Interval training and the bodybugg
Some time ago I wrote about high intensity interval training (HIIT). One of the claims of HIIT proponents is that the intervals keep your metabolism up well after the short workout is over. Ever since I got the bodybugg, I’ve been curious to check that claim.
As it happened, my mom was in town recently, and her main exercise staple is HIIT running—one minute running, one minute walking, five times for a total of 10 minutes of exercise. My sister Leanna and I decided to join her for a workout. The workout itself was embarrassingly taxing; I’m supposed to be in decent shape, after all, with all the biking I’ve been doing. You wouldn’t know it for all the gasping and coughing, though!
When we finished up, I waited a few minutes and synced my bodybugg.  I wasn’t surprised to see that it had spiked my calorie burn rate quite nicely (up from my sedentary 1-2 calories per minute to about 8 a minute for those killer 10 minutes). But when I checked again later, I saw that my burn rate was back in my standard ho-hum range after just a couple of minutes.
Intervals are good for other things, though, and I wanted to get at least a few data samples, so Daniel and I did 30-second intervals on the road bikes one evening for 1o minutes total (in addition to the rest of the ride). This didn’t spike my calorie burn rate as much as running (I’m guessing because I at least have the muscles for this sport) but still moved it up nicely. No long term burn, though.
We did more road bike intervals the next night, and I ran the one-minute intervals with Leanna the day after that. No ongoing metabolism increase followed.
So now the question is, of course, where is the misinformation? Is the HIIT claim inaccurate, or is the bodybugg not picking up on the effect for some reason?  I honestly have no idea, and really no way of finding out.
I’m going to continue to do intervals regardless, running because I want to encourage Leanna and I figure it’s probably good cross-training in small doses, and cycling because I want to develop the ability to sprint a little more effectively. But it seems that I’ll need to motivate myself with gains in sport-specific efficiency rather than magical weight loss!
I think you need to do a little longer burn to get the effect.
Try 20 min. of your chosen cardio. Start out at a level 5 (on a scale of 1-10 of your fitness ability, like 1 would be lying on the couch). Then after each minute increase te workout intensity to 6, 7, 8, 9 and then back down to 6 . keep doing that until the last leg of the 20 minutes. On minute 19, hit your level 10. then level 20 is your cool down minute.
It’s an intense workout, but it works.
yo
Jacuqlinel 6 is correct. For HIIT’s to be most effective, you need to elevate your HR for 20 to 30 minutes. Make sure you hit it hard when getting to workout intensity 9 and 10 and conversely allow yourself to recover on level 6. If running, don’t worry about speed or distance…just the exertion level.
I really appreciate the input from both of you. I guess I’ve read too many articles like this one and need to try different things. Your specific instructions will help!
HIIT works! Also try strength training with compound exercises to continue increasing your metabolism
exercise efficiently
The metabolic increase from HIIT training is spread throughout a period of time after the workout, but it will most likely not be perceptible by the BUGG since it’s a pretty low magnitude increase. Some more recent research suggests maybe an extra 35 calories burned as a result of increased post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) due to HIIT training.
The HIIT you are talking about is not just cardio.
Look at a standard Jillian Michaels DVD workout, for example. She bases her routines on interval training, the “3-2-1″ method. 3 minutes cardio, 2 minutes strength, 1 minute abs.
And other research on HIIT suggests jumping straight from a treadmill or elliptical to things such as squats and lunges or weight lifting. Other suggestions are to include 1-2 minutes of jumping rope in between switching machines during weight lifting.
Try this method of HIIT and see if you notice a difference on the body bugg. Since typically building muscle and strength training result in increasing your metabolism after you’ve worked out and tend to result that “aftermath” of calorie burn you were referring to, I think this is what the interval training is implying, not simply cardio intervals.
You’ve gotta elevate your heart rate for longer…overall. If you want to do 1 min hi 1 min low…that’s fine, but you’ll need to make sure that your intensity is way up there…and you should be doing it for about 30 minutes (which can include a 2 min warm up and 2 min cool down as well, if you’d like).
I wear a bodybugg as well and I notice the spike most when I do higher intensity activities (intervals though) for about 35-45 minutes or more. Spin classes really do that for me. I notice an increase in the cals I’m burning per minute when being sedentary, they increase after a workout of this style. Example…I usually burn about 1.1 or 1.2 cals per minute sitting at my desk working. If I go do a spin class over my lunch hour, when I come back…the same sedentary activity (sitting, working at my desk) burns 1.4 or 1.5 cals per minute. I realize this doesn’t sound huge…but it’s an extra 12-24 calories per hour that I’m burning in the afternoon sitting at my desk. This usually works out to be an extra 50-100 calories burned overall by doing the HIIT training over steady-state 70-80% perceived exhaustion rate training. I mean…both give me more of a burn mid-day, but I find that the extra little bit of burn lasts longer with the HIIT than standard steady-state exercise. Even if you burn exactly the same # of calories DURING your steady-state training as you do while doing HIIT…by doing HIIT it works out to an extra 50-100 cals burned due to EPOC (depending on your size, your lean muscle mass, etc). If you did HIIT instead of steady-state 3x/wk for an entire year, you’d burn an extra 7,800-15,600 calories for doing “the same amount of exercise”. That’s an extra 2.25 – 4.45 lbs lost in a year…that’s awesome! Let’s also consider the huge benefits you get in your recovery time by doing HIIT over steady-state. I mean…if you can’t maintain HIIT for very long, then absolutely steady-state is more worthwhile in terms of calorie burning…but you’ll be able to go harder/longer/faster in your steady state if you incorporate some HIIT as well.
So, as JD said, the more current research suggests the extra burn is somewhere around an extra 35 cals burned…in my own bodybugg experience, it works out to usually about an extra 45…
BUT…that being said…I’ve also noticed that if I do a spin class in the morning (45 minutes), HIIT running at lunch (30 minutes), and HIIT circuit training after work…I end up raising my burn 3 different times over the day…this results in more than just an extra 45 cals each time…it results in about an extra 60 or so every time…not sure why the compiled version seems to help so much more, but it raises my burn for about an extra hour or so than it does uncompiled. So ya…HIIT is awesome.