and longer to get the same effects of a less efficient runner.  With HIIT, I spend 20 minutes on the treadmill, 2 days a week, and I am DONE!  I mean "take the elevator" done.  In that time, I currently cover just over 2.5 miles total distance and, according to the (woefully inaccurate) built-in calorie counter, burn around 250 calories.  That's just plain efficient.

I'm keeping score.

One of the great joys of HIIT for me is crossing a new threshold.  The first time I hit 11.0mph for a sprint I thought, "Oh, Lord, what did I just do?".  Now that's my cool-down run.  Steady state running, by definition, involves conserving energy to make it through.  It is immensely satisfying to be able to put it all on the table - 100% of what you can give - and see yourself hit a new personal best.  It's no different than lifting weights in that way.  You have a performance goal that is so much more powerful than "getting in my 20-30 minutes of cardio."

So there's my case. If this, combined with the white paper above, doesn't get you thinking, then HIIT just isn't for you. But I think everyone should at least give it a try and work it in to their cardio occasionally.