I am N=1 experimenting with a idea I had about what I’m calling low-motion HIIT.
As you know, major motion exercise (especially explosive) is a lot more difficult for seriously oversized people, risking joint issues, injury, not to mention keeling over if it’s too much. It’s also more difficult for people who are elderly, injured, differently-abled.
Weight vests offer the chance to add a little bit of gravity weight to the individual with a bit more distribution and whole-body effect, and IMO slightly lesser risk (assuming it’s not overdone), than simply carrying or lifting a weight. It does not have to be much. My vest is currently 16.4# (of which 4.4# is the vest itself).
WBV (whole body vibration) platforms offer the chance to do a few things while either standing still or even sitting (or even OFF them and merely resting a limb on them) – or while in motion (e.g. weight lifting or other resistance exercise). My particular platform is 2400# load rated, vertical motion, 2mm amplitude, 10-60Hz options, 9" high and 30"x48" no attachments, so you can do weight lifting on it, or ground exercises if you’re not fully stretched out. I posted a lot more about this tech for any interested in this other thread: WBV (Whole Body Vibration). DOMS, Test, GH, Cort, lactate, strength, speed, balance, etc
WBV has many very cool elements to it. It triggers most the fast-twitch fibers meaning if you lift weights on it you get more muscle fiber involvement. Due to the speed of the vibration (referenced in Hz for cycles per second), leading to the muscle motion, it increases blood flow a lot, and increases lymph flow a lot. If standing still, it functions much like ‘active recovery’ - like a low to medium walking or so level of exercise… except you’re standing still. And because of this motion, even if you are standing still, it tends to increase your heart rate.
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So this got me thinking. Partly because I would like to do HIIT but am not yet strong enough or lean enough to do it really. Partly because I recently began wearing a weight vest and certainly notice how it kicks my heart rate up. Partly because when reading stuff about HIIT it struck me as sadly ironic that the people most desperately in need of its results are the ones least able to do it.
So I thought: What if you could combine WBV (increases heart rate), a weight vest (increases heart rate), and – whatever might be needed – merely standing still and holding a weight (kettlebell, dumbell, whatever) – to actually bring your heart rate to the target % of max, and keep it there for 30-90 seconds?
And then step off and sit down and rest… if that is what works for the lower target heart rate %… if it’s too low, one could stand, with the weight vest that would keep the pulse a bit elevated still. If on the WBV, holding the weight wasn’t enough to get the heart rate there, a small amount of motion could be added. Even stepping off the plate and back on would kick HR up a little for someone heavy, wearing a vest, holding even a light weight. And if holding the weight wasn’t enough for the top%, even a tiny bit of motion would increase pulse. Tiny.
Not done yet, bear with me:
Tracking my heart rate: check. My apple watch is announcing my HR to me either every 30 seconds, or when I flip my wrist a couple times, OR whenever it is higher than the recent spell, it’ll tell you constantly if the number’s rising higher – so you have a narrative as it’s going up. (This is triggering my long-dormant biofeedback obsession – I used to be real involved in stuff that included that, decades ago. I’m going around the house now to figure out what every action, wearing the vest, does to my pulse. )
My digital timer (or phone) both magnetically stick to my squat cage pole so tracking the time part is easy.
Part of the idea of this ‘low-motion hiit’ is not merely that someone could get their heart rate up without having to move much if at all. It’s that done this way, one could be very careful about it. It doesn’t rise dangerously fast done like this, if the vest and weight aren’t insane. It is very easy to just step off and sit on a stool or stand or flip the switch off. You can experiment and adjust all the details to equal the HR you want (though of course with each event it is likely to improve hence change a little). So for people who may be in danger even in the heart category (not just physically helped by the idea because they can’t sprint etc.), that seems ideal.
So tonight I did a single-cycle exploratory trial on this idea, to see IF I could get my heart rate to a HIIT % of max, and keep it there, and to see how much it would come down if I put down the weight but stood still on the wbv, and how much and how fast it would come down once I stepped off it entirely and sat and relaxed.
