Confusion about P.A.C.E (interval training)

I've been trying to study up on high intensity interval training and have some questions.One study said not to train longer than 17 minutes, any longer and the body will store fat as if you were doing long duration aerobics such as jogging for an hour.I can buy that with a short warmup and then 10 30 second sprints with about a minute walk in between.
One question is if on Monday I go to the gym and resistance train, should I not interval train that day as the weight training and interval training combined would add up to more than the 17 minutes?
Actually, if you're doing interval training,should you not do ANY long duration aerobic activities on the odd day?In other words if interval training less than 17 minutes burns fat and causes weightloss, and long duration aerobics causes body to store fat for energy needs, should you drop long duration aerobics alltogether?
No bicycle riding on weekend? Hell, does walking my dog queer the 17 minute rule?

Ramjet - If the exercise (aerobic) is not high intensity, it should be A-Okay to mix up in a day.

Ram -- this is what is working for me.

On the days I PACE interval train (usually 3x a week) I'm basically in and out of the gym in 25 minutes.

Sometimes after the PACE interval session I'll do some body weight type exercises like lunges or sqauts (no heavy weight), push ups or I'll hit the heavy bag at my gym for a few minutes and then do abs. But sometimes I just do the 20 minute program interval program and call it a day. It's weird going home after that, but it's working.

On the other days of the week, I do resistance training 3x. I start off with 10 minutes or cardio to warm up and then jump into my resistance program working my upper and lower body in a circuit type routine. These days I'm at the gym more like 45mins-1hour. I don't do any other cardio on a machine other than the warm up, but I am doing cardio-type things such as alternating sets of push ups with sprinting up a flight of stairs at my gym. I like to alternate an upper body and lower body exercise for 3 or 4 sets and then do another body part.

For instance pushups and stair running, back rows and deadlifts, shoulder presses and lunges....etc. That way I'm keeping my heart rate up and not taking long breaks between sets.

This is working very well for me and I've dropped a lot of inches.

The book is confusing and it really doesn't tell you not to do a interval session per day, but I think you could do that but I'm not sure you need to.

But the PACE interval routine has nothing to do with your resistance routine --- your resistance routine doesn't have to be done in 17 mins .

As for riding your bike and walking your dog -- of course you can do those things. I still take a spinning class every week (which is biking), play football with friends, etc. and it hasn't hurt the effectiveness.

What I've actually found is my athletic performance has increased incredibly since I started doing this and I have much much more endurance when I need it for spin class or playing football and stuff.

According to Shawn Philips, the fella's book that I originally read years ago and got my HIIT (PACE) introduction from, it should be a 7-day split--4 days in the gym, 3 days with HIIT, never the two on the same day. His reasoning was that your glucose reserves are depleted for the day after HIIT and would create a counter-productive effect in the gym.

I don't think there's any one answer and of course our supplementation and diets and unique geneology affect how much of a workout we can handle per day as well!

Since you have to progressively make things harder and not keep doing the same interval routine each week, how would you do this? Like after I get in really good shape, and 3x/week I walk for 3 min on speed "3" of the treadmill, then I run for 90 secs on speed "10" which is the highest, how would I go to the next level and mix it up? I might be able to run faster outside, but in the winter I won't be able to run faster than 10 on the treadmill. I need to stay under 17 mins so I can't train any longer, so would I reduce the amount of recovery walking time while increasing sprinting? A video I watched said you shouldn't sprint for more than 90 secs..

Should it be like....
Week 1: 60 second all out sprint + 3 min recovery x 3 reps
Week 2: 60 second all out sprint + 2 min recovery x 4 reps
Week 3: 60 second all out sprint + 2 min recovery x 5 reps

or something? how do you guys mix it up and make it harder?

j87x - Im guessing you might not want to hear this - but I would recommend to run outside, even in the winter. Yes, even in the winter. I know, it sucks. Its cold, the air has no moisture, your lungs will burn. Its no fun..certainly much less fun than running in a warm indoor environment. But the reason I say it is twofold:

1) I dont know the exact set up of your treadmill but in general I can tell you treadmills are dangerous to do interval training on. This summer I saw someone at the gym -who was in very good shape mind you- start to get fatigued during one of his all-out sprints and "fell" off the end of the machine during an sprint/walk interval-type workout. Fell off the back of the machine.. Not very dangerous sounding - the edge of the back of the running surface was only about 7 or 8 inches of the ground. Well he popped something out in his knee - his LCL & meniscus if I remember correctly. He is still not 100% recovered and that was in June.

