I want to incorporate some HIIT sessions into my current plan - SSB Mid Vol 1
I never done HIIT and want to use it primarily to reduce body fat.
Is 1 HIIT session a week enough or should i do 2
45 or 60 min sessions ?
Which sessions in the plans should i be looking at for quality over quantity
Thanx for your feedback
Not knowing what your training history looks like I’d be inclined to say stick to the plan. SS workouts burn a lot of fat, but they also lay the foundation for what is to come. In SSB 2 you’ll see more hiit style workouts introduced to the plan. There will be supra-threshold intervals and some VO2 work. IIRC they are normally separated by a day of normal SS work.
+1 for considering sticking to the plan and picking up some of the higher intensity in SSB MV II. However, if I were to replace a day, it would be either the Tuesday or Thursday session (probably Tuesday) and I’d look to do short/shorts (15-30 on / 15-30 off) or consider sprint sessions like Birling. And I’d only do one of those a week in base.
I enjoy doing HIIT but it takes a LOT out of me if I’m already doing intensity on the bike and SSMV and HIIT twice-a-week would be too much.
But if you do want to do it you don’t need to do 45-60 minutes of it - 20 minutes can be plenty.
SSBMV I has already a HIIT-session, usually the Saturday-workout I’d classify as a HIIT-workout.
I think people have thinks on backwards. HIIT is everything threshold and above. Sweetspot-workouts might be excluded but I’m not really sure about that. People seem to think that HIIT-sessions are short hard sessions but that’s not really it. 4x8min, 2x20min are also HIIT if performed at or above threshold.
There is nothing magical about “High” intensity intervals “reducing” fat. That comes from discipline with the fork and choices you make at the store equally as much as burning calories.
I’s all about CICO. So, for example, if you are currently burning 2500 calories/week (on the bike) on plan X see if you can tolerate another 500/week anyway you want while reducing intake by X or maintaining current calorie intake. Adding HIIT to a MV plan if you are new to it all might have the opposite affect of what you want. Meaning, that one extra HIIT session might cause you to lower the intensity or shorten future workouts enough to negate the calories burned in the extra HIIT.
If you’re at a loose end and want an extra HIIT workout, Whitney is the one to start with. Very intense, very short, very effective and not too taxing.
Perfect - thanks for the feedback, those Whitney & Birling is what i was looking for.
I’m not using it only for losing weight as I only have about 1.5Kg to go before i get to my target. Body fat % is at 14 and would like to get it closer to 10 or 11. I understand the CICO needs to be considered as well, but its such a schlep to be counting C on everything i eat.
I also want to try HIIT to mix it up with VO2 sessions - as mine really sucks at the moment.
agree, 40-60m is A LOT, especially when you first start