HIIT Training, is it that great? I looking for advice and endorsements!

[CobraUTAH]

I've got another 5 weeks of bulking and heavy training before I start my cutting cycle. I'm looking for advice on HIIT. I've done lots of reading on it from the net and this board and have a few questions. Does it work like the articles say? Should I invest in a heart rate monitor or just get a stop watch? I plan to just go to the track and do sprints for the HIIT. Is that the best or should I do stairs or something as well or instead. I've heard that you can use it in weight training as well but is that necessary. I'm going to use HIIT because it seems best suited for me since I hate to run and because it is geared more towards preserving hard earned muscle. Please tell me your personal experiences with it. I'm going to follow the Shawn Phillips chart for training of 30 seconds of sprinting then 30 seconds of jogging then repeat for a given amount of time. You start out at 4 minutes and add one full minute every other workout. I read an article that referenced his program but then said something about the intervals not being the best, but you had to be a member of the site to get the rest of the info, anyone know of a better or different routine/intervals/exercise?