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Initial stats:
N=1 Person: 5’6" (actually 5’ 5 3/4"), ~350# lbs, female age 54
Weight vest 4.4# unloaded, currently with 6# added in front and 6# in back.
WBV is VibePlate 2mm vertical 2400# rating 10-hz, set at ~35hz for this.
Misc for context: heart valve replacement (bovine) 3 years ago. Whole body atrophy from many years sedentary then a couple bedridden, currently have achieved enough lower body strength for slow stairs… upper body still very weak. 30# barbell military press is about a 2-3 rep max.
Heart rate range formula is:
Max: 220-age
Low end of the target heart rate: 180-age
For both, a +/- 5-10 (add for trained/fit, subtract for untrained/sedentary)
Due to my age, size, heart condition, fairly weak musculature and activity level, I subtract 10.
So the low side of max target heart rate range is ~116 bpm
And the max of the range is 156 bpm.
HIIT defines “80-95%+ of max target heart rate” for active period
(This can also be done by VO2max or max power output but I’m using pulse.)
To be maintained anywhere from 5 seconds to 7 minutes depending on protocol
Selecting 85% as my max HR minimum goal, .85x~160=136.
So my goal will be to get my HR to at least 136 during ‘active’ part of cycle
And I choose ideally 60s as the active duration… if my body will go for that.
HIIT defines “50-70%” of max target heart rate for the rest/recovery period
I will target 60%. .60x~160=96. Humorously that is not all that far from my resting pulse… one of the things that being so out of shape makes different than those more fit.
This duration is up to the protocol. 2:1, 1:1, 1:2 are common. I will use 1:2.
I choose 3-4 cycles (depending on what my body does in response).
This is for the future. Tonight is a 1-cycle trial solely to see if I can get my pulse UP to the ideal ranges.
I am choosing to ignore the warmup/cooldown, because… well, I’m standing still. The muscles are being triggered yes but it’s very small and fast instead of the large motion and body exertion ordinary exercise has.
But for this trial I am just doing one cycle and then writing it all down before I forget the details.
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Prior to trial:
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Resting pulse currently varies from highest 80s to lowest 90s. (20 points higher than during fasting cycles, I am currently eating throughout the day.)
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I gave myself 60s of rest stillness standing first, after walking to and stepping on vibeplate (wearing the vest).
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Activate: Pulse (heart rate HR) was in the 130s after a minute (60s) standing still on VP-active @~35hz. Note that WBV commonly increases pulse for about 3 minutes then it levels off.
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My dumbbells currently are 5lb, 10lb, 15lb, 20lb. My kettlebells currently are 4kg, 8kg, 12kg, 16kg. I chose the 16kg KB, hanging in my hands for 30s, then swung it up and held it in my arms at chest level for 30s (seemed harder). After the total 60s my HR was 167.
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put KB down and relaxed still standing on active VB. After 60s, HR 153
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After another 1 minute, HR still in 150s
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Went and sat down and relaxed. HR fell fast for the first ~30, then after 60s was still 120s
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after another 60s was 100-108 varying
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stopped measuring then and did other things.
Mostly ripping off my socks because I forgot to remove my chucks and socks and the vibeplate makes my ankles, where they stretch-grip, itch like crazy.
Later after I’d sat back down and been still awhile (still wearing vest), the HR was back in the 89-93 range it had been when resting before the trial.
Conclusion
I think the results of this exploration demonstrate that in fact this low-motion HIIT is a completely workable idea.
Obviously I can’t measure it scientifically, or see how much worse it is compared to sprinting or something, but the base idea of it appears to be totally do-able.
I showed that I could get to the target – actually exceed it – while standing still (albeit with light weight vest and a kettlebell in my arms), and that removing the weight dropped me to the lower range which is the ‘rest’ range.
So I think the idea has merit. I am going to begin a “low-motion HIIT” protocol officially tomorrow, and we will see what it does to my stats over time.
PJ
PS: Anybody with comments or critique, that is why I’m posting it here. I have the internet-skin of a rhino, don’t be shy.
PPS: I’m wondering now if the max heart rate should be adjusted upward based on the resting pulse being higher than average, or if this should not change regardless.