Most brutal form of HIIT?

[dylanamus]

Naturally, your speed and therefore the distance you cover will diminish with each interval, but you are still sprinting if you are recruiting 100% of your current capacity. It's like watching long distance runners speed up at the last 100 metres of their race; they're only moving a fraction as fast as they could normally sprint, but they are putting everything they've got into it nonetheless.

It is the natural mental and physical tendency of just about anyone to reduce intensity (nothing to do with actual performance) as you become more breathless. You have to force yourself past it... this is why Tabata Sprints are not for most people, including me!

The most brutal Tabata exercise I could actually will myself to do properly would be burpees, although even then, after one session it takes me weeks to muster the heart to do them again. So I simply stick to variations that aren't as menacing so that consistency is easier. But hey, if you have the will power, go with sprints for the most efficient workout.

[fflumpy]

Try the Bear complex, its a bitch!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WOP9J7QPwI