HIIT

HIIT or High Intensity Interval Training is a more robust form of the well-known or often used interval training.  It is also called High Intensity Intermittent Exercise (HIIE) or Sprint Interval Training (which is a bit of a misnomer).  It is an exercise strategy that uses short bursts of intense anaerobic exercise with less-intense, yet still challenging, aerobic recovery periods.

HIIT sessions can vary in time, intensity and repetition duration.  HIIT sessions may last 4-30 minutes, vary in heart rate range, and may include as little as three repetitions or as many as 30.

Structure
A HIIT session consists of an abundant full body warm up, followed by three to 15 repetitions of high intensity exercise.  These bursts of high intensity exercise are paired with medium intensity cardiovascular recovery periods.  The high intensity exercise should be completed at near maximum intensity with the recovery exercise at around 50%-65%.
The number of sets or repetitions will depend on the individual exercises, the individual doing them and/or if there are sport specific considerations with energy expenditure or sport specific related times (ex. Shift in hockey, Maximal power performance for a single or low rep movement).

History and Dr. Tabata
An early version of HIIT was named after, and based on, a study in 1996 by Professor Izumi Tabata involving Olympic Speed skaters and their work on a resisted cycle ergometer.  Professor Tabata referred to this as the IE1 Protocol.  This was later followed up with a IE2 Protocol.
The results of the IE1 Protocol were mixed as the test group and the control group (steady state) training both had gains that were not replicated by the other group.  The test group (or Tabata group) had significant anaerobic gains while the control group (Steady State Group) had a greater VO₂ max.
Detractors of this style of training are quick to point this out, while supporters are just as quick to point out that the Tabata group or IE1 Protocol group started out lower and gained more in their VO₂ max overall.

Benefits
The aerobic benefits to HIIT are as follows.  In one study, HIIT was shown to achieve similar biochemical muscle changes and similar endurance benefits in 2.5 hours of HIIT as compared to 10.5 hours of steady state endurance training.  HIIT was found to increase both the resting metabolic rate (RMR) and post exercise oxygen consumption for 24 hours post exercise and may improve VO2 max more effectively than doing traditional endurance training.
The metabolic benefits to HIIT are as follows.  In the past, it was believed that due to the metabolism of fatty acids occurring at around the 30 minute mark of cardiovascular training, athletes or individuals had to meet or exceed this value to notice any significant change in body fat totals.  HIIT has proven to be counter to this idea as it has significant levels of fatty acid metabolism.  However, this may be due to a series of contributing factors.  One being that HIIT combines anaerobic training with aerobic training, thus enlisting more body systems. Or a second, that shows that through HIIT more major and minor muscle groups are enlisted to complete the range of exercises over and above the muscles that would be recruited through a traditional cardiovascular exercise.

Practical Application
As a result of this data I have put together a series of HIIT based training programs that I will share.  The difference with this program is that I superset a series of movements in between the recovery periods to integrate a full body approach.

Here is the first.  Timing, repetition and set count can be altered based on physical ability or availability.

Skipper
            Skipping 40 rotations followed by 5 double-unders until you reach 100 rotations
            Lateral Raise (8 reps)
            Shoulder Press (8 reps)
            Hammer Curl (8 reps)

Skipping 40 rotations followed by 5 double-unders until you reach 100 rotations
Decline Push Up (10 reps)
Jump Lunge (10 reps, 5 per side)
Prison Squat (10 reps)

Skipping 40 rotations followed by 5 double-unders until you reach 100 rotations
Kettle bell swings with squat (10 reps)
Teapot Squat (10 reps)
Kettle bell shoulder swings (10 reps)

Skipping 40 rotations followed by 5 double-unders until you reach 100 rotations
Kettle bell single arm row (8 reps)
Tricep Dip (8 reps)
Kettle bell reverse fly (8 reps)

References:
• Tremblay A, Simoneau JA, Bouchard C (1994). "Impact of Exercise Intensity on Body Fatness and Skeletal

Muscle Metablism". Metabolism 43 (7): 814–818. doi: 10.1016/0026-0495(94)90259-3 (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10.

1016/ 0026-0495(94)90259-3). PMID 8028502 (http:/ / www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/ pubmed/ 8028502).

• Tabata I. et. al. (1996). "Effects of moderate-intensity endurance and high-intensity intermittent training on

anaerobic capacity and VO2max". Med Sci Sports Exerc. 28 (10): 1327–30. doi:

10.1097/00005768-199610000-00018 (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1097/ 00005768-199610000-00018). PMID

8897392 (http:/ / www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/ pubmed/ 8897392).

