I currently do 2 cardio sessions a week. My workout looks like this. I got this out of a men's fitness book. But it just had the workout layout. No pre or post warmup/cooldowns. I do this workout for 8 weeks(whole HST cycle.) -Warm up for 5 min on an elliptical or stairmaster whichever I'm doing that day -static stretch my lower body and neck(is this ok to do pre workout?) -Back on cardio equipment, gradual increase from level 1-8 for about 2-3 minutes -Start workout, 20 seconds about 90-95% percieved max effort on level 10(i keep the level consistent), then 40 seconds easy moving on level 1 -Repeat 10-15 times, progressing 1 more time weekly -5 minute cooldown -10-15 minute lower body and neck static stretching How is that? Any comments? Recommendations? Critiques? THANKS
Mmmh.. usually it's not recommended to stretch before training, but after. But if you've warmed up well and if you stretch lightly I guess there must be no problem however. The intervals look good. If it's really too tough at the beginning to do 10-15 minutes, you can do like 6 min, rest a bit and restart. That's what I do, and I think it helps to keep the intensity as high as possible. If you wait a couple of minutes, it flushes the lactic acid and restores some ATP. So the next bout can be more intense. What you can do also is to do some low intensity cardio after your HIIT. HIIT mobilizes the fat but doesn't burn much fat. If you don't burn the fat that has been mobilized, it gets restored. So you can do like 20 min of moderate/low intensity cardio after. Some people advise to do that - like Lyle McDonald-. Just an idea..
So, what type of warm up is appropriate? Just a general 5 minute warm up on the machine that you are using and a gradual level increase?
Personaly I warm up on the rowing machine 4-5 minutes and it's fine. I do my HIIT on the rowing machine.
