an enjoyable idea for HIIT

[James72090]

A little back info first: i'm restarting for the 3rd time strong lifts, not because of form or laziness but because i now have access again to a gym(thank you college for starting on a wed) My gains will probably be faster this time more then they were the last, last time i reached my bw squat(170) in 3 weeks and it'll probably be closer to 2 now.
Now onto my question there's a local rock climbing gym on my way to college that now offers monthly memberships for a cheap price. Would it be feasible to do rock climbing as a form of HIIT, my record for one thirty foot was a 54 seconds. Assuming i can do the same wall about 7 or 10 times with 30 second breaks inbetween each climb?

[dylanamus]

Your proposal qualifies as HIIT. You are racing to improve your time, therefore you are exerting maximum effort. The only trouble with this particular exercise is that muscular fatigue in the fingers and forearms will eventually result in you being unable to apply maximum effort.

Breaks half as long as activity intervals is a perfect ratio for HIIT. Go for it, man. You could always find other fun activities to break down into HIIT when this one gets old.

[James72090]

yea i think i may do this i was only questioning doing in because it obviously works the forearms and fingers alot but i'll try it i think and see if it interferes at all with SL

[anchorman45]

I rock climb and I know from my own experience that it is very hard work and is a great cardio workout if you are intested in mixing it up. However it is not a HIIT workout. It possibly be used as a high intensity workout but in order to do this you would have to be very very good at climbing in order to do it fast enough, and judging from your post you are not yet. I'm not saying don't try it (I love rock climbing) but I don't think it would work for HIIT.

[dylanamus]

Yeah like I said, you'd have to be efficient enough to race against the clock... if you are not relying on coordination for speed, then sure, it works fine as HIIT.

You will know if it is interfereing with SL as your grip will feel weaker than usual. If that feeling begins to impede your progress, lay off the rock climbing a bit.