Hiit Workout

[Elish]

I've noticed that when I (can and) do sun salutations, or Hatha yoga; I feel loads better! I was told by my cardiologist, to loose some weight (as I have sleep apnea as well, this was just recently discovered). I have never had weight issues before, but I started out gentle and slow. I find it works, but there again, I need to loose lbs. I am looking into HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), and was wondering if anyone has done this, and their results.

[yogini]

I can't do cardio due to POTS. Yoga has been great for me, but it is not as effective for weightloss.

[sjprice23]

I have worked myself up in cardio for the last 6 months and have been able to do some HIIT routines. I started with just regular cardio, mostly on a treadmill (the only exercise equipment I had access to at the time...recumbant bike is so much better and I have one now finally!). Then I discovered two FREE FULL LENGTH exercise websites that I was able to do a lot of the LOW IMPACT cardio workouts (look for videos with no jumping type exercises or you will die!):

FitnessBlender.com

and

JessicaSmithTV.com

After about 4/5 months of doing regular cardio for 4-6 days/week, I started adding in high intensity intervals on the treadmill (you can do this on the recumbant bike too obviously). Up the speed until you feel like your're heart rate is working at 80-85% for 20 second to 1-3 minute intervals (time interval depends on how you are feeling and what intensity/speed you put into it; i.e. the higher the intensity/the harder you work, the less time you're going to be able to hold on with good form).

Lately I've been incorporating some of the shorter HIIT routines that the 2 websites above have, but I have to modify the exercises by never jumping, using a bit less intensity and usually doing them for less time ("rest" periods between the high intensity exercises are usually twice as long for me). Sometimes I even need to pause the video to slow down my heart far enough to do the next exercise. Some HIIT, some cardio, etc. is better than none, ya know? But, since our heart rates rise so much faster than the "average" person's, listening to YOUR heart is very important.

As I have been learing these past 6 months I've been able to exercise regularly, doing Strength Training is very important to upping your metabolism by making more lean muscle, allowing your calorie burn to last longer afterwards. I've just started incorporating strength training into my weekly routine (not sure why I waited so long...always thought cardio was what made you lose weight the quickest, but it's just not true).

All in all, short and sweet for HIIT is the key with the average person, but shorter and sweeter is key for us POTS people!

P.S. I haven't lost lbs yet (just been maintaining on the scale), BUT I feel more energized, have lost inches around my mid-section, and just overall feel so much better about myself. The lbs will follow soon, I'm sure.

P.P.S. If you want to know any specifics of my favorite exercise routines from these sites, I have a YouTube channel with some exercise videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/sjprice23sp/playlists (I haven't tested all the HIIT and Cardio in some of these playlists because I just added a bunch this past week.)