Discussion Forum > High Intensity Interval Training
Interesting, never thought to apply HITT in this way, though it does dovetail with the idea that 80% of results come from 20% of the effort.
January 25, 2018 at 6:12 |
Maureen
Maureen
I think people naturally, if given the choice, will alternate high intensity tasks, with more soothing tasks which don't require much thought.
Sometimes,however, especially when researching a possible new product, I'm like a dog with a bone. I work for hours without a break.
Maybe I need to scatter reminders in my list- "Do something easy" or something like that.
A lot has been written about "timeboxing." I first read about it in Marks first book-"Get Everything Done. Mark shows several methods to work in short bursts of time over several items. These can be incredibly effective.
The Pomodoro method popularised the idea of working on one thing for around 25 mins, followed by a five minute rest.
I guess you would need to find what works best for you alternating sprint/stroll mode.
Sometimes,however, especially when researching a possible new product, I'm like a dog with a bone. I work for hours without a break.
Maybe I need to scatter reminders in my list- "Do something easy" or something like that.
A lot has been written about "timeboxing." I first read about it in Marks first book-"Get Everything Done. Mark shows several methods to work in short bursts of time over several items. These can be incredibly effective.
The Pomodoro method popularised the idea of working on one thing for around 25 mins, followed by a five minute rest.
I guess you would need to find what works best for you alternating sprint/stroll mode.
January 25, 2018 at 11:25 |
jim p
jim p
Certainly!
I reckon that over a long length of time, you will get the same done in 7.5 hours a day as 9 hours a day. Why not work more intensively and go home earlier each day?
One way of looking at it is to apply high intensity in your day job, and low intensity for the rest of the time.
I reckon that over a long length of time, you will get the same done in 7.5 hours a day as 9 hours a day. Why not work more intensively and go home earlier each day?
One way of looking at it is to apply high intensity in your day job, and low intensity for the rest of the time.
January 25, 2018 at 13:13 |
MrBacklog
MrBacklog
Alan, very interesting post and observations.
I think the common thread is "stress and recovery". "Stress and recovery" means push a system to its limits, then back off and give it time to recover.
It's a common theme in Antifragility. An antifragile system (like the human body) gets stronger and healthier through this process, especially compared against a system of continual low-level stress that never pushes the limits but never really has a recovery period either.
It increases the capacity of the system's performance, and also the quality of the results.
I definitely tend to work this way. Lots of focus and attention -- deep focus work, or a period of fire-fighting, getting some breakthrough or delivering a project etc. -- followed by a period of relative wandering and recovery. I've tried to even out this cycle, but it never seems to work out very well. I think the roots of this kind of cycle are deeply embedded in nature and the mathematics of probability.
Anyway, I know from experience that some time management systems fit better with the stress-and-recovery mode of working. But I don't know of any systems specifically designed to exploit and support it.
No-list works really well during the focus periods. So does FFVP. They don't function as reminder systems -- they function as focus systems, to help keep you focused and engaged on the right things.
It's in the recovery periods where I tend to get a little aimless. This is where there is a stronger need for reminders and "authorized project lists" and the like.
It always seems to be the struggle for all these systems to find the right balance between these two modes - the "fast & flexible" focus mode, and the "systematic" broad-view, get-all-the-right-stuff-done-and-don't-forget-anything mode. http://markforster.squarespace.com/blog/2016/12/18/systematic-fast-and-flexible.html
Personally, I think my biggest breakthrough came when I just accepted the fact that these recovery periods will always involve some aimlessness and wandering. "It's a feature, not a bug."
I think the common thread is "stress and recovery". "Stress and recovery" means push a system to its limits, then back off and give it time to recover.
It's a common theme in Antifragility. An antifragile system (like the human body) gets stronger and healthier through this process, especially compared against a system of continual low-level stress that never pushes the limits but never really has a recovery period either.
It increases the capacity of the system's performance, and also the quality of the results.
I definitely tend to work this way. Lots of focus and attention -- deep focus work, or a period of fire-fighting, getting some breakthrough or delivering a project etc. -- followed by a period of relative wandering and recovery. I've tried to even out this cycle, but it never seems to work out very well. I think the roots of this kind of cycle are deeply embedded in nature and the mathematics of probability.
Anyway, I know from experience that some time management systems fit better with the stress-and-recovery mode of working. But I don't know of any systems specifically designed to exploit and support it.
No-list works really well during the focus periods. So does FFVP. They don't function as reminder systems -- they function as focus systems, to help keep you focused and engaged on the right things.
It's in the recovery periods where I tend to get a little aimless. This is where there is a stronger need for reminders and "authorized project lists" and the like.
It always seems to be the struggle for all these systems to find the right balance between these two modes - the "fast & flexible" focus mode, and the "systematic" broad-view, get-all-the-right-stuff-done-and-don't-forget-anything mode. http://markforster.squarespace.com/blog/2016/12/18/systematic-fast-and-flexible.html
Personally, I think my biggest breakthrough came when I just accepted the fact that these recovery periods will always involve some aimlessness and wandering. "It's a feature, not a bug."
January 25, 2018 at 19:04 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
BTW, have you looked into Starting Strength?
This book is great: The Barbell Prescription: Strength Training for Life After 40
http://www.amazon.com/Barbell-Prescription-Strength-Training-After/dp/0982522770
More here:
Mark Rippetoe, Starting Strength - http://www.amazon.com/Starting-Strength-Basic-Barbell-Training/dp/0982522738
http://startingstrength.com/
This book is great: The Barbell Prescription: Strength Training for Life After 40
http://www.amazon.com/Barbell-Prescription-Strength-Training-After/dp/0982522770
More here:
Mark Rippetoe, Starting Strength - http://www.amazon.com/Starting-Strength-Basic-Barbell-Training/dp/0982522738
http://startingstrength.com/
January 25, 2018 at 19:12 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
Alan Baljeu:
<< This is cutting-edge research from universities. >>
And sounds exactly the same as what we were taught at school sixty years ago. In those days it was called "fartlek" which of course made us all snigger.
