starting HIIT on stationary bike

[ryoaska1]

Lost about 50 lbs (6' tall, went from 245 to 195) recently with a mix of diet, weight trining and, 'normal' cardio. I think part of that time I probably just wasn't eating enough though, cuz even though I look much better my body composition is still poor, I think my bf% is in the high 20's.

Right now I'd like to focus more on targeting body fat and maintaining muscle (as opposed to just losing weight as fast as I can) with a goal of getting my bf% under 15%. I'd like to start an HIIT routine on my stationary bike, and I'm just looking for some suggestions. To start out I was thinking something like:

4-6 min warm up low intensity
30 sec high
1 min low
repeat x6
4-6 min cool down

then gradually increase the number of repetitions (or maybe move to 1min/2min cycles) as I improve. Any thoughts on this? One other main question I had is, when doing high intensity should I up the resistance level on the bike as well, or keep it the same and just pedal faster/harder? Does this matter or is it just about where your heart rate is during that time?

[NeedANick]

Lost about 50 lbs (6' tall, went from 245 to 195) recently with a mix of diet, weight trining and, 'normal' cardio. I think part of that time I probably just wasn't eating enough though, cuz even though I look much better my body composition is still poor, I think my bf% is in the high 20's.

Right now I'd like to focus more on targeting body fat and maintaining muscle (as opposed to just losing weight as fast as I can) with a goal of getting my bf% under 15%. I'd like to start an HIIT routine on my stationary bike, and I'm just looking for some suggestions. To start out I was thinking something like:

4-6 min warm up low intensity
30 sec high
1 min low
repeat x6
4-6 min cool down

then gradually increase the number of repetitions (or maybe move to 1min/2min cycles) as I improve. Any thoughts on this? One other main question I had is, when doing high intensity should I up the resistance level on the bike as well, or keep it the same and just pedal faster/harder? Does this matter or is it just about where your heart rate is during that time?

My understanding of HIIT is that you don't try to do it for a minute. Do it for 15~30seg, use all your energy. If you really use ALL you got you won't be able to do it any longer than that, anyway.

Also, you just pedal faster. You can increase intensity for more intense exercise overall, but not when you start going faster.

[samsmiffy]

I keep it simple and just do 3 min warm up, then after 3 mins i start with one min jog, 30 second sprint and repeat until ive done 15 minutes of HIIT. Its insanely tough

[bigollie2006]

Whenever I do HIIT on a stationary bike I start at level 7 and warm up and it is also my rest level. When I go into the intense part I move to level 14, then back to 7, repeat. I think the key is to be pushing yourself with this every time you do it to do more. When I first began I could only do about 5 rounds before I was spent, you just have to push through that mental barrier where you don't think you can any more and progress will come

[ryoaska1]

cool, thanks for the advice everyone. I guess i'll stick with what I got and experiment with the resistance levels for a good starting point.

[ryoaska1]

Just finished my first session... holy S***!

That was about perfect for me I think...perfect as in I made it through but just barely and thought I was going to die afterwards

I'm thinking about alternating days of doing this with days of doing ~20min steady 'target zone' cardio + lifting to maintain muscle. Does this sound like a good overall routine (again my goal is optimizing to cut BF%), or is the extra cardio on lifting days overkill?

[KingOfLimbs]

I think your reps and warmup for HIIT are great. The best ratio from what I have read on here is 36s medium intensity and 24s all out. I cant do that but I have made my way to 45s - 24s. I would recommend treadmill or stair climber over bike though. Including warmup my HIIT season lasts about 12 minutes.