HIIT Questions

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hello!

I am currently on week 6 of the Beginner Template. For my HIIT sessions, I decided to try out the rower. However, I had some questions about doing HIIT on a rower. I know in BBM’s recent YouTube upload “Training Vlog #37”, rowing form was explained and I think I am doing it right. However:

1.) I crank the damper to 10 on the rower, but it still feels relatively easy (i.e. shy of RPE 10, maybe an RPE 8?) for my 20 second bouts of all-out effort; I mean my heart isn’t racing and I’m not left short of breath after the 20s effort. So… could I be doing this wrong?

2.) Should I maybe try out some other forms of HIIT? I was thinking maybe hopping on one of the stationary bikes could be a good option, but I am very novice in my cardiorespiratory fitness training (haven’t tried out a whole lot), so I am open to trying many different things (although I generally dislike running).

3.) What would be some preferred HIIT recommendations (if rowing is too easy to achieve the desired RPE 10 effort)? My gym has a sled and I played with that a tiny bit one day just to gauge how hard it was (never pushed a sled before); with 90lbs. added, sprinting down the fake grass area my gym has and back was very taxing (heart was racing & was def. not a sustainable effort level). I remember reading in one of the newsletters that Leah Lutz had said something along the lines of: forms of HIIT such as pushing a sled can have a negative impact on performance in main lifts. So, I figured that may not be the greatest option for me (I am not planning to get into Strongman style training anytime soon).

4.) As for resting between the RPE 10 all-out efforts, should I be sitting there doing nothing for my rest periods or just taking it real slow and easy (when doing HIIT on something like a rower machine or stationary bike)? Does it differ depending on what form of HIIT is being done?

5.) I may be overthinking things, but I was somewhat following the At-Home training template and somewhat not before I could get back in a gym. For the prescribed HIIT in those sessions, I was resting for 1 minute and 40 seconds and then doing a 20s sprint in my driveway. In the Beginner Template, am I supposed to be resting 2 full minutes between the RPE 10 efforts? Maybe it doesn’t make that much of a difference, but it was just a little detail I was curious about.

Also, congrats to Austin and Jordan on their recent deadlift and bench PRs (respectively) too!

Thank you!

2

Sean,

  1. I think your stroke rate needs to be higher and you need to pull harder. The damper at 10 doesn’t really make this possible. Try and get something like 120-150m done in 20 seconds with a stroke rate close to 40.

  2. If you want, sure. I wouldn’t limit you to one modality.

  3. Rowing, cycling, sled pushes or pulls, ski erg, etc. I don’t think Leah said exactly that, unless you do too much too soon.

  4. Yea, I would rest between efforts.

  5. I would rest the allotted time, yes :slight_smile:

2 Likes
3

I just wanted to add something actually.

So for the resting time for HITT, you should do a 20 second sprint, rest 2 minutes, then do another 20 second sprint, and so on? Also when it says say 14 minutes, does that mean 7 rounds of sprints or 6?

Thanks!

4

I think you’re referring to “sprint 20s every 2 minute for 14 min” which means sprint for 20s, rest 1 min 40s, for 7 rounds, e.g. every 2 min for 14 min = 7 rounds.

5

Follow-up question. I’ve looked on the forum and in the PDF but haven’t found an answer. For Powerbuilding 1 v 3.2, week 3, it calls for “20 minutes HIIT (20s sprint @ RPE 10, 100s rest) 1x/wk”. Does that mean individual 20 second sprints for a total of 20 minutes, with 100s rests between each sprint?