• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

High intensity interval training.

Jamesuk9

Well-Known Member
Messages
504
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Just looking for some advice on the next stage in my fitness regimen.

I have gone as far as I can with weight loss and walking and am now looking for the next stage in my fitness program.

I have read that HIIT can be exceptionally effective for glucose metabolism but don't know where to start with regards to what kind of excercises to do and what duration I should be aiming for.

I've currently been walking around 25-30 miles a week at pace and have seen noticeable improvement in my level of stamina and now feel I need to go to the next level as I feel I've gained as much as I can from walking.

I'm now at 10.5 stone, BMI 20.8 and 15% body fat and don't want to lose any more weight so am trying to eat more and have managed to hold my weight steady for 3 weeks.

I'd really like to now work on glucose metabolism directly through HIIT and am looking for advice on what I need to be doing to take it to the next level.

I know there must be people here who have used HIIT as I've seen it mentioned a few times.

Any advice on exercises would be greatly appreciated, but please bare in mind I'm 52 and whilst I'm fitter than I've been in many years now, I'm not looking to run marathons as I just don't have that kind of stamina or time.

I'm also very self conscious so don't want to be joining gyms either.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
 
I would say marathons are the exact opposite of HIIT anyway so don't worry about that..There are lots of videos on youtube of home HIIT workouts.. have you looked there?
 
bulkbiker said:
I would say marathons are the exact opposite of HIIT anyway so don't worry about that..There are lots of videos on youtube of home HIIT workouts.. have you looked there?
Click to expand...
No, I haven't, but I will. Good call thanks.

I'm particularly interested in hearing what success people here have achieved and how they did it.
 
Hi @Jamesuk9 . The internet is probably your best place to start.
HIIT can be carried with just about any exercise regime, weights, cycling, walking, running any form of exercise really.
The idea is for example.......... cycling. You would look to exercise for a set period of time let's say 10 mins. At this point you have various options but ultimately you want to cycle at a rate that increases your heart rate for let's say 30 secs after 30secs you would pedal at a much slower rate and catch your breath for another 30 secs. You would repeat this 10 times. This is something that can be adjusted to suit, 40 secs work 20 secs rest, 1 min work 30 sec rest the options are endless.
You say you don't want to lose weight so one option maybe to do a complex workout ( internet ) this can be done at home with some very light dumbells 6 sq feet and a stopwatch. This type of workout will tone muscles and improve flexibility and is easy going for us people of an age ( I'm 53 ).
Hope this helps and if you have anymore questions just ask and I'm sure someone will be happy to help.
 
When I was doing HIIT all I used that needed to be bought were some light weights.
I did squats, lunges, planking, running up and down stairs and push-ups. All with various intensities and durations. I found three times a week more then enough.

There are many regimens on the internet.
 
Thanks for the input, I have dumbells and a treadmill... Some great ideas for me to start with.
 
Jamesuk9 said:
Thanks for the input, I have dumbells and a treadmill... Some great ideas for me to start with.
Click to expand...
I use a treadmill for HiiT
A few minutes warming up, then set incline to max, and speed to 9.5MPH (yes its old!!) and run for as long as I possibly can, started at 20 secs, now 30. cut the speed to 3 mph and incline to zero and recover. Repeat.
I am 58 with a BMI of 22.5 and little legs
 
I used a tread mill as well. It's nice to mix it up. Here it gets pretty snowy and cold in the winter but in the summer I would run up a hill near here. For me it was key not to get bored with whatever I did.
My favourite was planking.
It was so cool to see how every week I could hold it just a bit longer. I used it to measure my endurance and strength.
 
When i do HIIT i use a stationary bike.

2 minutes of warm-up and then i start my 15 minutes of HIIT. The cycles are 1 minute on the lowest setting leisure cycling at around 20 watts and then 30 seconds cycling at a high setting between 350-450 watts (the first couple of cycles will be towards 450 watts but by the end it'll be around 350 watts).

I do notice a difference the next few days, my average tends to be slightly lower. Directly after i might tend to peak a bit but the next couple of days (the next two seem to be directly affected for me) i'm fairly stable and on the lower side. I also do 30 minutes of moderate intensity on the stationary bike and that seems to have about the same effect.

Keep in mind that i'm only 30 and my heart rate goes to around +180 bpm. You do have to feel comfortable at that range, if not i'd advice against it.
 
Did HIIT have any effect on glucose levels?
 
Jamesuk9 said:
Did HIIT have any effect on glucose levels?
Click to expand...
Yes - upwards! Your muscles are demanding energy, and the liver obliges, our problem of course is a lack of a regulator. I still believe the upside is the increased insulin sensitivity, and the spikes are lower a year in than at the start. Of course the law of diminishing returns applies, so as you get fitter the more repetitions you need to do - or increase the length of time per cycle
 



I have lost 26 kilos so far with a LCHF diet and walking. I hit a plateua for nearly three months,where my boyd shpae changed bu my weight didn't. I am now looking to step that up.

The NhS website runs a program called couch to 5K

http://www.nhs.uk/LiveWell/c25k/Pages/couch-to-5k.aspx

the idea is that you intersperse short periods of jogging within your walk and gradually build up the times. I'm in week 3 so far, my weight loss seems to have resumed . I found the very first one tough going,but its getting a lot easier.
might be worth a go ?
 
Jamesuk9 said:
Did HIIT have any effect on glucose levels?
Click to expand...

The direct effect is a small spike, untreated it does tend to go down again. The longer effects are stable glucose levels for 2-3 days and a decrease of about 10-20 mg/dl overall.

You can find loads of articles about HIIT on scholar.google about HIIT and diabetes (both type 1 and type 2) and the great results they've had on insulin sensitivity and blood glucose levels. There was one fairly recent and comprehensive article about different types of HIIT but the general consensus was that almost all were effective. I do think they went for a peak of 80% of VO2 max on all high intensity cycles and that a minimum of 10 minutes was needed for decent results.

Worth reading:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2640399/
http://spectrum.diabetesjournals.org/content/28/1/39
 
I tested after my HiiT workout this afternoon, just for interest - 7.2 - I was still blowing at that point

Edit: And now 2 hours later 4.1
 
Last edited:
The best way to lower insuline resistance permanentely is to get ALL muscles fit . So overall fitness and weight training will be good Then the more in the moment lowering is interval exercise and like endurance training
 
I did some strength training today using bodyweight from a beginner program I found on YouTube.

20 squats and 20 lunges and 20 pushups and several hours later my thighs and shoulders are feeling it.

All good, has to be a positive thing, think I need a recovery day tomorrow.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…