• Gibala MJ, Little JP, Macdonald MJ, Hawley JA (January 2012). "Physiological adaptations to low-volume,

high-intensity interval training in health and disease". J Physiol 590 (Pt 5): 1077–84. doi:

10.1113/jphysiol.2011.224725 (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1113/ jphysiol. 2011. 224725). PMID 22289907 (http:/ /

www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/ pubmed/ 22289907).

• Burgomaster KA, Howarth KR, Phillips SM, et al. (January 2008). "Similar metabolic adaptations during exercise

after low volume sprint interval and traditional endurance training in humans" (http:/ / www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/

pmc/ articles/ PMC2375551). J. Physiol. (Lond.) 586 (1): 151–60. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.2007.142109 (http:/ / dx.

doi. org/ 10. 1113/ jphysiol. 2007. 142109). PMC 2375551 (http:/ / www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/ pmc/

Note:  Please see a doctor before engaging in any kind of physical activity or training.  I take care of me, you take care of you.

When rubber hits the road (it's punny...I swear it)

It's time to bring out the big boys again and to thank Fountain Tire for being sadistic enough to not only give me access to these but then to give me 5 of them for giggles.  The looks these guys gave me loading them up was priceless.  The looks on the Deerfoot that I got were even better.

Welcome home boys, welcome home.

You had better be running.

Ever stare at a treadmill and think "Your not so tough, you're like a sidewalk for sissies."  Followed by "I'm going to kick your @ss."

Me too....awwww twinsies.   (kidding)

I hate to "run".  The slow, steady state plod towards certain death through boredom.  I am a sprinter.  Anything over 100m....I better be in the middle of getting chased by an apex predator.  Sprinting and me though go way back.

Running is the ugly step sister to sprinting.

(all you runners out there...running has it's place too...the back row with nose picker and glue eater)

Today I switched the script.  I set a series of kettlebells at the base of the treadmill (on either side of course) and jacked that bad boy to what I figured would be a good sprint pace.  If it worked out I would be running at a dead heat immediately.  If it didn't I would become intimately acquainted with the stationary bike behind me...and its current user.

Turns out that is roughly 16-17 Km/H.  Sprint for 1-2 minutes flat out followed by the following program for kettlebells:
- Lateral Raises (8-12 rm)
- Shoulder Press (8-12 rm)
- Hammer Curl (8-12 rm)
- Kettlebell Swings with squat (8-12 rm)
- Teapot Squat (8-12 rm)

Note: Cardel Place cardholders.  I know what I am doing, I am on my meds, and the little voices are telling me it's going to be alright.

As soon as that was done it was back on the tread mill for 1-2 minutes at full speed.  I (we) did that three times.

Followed that up with:
- TRX Row
- TRX Pull
- TRX Bicep Curl
Super sets with your partner doing Tricep Dips for the duration of the TRX exercises (they watch you do it and are a little cranky when you are dragging your butt).  Repeated 3x.

Then a light sprinkling of core.

The Human Machine

Often, while reaching for a goal, we stumble and sometimes we even fall.  With this in mind, I am reminded of the phrase “Fall down seven, get up eight.”

This is where I find myself.  I’m getting up.  Recently, I was fortunate (sarcasm) enough to get an “aggressive” strain of Strep Throat.  This not only put me on my butt for the better part of a week but also gave me the shakes, some slight hallucinations (I’ll admit…a little fun) and made me virtually unliveable as I was a sick, grumpy baby.

I also couldn’t train.

Not that at any point I thought to myself “Hey, I should be at the gym.”  Instead it was different variations of “So, this is what hell is like.”  “How much Nyquil is too much?” “Can I actually shake till a filling comes out?” “Will I get more ice cream if I start to sob in front of my wife?”

At some point I started to feel better and made my way back to my training and into the gym.  This is not atypical, rather, it is pretty common for all of us.  Friends, Family, Work…Life comes up and gives us a good swift kick in the gonads.

It’s how we respond to said gonad kick that shapes us and shows our character.

I’ve been lucky though.  I have a dynamite support network.  I have my foundation…my wife.  I have my motivation…my kids.  I also have purpose.  It is related to both my foundation and motivation. 

