Background: Maintaining a minimum fitness standard is a challenge, particularly as we age. American Heart Association (AHA) recommendations focused on HIIT strength training and running suggests two sessions of HIIT strength training and three sessions of running for twenty-five minutes each.

HIIT program criteria:

1. It can be done anywhere.
2. It requires no equipment.
3. It takes less than 20 minutes.

This program is an experiment to see what kind of results can be obtained from HIIT training using one program with one exercise in combination with an easy program of running. It is as simple a plan to meet AHA recommendations for physical activity as I could come up with that incorporates strength training and meets a minimum running goal of 10 miles a week, which is a very low weekly mileage for runners.

Methods: Use the Bats! HIIT Interval Timer. Set up eleven phases. Work, break and rest are in seconds. Blk is for block or number of sets. #/Blk is number of timed intervals per set. Min. is total number of minutes required to complete.

Do each phase for a month, twice a week. For the work interval, do burpees (standard or an easier variation). During break time, I plan to rest completely. Then, rinse and repeat until complete.

Initial plan is to do this program Tuesday and Friday. After HIIT training, do an easy run/walk of 25 minutes. On Monday and Thursday, do a minimum run/walk of four miles or approximately 40/80 minutes, respectively. Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays are rest days.

Experiment will be considered a success if Phase 10 is done four weeks in a row. If I go for four weeks without doing the strength training or reach December 31, 2018 without completing Phase 10 for four weeks, I will consider the experiment over. On completion, I’ll write up a post mortem with results and conclusion and if I want to try it again, how it should be modified.

Results: For four months, I followed this program. I got to phase 3. At the end, I completed 6 burpees for 12 sets for a total of 72 burpees in 18 minutes for 6 weeks. There were dramatic improvements in cardiovascular fitness. Strength was improved. I also gained 15 pounds, which was the reason I stopped doing it.

Discussion: If I were to do this again, I’d focus on the number of burpees per work set and bring down the number per set and add sets over time. For example, I’d start with doing 1 burpee per minute for 10 minutes. As able, I’d add 2 minutes a session until I was at 20 minutes, then I’d drop down to 2 burpees per minute for 10 minutes and repeat the process.

I found that I could do 1 burpee every 3 seconds. So, you could work up to 10 burpees every minute and still have a 30 second recovery period per set. If you did that for 20 minutes, it would be 200 burpees. This is enough fitness for the vast majority of people.

The program above, in contrast, required doubling the amount when you go to the next level. It was very difficult. There needs to be a more gradual adaptation. Using the program outlined in the discussion section, I suspect it would probably take two years to start at 10 burpees in 10 minutes and work up to 200 burpees in 20 minutes.

Two sessions per week is reasonable. As long as you were doing the more gradual program, you might be safe doing as many as three.

The major issue is that doing this kind of exercise is going to fundamentally change your body composition and your weight is going to go up. I think it is worth doing. But, if your goal is to lose weight, then you’ll need to do that first and then do this program when you are ready to build your strength and fitness.

Conclusions: Properly modified per the discussion session, this technique is worth exploration as a way to maintain fitness and strength. But, it should not be confused with a weight loss program. This program will put weight on you, a lot of it.