Comments on: Interval training and the bodybugg

By: Amanda

Amanda — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:13:10 +0000

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.

By: Lauren

Lauren — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:23:23 +0000

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.

By: JD

JD — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 03:43:21 +0000

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.

By: J

Sun, 15 Jul 2007 15:02:44 +0000

HIIT works! Also try strength training with compound exercises to continue increasing your metabolism exercise efficiently

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 16:54:31 +0000

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!

By: Pete

Pete — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 16:47:40 +0000

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.

By: Jacquelinel 6

Jacquelinel 6 — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 18:52:22 +0000

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.