In previous posts I have spoken about where my training started and my less than altruistic goals (“I want to be hot.”).  My training though has changed and evolved.  I still want to look a certain way.  Hot is not necessarily it.  I have grays, I have scars, I have a patina of “war wounds” that have aged me and are an index to my life.  My tree rings as it were.  Instead I want to be, and look, fit and healthy.  I also want to have a body that can carry me through a lifetime of being physically active with my children.  To see them grow and enjoy all that an active lifestyle can give them.  Not to be slowed down by weight, injuries, a lack of ability or motivation.  I don’t want “can’t”.

(If I happen to elicit a “Mrrrrooowwrr” from my wife or other admirers… it’s an added bonus)

With this in mind I was able to respond to the kick and get back into my training.  Training needs to become second nature and focused towards the idea of being more “capable” in my athletic abilities.  Strength, speed, flexibility, power and stamina need to be increased, developed and maintained.

I continue to be focused by my family, my goals and my desire to be the best possible version of myself.

A capable, human machine.

How bad do you want it?

So here I am...on the treadmill ramping up my speed and feeling my calves cramp up as the little antagonist in my head screams at me give up or start to cry softly.  This is not unfamiliar territory to me.  I'm a bit of a baby when it comes to pushing myself past my comfort zone.  I am very familiar with what I am capable of and, inversely, what is too far.  However, too far is exactly where I need to go to find the success and gains that I want.  First though...I have to deal with the devil.
The little devil inside my head could take the shape of any number of things.  It could be my boss and the lack of a promotion.  The guy who cut me off and risked both our lives for one extra car length.  The teacher who told me "military or prison". The coworker who catches the breaks.  My mother in law who doubted my resolve.  Even...sorry honey...my wife who has always supported me but knows that sometimes I reach too far.  Any of these things can pop into my head and become an obstacle that knows every dark secret, every weakness, every fear.

It does everything that it can to break you and make you less than who you are.  It shows you the worst that could happen or highlights your flaws.  We all have it...this little devil...and how we deal with it defines not only who we are but the character that we are made of.

"Only through struggle can we determine character."

"Character is not learned, it is revealed."

This "strength of will" or "character" is how we should truly see ourselves and how we should truly know our value.  It is the purest form of US.  It is not for others to judge or critique.  It is not for them.  It's for us.

Family and friends shape and forge it with us, adversity and strife burnish it's lustre...but at the end of the day who we are is just that.  Who.  WE.  Are.

It's understanding that the situation or time in your life may be bigger than you are, difficult to overcome and almost insurmountable in it's scope...but still knowing that you are greater.  That you will triumph.  That when the smoke clears and all that's left is all you have...you are still there.

The little dog giving the big dog pause.

So I find myself still on the treadmill.  Lungs burning, sweat filling my vision and every fiber telling me that I'm not good enough...not strong enough.  So, I do the only thing that's left to me and everything that I am or hope to be.

I turn up the speed.

RIVALUS - COMPLX5 PreWorkout

COMPLX5 is a PreWorkout and energy recycler made by RIVALUS.  Full disclosure.  I do not respond well to stimulants and/or caffeine.  I can remember once using a preworkout where it looked like I was breaking out in hives and was vacuuming at 3:00am to kill the buzz.  COMPLX5 is a great preworkout that I have used before, during and after workouts.  I have also used it during a busy day when I needed a boost with no side effects.  I have been using COMPX5 for over a year now with no crash or side effects.  It mixes easily and has a buffer built in.  Fruit punch is great.
I have recommended this to training partners and coworkers.

COMPLX5 is a revolutionary preworkout energy recycler to immediately increase energy, muscle strength and recovery and delay the onset of fatigue during intense training and exercise. Utilizing micronized bi-carbonate, COMPLX5 assists in removing lactic acid buildup from working muscles, pushing off fatigue and improving performance. (from the RIVALUS website)

Mud Hero

The Mud Hero is a mud run event run by Canadians and for everyone.  It is challenging without being elitist and is a place for comradere with all of the mud brothers and sisters.  The people who organize it are driven to put on the best event for everyone and to keep striving for a better challenge each year.

I participated in my first Mud Hero in Kananaskis last year and had a great time.  My daughter and wife came to cheer me on and watch me participate in my first mud run.

The crowd was great and the course was even better.  A ton of fun, lots of great people on the course and the huge mud pit at the end.

I had just finished when I started asking when and where I could sign up for the next one.  A great party afterwards and a group of people with a shared experience, working to their potential and celebrating their victories.