<< This is cutting-edge research from universities. >>
And sounds exactly the same as what we were taught at school sixty years ago. In those days it was called "fartlek" which of course made us all snigger.
January 27, 2018 at 15:47 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Seraphim:
<< This book is great: The Barbell Prescription: Strength Training for Life After 40 >>
With a forward by Nassim Nicholas Taleb no less, which you can read in Amazon "Look Inside" (Kindle version).
<< This book is great: The Barbell Prescription: Strength Training for Life After 40 >>
With a forward by Nassim Nicholas Taleb no less, which you can read in Amazon "Look Inside" (Kindle version).
January 27, 2018 at 15:55 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Yes I'm familiar with Fartleks but only by offhand descriptions. That is interval training but I don't know that it is high-Intensity low-volume the same way HIIT is.
Likewise, I get the notion of alternating tasks is well established in these parts, but I wonder whether any sense can be made of maximizing efficiency by going for high intensity short duration intervals. And how short? 1 minute? 2?, 5, 10, 15?
Likewise, I get the notion of alternating tasks is well established in these parts, but I wonder whether any sense can be made of maximizing efficiency by going for high intensity short duration intervals. And how short? 1 minute? 2?, 5, 10, 15?
January 27, 2018 at 21:33 |
Alan Baljeu
Alan Baljeu
Alan Baljeu:
<< That is interval training but I don't know that it is high-Intensity low-volume the same way HIIT is. >>
Well, when someone tells me what the difference is I'll sit up and take notice.
<< That is interval training but I don't know that it is high-Intensity low-volume the same way HIIT is. >>
Well, when someone tells me what the difference is I'll sit up and take notice.
January 28, 2018 at 0:37 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
The only thing I can think of that interval training could help with time management is to do bursts of short length tasks and then bursts of long length tasks.
Maybe short ones in the morning and then long ones in afternoon. Or maybe short one day and long the next day.
I think that might help balance the urges to get lots of quick things done and keep productive, but not put off the longer tasks when feeling like you don't have time to do them.
I tend to naturally do that when I have projects that need working on, but I want the new incoming things to still be kept under control.
Maybe short ones in the morning and then long ones in afternoon. Or maybe short one day and long the next day.
I think that might help balance the urges to get lots of quick things done and keep productive, but not put off the longer tasks when feeling like you don't have time to do them.
I tend to naturally do that when I have projects that need working on, but I want the new incoming things to still be kept under control.
January 30, 2018 at 11:27 |
MrBacklog
MrBacklog
MrBacklog:
<< The only thing I can think of that interval training could help with time management is to do bursts of short length tasks and then bursts of long length tasks. >>
That happens naturally with a long list of tasks of varying length.
<< The only thing I can think of that interval training could help with time management is to do bursts of short length tasks and then bursts of long length tasks. >>
That happens naturally with a long list of tasks of varying length.
January 30, 2018 at 14:16 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
From Runner's World: Unlike tempo and interval work, fartlek is unstructured and alternates moderate-to-hard efforts with easy throughout.... Interval Workouts are short, intense efforts followed by equal or slightly longer recovery time.
But what is new is that science demonstrates a physiological benefit from shorter workouts where before it was assumed longer efforts were necessary. So the 10 minute interval training exercise (e.g. warmup, intense, recover, intense recover, intense) is your entire routine, after which you shower and get on with your day. Previously it was believed anything less than 20 minutes is ineffective, but that previous was not structured like this.
But what is new is that science demonstrates a physiological benefit from shorter workouts where before it was assumed longer efforts were necessary. So the 10 minute interval training exercise (e.g. warmup, intense, recover, intense recover, intense) is your entire routine, after which you shower and get on with your day. Previously it was believed anything less than 20 minutes is ineffective, but that previous was not structured like this.
January 30, 2018 at 20:08 |
Alan Baljeu
Alan Baljeu
Apparently very intense aerobics, like 95% effort, for as little as a minute, then a few minutes walking, repeat for 20 minutes, gives better results than 30 minutes steady. Results being general health (heart attacks, blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, energy for living) and also better racing. As in, if you want to run 5k (40 minutes for your first race is common), replacing some of your training each week with the intervals is better than just running 5k.
I definitely find alternating easy and hard helps. On my best weeks, I'll work on a deep-focus project for 10-30 minutes, then deal with an ancient folder or three (usually laugh over what I thought wa important back then), then back to work.
My father says he does better with multi-tasking. About 20 minutes per project. Projects vary widely. Electronic design, testing, mentoring, discussing group projects, taxes, food, correspondence, reading trade journals, researching. He finds the break from deep focus lets his subconscious work in things.
I definitely find alternating easy and hard helps. On my best weeks, I'll work on a deep-focus project for 10-30 minutes, then deal with an ancient folder or three (usually laugh over what I thought wa important back then), then back to work.
My father says he does better with multi-tasking. About 20 minutes per project. Projects vary widely. Electronic design, testing, mentoring, discussing group projects, taxes, food, correspondence, reading trade journals, researching. He finds the break from deep focus lets his subconscious work in things.
February 6, 2018 at 18:57 |
Cricket
Cricket
In short, the most effective workout consists of alternating periods of high intensity and low intensity.
Why I'm bringing it up here: Does this principle apply to work effort in general? Does the high/low approach lead to overall faster work, more work done, and long-term a growing ability to be more productive?
I don't know. What do you think?