HIIT Question

Conditioning
#1

I’m looking to incorporate some High-Intensity Interval Training into my workouts, probably two days per week on my off days from lifting.

The plan I’m going with is your basic “Jog 30 sec/Sprint 30 sec./repeat” program, and every other session I’ll add one rotation, so one minute of total time. I’ll start with 4 minutes, and in about 8 weeks or so I should be up to 15 minutes. I’ll be doing this on a treadmill.

My question is, is this comparable to basic sprinting in terms of benefits to pitchers? In other words, does the benefit from sprinting come from high intensity, thereby making it equal to my program above, or does it come from the explosiveness of starting from a dead stop, thereby making my program not look so good?

kc? centerfield? thoughts?

#2

the purpose of sprints for a pitcher are to better train your fast twitch muscular system. As you said it is used for better explosivness.

I like your workout but I would suggest doing it on actual ground rather than a treadmill. You will get much more out of your exercise by doing it outside where you actually have to accelerate your body forward instead of just maintaining equilibrium on a treadmill

#3

Yeah, that’s the problem. I realize outside would be ideal, but it’s getting to be winter here which makes doing just about anything outside not feasible. Also, I don’t have access to a good area where I could run, which leaves me with the treadmill.

#4

Just going out the door to take a final. I’ll try to address this when I get back later.

The quick answer is, yes that will work. But there are other options if you are limited to indoor-type training. I’ll give you a few other conditioning workouts that dont need equipment.

#5

Great, thanks a lot kc.

#6

Okay, so what I would do for conditioning would be to mix medium length sprints, say 30-60 seconds, with different type of bodyweight movements rather than just jogging.

So it would be…
Sprint 1 minute
10 burpees
Rest 30 seconds
Sprint 1 minute
20 jumping squats
Rest 1 minute
and repeat that as many times as necessary. Another option would be a sprint then rest type protocol. Distance would change workout to workout, but for your rest period try to start with longer rest (a minute, let’s say) and then take 10 seconds away from the rest after each sprint. By the end you’ll be going on 10 seconds rest each time and continue it that way for as many reps as you can.

If you dont have any time, then you can do simple stuff like the race to 100 burpees. You set a timer and see how long it takes to get to 100. Should be able to do it in sub-20 minutes and it is one of the most harrowing experiences ever.

There are other options, like Tabata interval style. You can probably find some stuff on that if you google.

P.S. The jog then run format you talked about earlier is called fartlek style running. It’s a bit more jogging that I like, but if that works for you go for it. It’s better than straight long slow distance running (avoid that).