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I am resuming training after a long pause. I often do my cardio as follows: 1. 30 seconds of compound movement near max effort 2. 30 seconds of rest or very low-intensity stationary work (like running in place)

The movement during the high effort phase is: - dropping to push-up position - spreading and closing legs, once - 6 mountain climbers - 4 single-leg side jumps - a high knees-to-chest jump I repeat this, usually I get 3 times in 30 sec.

I repeat this for 10 minutes (10 sets). Can this be considered a HIIT workout or a valid way to do cardio at all?

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    I think the critical component of HIIT is getting one’s heart rate up enough (near max) to build lactic acid, followed by a moment of active rest. For a severely out of shape person, this might be as simple as running in place followed by walking in place. I think compound movements tend to be favorites because they are good at jacking one’s heart rate up quickly. I also think you have to vary up some of the HIIT training because your body gets really good at adapting to repetitive training.
    – Frank
    Commented May 3, 2018 at 22:29
  • @Frank Thank you for the comment, I will definitely vary the exercises and training type.
    – dzenesiz
    Commented May 3, 2018 at 22:40

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Yes. Zuniga's HIIT regimen[1] uses alternating 30 second exertion and rest intervals. Your program would be considered HIIT as long as the exertion phases are sufficiently intense. Depending on your level of fitness, you may find that the chosen exercises are not demanding enough to let you reach the near-maximal power output that is the target for HIIT exertion phases, and you may need to change to more demanding exercises as you get fitter.

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21522072

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