Makes sense I suppose to train the parasympathetic nervous system as well as the sympathetic. Steady state cardio is one of our guilty pleasures as runners. I try to include at least one HIIT during the week but recently I’ve been guilty of avoiding HIIT coz it hurts too much. I do know for sure that when I do a period of HIIT my 5k time reduces. So I better get back to it if I want to,live longer 😳😩.
What do you do for HIIT? I do 6x400 metres flat out and walk till my pulse drops below 120 (usually 2 minutes) in between.
Good post from you BrianUK, sub 30, let alone your time of 22.28 is a dream for many of us here on C25K, HIIT is all good and well for 'gazelles' very fast runners but for most like me I'll just settle down to a sort of average for a 5K of around 35 minutes.
Thanks AlMorr . Sorry if the point of my post got lost with me talking about my times. I’ll edit that bit out as all I really wanted to say is how important HIIT is for general health (side effect being faster).
No no Brian, you should be very proud of your times, excellent.
One of the things I like about this forum is than no runner goes around boasting whatsoever about their running times, but of course, all runners like to tell us about their amazing achievements PB etc and that is very much appreciated.
😂 I guess we’re not dissimilar to fishermen in that regard. It was “this” big! 😂 But yes, I’ve always hesitated before posting any times on here right from the early days unless it was a PB, which is always worth shouting about. I was merely using myself as a yardstick to indicate the relevance of a HIIT routine to reducing overall timings. No matter what your current PB might be it would seem that HIIT will help reduce it, if that is your thing.
I've done 4 reps of minutes flat out with 3 minute walks in between each. I haven't done it often as 1) it hurts and 2) I really needed to build my aerobic base first.
Hi BrianUK, So good to have the benefits of HIIT explained in terms of heart health. I'm still recovering from my poorly hamstring, so have not been doing any high intensity exercise at all. I am now wondering whetherI can think up a high intensity exercise that doesn't use my hamstring! I'd love to read about your 5k times, but sadly I have only read your post after you edited it. 😔 Thank you again for posting this video, I really appreciate it. All the very best for your onward running and healthy heart journey. 😊🏃🏻
Thank you o61. I do hope your hamstring injury heals soon. I wonder whether HIIT can be done using some other method that doesn’t involve the hamstring. Got to be worth a Google!
I'm looking forward to some faster interval runs again. I tend to avoid them all winter (too cold, icy and slippery where I love) and am just finishing up a HM training plan but plan to work them into my next plan. Thanks for the reminder!
Hi BrianUK, the closest I get is the JogRunSprint app. But while I was in a fun run last evening I witnessed what interval training really looks like as two men were running towards me at an incredible speed. I guess the trainer thought our run was over. They certainly went for it.
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