HIIT on track or treadmill?

[ninjaa]

I got a track at my gym that is 1/16th of a mile (16 laps = 1 mile) and it goes in an oval. Its a pretty short track and when I tried doing some HIIT training on it, I realized its very difficult to sprint around the curves and had to significantly slow down, basically only getting my max speeds right out of the corners and through the straight parts.

Although I prefer running in spaces rather than the treadmill, would be the treadmill be better for HIIT purposes?

[Rval86]

I always use the treadmill if i am indoor, i cant stand running on 1/16 mile tracks, it is very hard to sprint around them because the corners are so sharp and it is rough on my ankles. When it is nice outside i always go on an outdoor track so you can sprint full speed unlike on most treadmills where you can only go 12mph. When i am on the treadmill, its difficult to do a sprint/walk because of the 12mph max, but instead i usually just do something like 12mph/8mph or do 8mph 0" incline, then do 8mph at 12" incline which gets i dont like as much as being outside, but i still get my heart rate as high as i want it to be.

[mac520]

I got a track at my gym that is 1/16th of a mile (16 laps = 1 mile) and it goes in an oval. Its a pretty short track and when I tried doing some HIIT training on it, I realized its very difficult to sprint around the curves and had to significantly slow down, basically only getting my max speeds right out of the corners and through the straight parts.

Although I prefer running in spaces rather than the treadmill, would be the treadmill be better for HIIT purposes?

The track at my gym is similar, except I think it's a 1/12th mile or something. I just sprint the straights, which gives me a good 10-15 second sprint, and then I jog the curves. Your sprints don't need to be that long. The point is that you are sprinting for at least 10-15 seconds and maintaining a high heart rate the entire time.

[x0rcist]

It takes you 10-15 seconds to sprint the straightaway on a 1/12 mile track? Make sure you're timing yourself properly, that's an awfully slow sprint.

[ninjaa]

Yeah it takes me a few seconds to sprint the straightaways on my 1/16 track.

If i sprinted the straights and jogged the curves, I'd still be sprinting more than recovering and I'd get burnt out really quickly. I doubt I'd last more than 10 minutes trying that at full speed.