2) If you are in decent shape you will be able to run faster outside than on any treadmill. If you can run a 100 yard dash in about 12 seconds you will average roughly 17 mph over that 100 yards. (At full tilt you will even hit a top speed of around 18 mph..somewhere towards the 50 yard mark.) On the other hand, most treadmills have a maximum speed of about 12 mph. Some will let you do 14 – which is a little better speed-wise, but also very dangerous to the knees and there is little room for error. This speed limitation treadmills have is a big problem to doing intervals as the whole point is to achieve maaaximum physical output. So say youre running in winter with mittens, a jacket, sweatpants w/ long underwear underneath.. with all that holding you back, despite running as hard as possible you might run 20 % slower - but guess what, youll still be better off even w/ all that outside b/c youll have the ability to achieve maximum output.


If the air is really hurting your lungs try putting one of those circular ear warmer things over your mouth during the jog portion of the interval. Also what I do is try to breathe though my nose as much as I can on the jog portion. Anyway that’s my take on it.. whatever you decide good luck!

I agree. Running outside is ideal for this since you don't have to artificially raise resistance levels to increase intensity and speed.

If you're going to a gym with a treadmill, I suggest using the other machines to mix it up like the eliptical, bike, rowing machine, stair climber, etc. The ebook talks about how to use all of them.

I rotate between running, biking and the eliptical so far to keep it diverse. On the bike and the eliptical I've learned I don't necessarily need to keep maxing out resistance -- you get faster and find you have another gear within you that increases the intensity. It's not just turning the dial/punching in a higher resistance. Only you know if you're progressively putting out more effort.

The key thing from the book is, I think, that after you do your exertion period you should be panting and your heart rate should be very high -- if you're doing this w/o a heart rate monitor, you should get one -- that and you panting will tell you the whole story of whether it was a successful sprint/exertion period.

To add to this--

HIIT/PACE can be performed on any cardio activity. Some of my favorites are the boxing bag and jump rope. Just apply the same principle as you do with wind sprints/jogging!

Excellent point Nid! although I can think of one physical activity that it might not be a good idea to try it on.. haha just imagine what a girlfriend would think if you applied HIIT to the bedroom..

and yeah great mix hadrion, today at the gym I was thinking about this conversation and I managed to apply HIIT/PACE to the stair machine & the stationary bike (by increasing the resistance).. the elliptical on the other hand was a little rough.. it seems my motions became herky-jerky if I applied enough resistance to make it enough of a challenge. Then again it could have just been the type of elliptical I was using.

I also noticed when playing basketball (full court) that just playing the game at a high intensity gives you a pretty good approximation of a HIIT/PACE workout and you dont even think about it while youre doing it. My body is exhausted!

Do you guys measure the distance you are running, or use a stopwatch to time yourselves? Or do you just estimate/count in your head?

j8--I use a watch or timer on the machine to time out my sprints.

JS - See if your gym has a Cybex Arc Trainer -- it's a great eliptical for doing PACE on. I've tried the Life Fitness & Precor elipticals and I agree they are too herky jerky.

The other thing I've done is on the stairmaster, the Versaclimber and the rowing machine (rowing machine was awesome).

Actually, HIIT would rock in the bedroom! Talk about variation eh?

I definitely agree on the rowing machine--probably the best machine to do HIIT on.

Also, regarding timing--usually I pick out about 50 yards and sprint it. One time I sprinted so hard I had this massive endorphin rush and I felt that I was aware of everything around me about 10x more than usual. It was insane, sorta like being on speed I'd imagine.

Nid - thats an awesome feeling! The last time I had that feeling was in the middle of a varsity football game my senior year of HS.. I was on defense at outside linebacker.. it sorta felt like each play was unfolding in slow motion.. it was like my field of vision opened up and I could see the whole field.. felt like I was on another planet. Ill never forget it..truly a remarkable feeling.

Hadrion - my gym is fairly ghetto but Ill check out the types of machines next time Im there.. and Ill yes Ill def have to try out HIIT on the rowing machine now that youve mentioned it.. I can imagine that would be a great workout.

J87x - I dont know about everyone else, but I just go as haaard as I can.. when it feels like Im slowing down even though Im going at full speed I start to power down and go into ”jog” mode.. I guess I let my body be the judge. it depends on the type of exercise Im doing but its probably around 20-25 seconds of all out effort would be my guess. Followed by 2-4 minutes of light effort.

I could be wrong but I feel like member Luxuriate had it right.. just go w/ the flow even when youre going all out.. let yourself relax and enjoy the endorphin rush that comes along with it.. nid’s right it can be an insane feeling