HIIT question

[Romedoggy]

I'm trying to get stronger during my HIIT routine. What is more important the intensity while you run, or the anount of time you run? Which one will give you better gains?

[Erik]

I'm trying to get stronger during my HIIT routine. What is more important the intensity while you run, or the anount of time you run? Which one will give you better gains?

Neither is 'best' per se.

Shorter, more intense intervals have their place and longer, less intense intervals have their place. They're both tools that you can use in your program.

Obviously the longer the interval the less the speed you can maintain for the duration of the sprint, etc.

However, within a given interval length, you'd want to improve upon your intensity/effort/etc as your conditioning permits you.

[MaryBeth]

Erik, when you use a spinning bike for HIIT, is the working segment supposed to be more tension or faster rpms?? Both ways kick my ass, but being deficient in the leg department, I think that more resistance will yield better results for me. Comments??

[Erik]

Erik, when you use a spinning bike for HIIT, is the working segment supposed to be more tension or faster rpms??

Both actually. But you definitely want to be upping the resistance.



Both ways kick my ass, but being deficient in the leg department, I think that more resistance will yield better results for me. Comments??

It's unlikely you're going to get 'bigger legs' from doing bike sprints in a caloric deficit.

Mindset with intervals should be on overall fat loss.

[Romedoggy]

Does one way burn more fat than the other, or is it still about the same?

[Erik]

Does one way burn more fat than the other, or is it still about the same?

They're simply different means to the same end. Use both.

It's like saying is 10 reps better than 8 reps?

[dianefaith]

Are you aloud, or is it profitable to do HIIT everyday? Not weekends, of course, those are my relaxing days, unless I slip up on my diet. It might not be competely all out HIIT. But I jog or bike everyday, and I feel I'm not doing enough exersice to burn fat so I up the speed every two minutes for about 30seconds. This way I sweat and afterwards I feel as though I truly had a great workout. Do you recommend it everyday? I do I little bit of weight too when I think about it. Only 5 and 10 lbers though.

[GraceGirl]

Are you aloud, or is it profitable to do HIIT everyday? Not weekends, of course, those are my relaxing days, unless I slip up on my diet. It might not be competely all out HIIT. But I jog or bike everyday, and I feel I'm not doing enough exersice to burn fat so I up the speed every two minutes for about 30seconds. This way I sweat and afterwards I feel as though I truly had a great workout. Do you recommend it everyday? I do I little bit of weight too when I think about it. Only 5 and 10 lbers though.


Don't do it everyday, and personally, when I do real, authentic HIIT, I feel like I just might keel over and die, so the day off is welcomed! :lol:

Really though, you have to remember that most of your fat loss is going to come from your diet, not how much you exercise. In fact, many on this board have gotten into the best shape of their life with NO cardio, a clean diet, and balls to the wall heavy lifting.

Start a good weight training program twice a week and do that in replace of all that unproductive extra cardio you feel so inclined to do. You'll be amazed at the results!!!

[Ana]

Don't do it everyday, and personally, when I do real, authentic HIIT, I feel like I just might keel over and die, so the day off is welcomed! :lol:

Really though, you have to remember that most of your fat loss is going to come from your diet, not how much you exercise. In fact, many on this board have gotten into the best shape of their life with NO cardio, a clean diet, and balls to the wall heavy lifting.

Start a good weight training program twice a week and do that in replace of all that unproductive extra cardio you feel so inclined to do. You'll be amazed at the results!!!

I love this whole post :lol:

[Cass]

Really though, you have to remember that most of your fat loss is going to come from your diet, not how much you exercise.
The loss comes from creating a deficit. You can do that with diet, with activity or with a combination of both.


In fact, many on this board have gotten into the best shape of their life with NO cardio, a clean diet, and balls to the wall heavy lifting.
Who has done this with NO cardio?

[Ana]

The loss comes from creating a deficit. You can do that with diet, with activity or with a combination of both.

Who has done this with NO cardio?

I believe Maryanne (built) doesn't do cardio, she may now but she didn't used to (correct me if i'm wrong) and she got uber lean

[Cass]

I believe Maryanne (built) doesn't do cardio, she may now but she didn't used to (correct me if i'm wrong) and she got uber lean

http://www.beyondlowcarb.net/index.php?topic=4536.0

[Ana]

I stand corrected. I ws told she didn't do cardio to lean out and added it in later.

[dianefaith]

I am eating about 1200-1300 calories a day. That is deficit enough I hope. Protein powders, eggs'n'all pancakes, and chicken salads. I would do about a hour or more of exercise, but that always leads to a binge later that week if not that day. So I am trying to be a calm "exerciser". When I am in the midst of a workout, I love to go all out. But when I'm not, it is soooo hard to start up again.

[Ana]

I am eating about 1200-1300 calories a day. That is deficit enough I hope. Protein powders, eggs'n'all pancakes, and chicken salads. I would do about a hour or more of exercise, but that always leads to a binge later that week if not that day. So I am trying to be a calm "exerciser". When I am in the midst of a workout, I love to go all out. But when I'm not, it is soooo hard to start up again.

Well I don't know much, nor do I claim to so take what I say with a grain of salt, my intention is to just help, with my limited knowledge. Cardio has a place yes but if you could get your diet under control for starters and implement a good training program, you should get some results. Perhaps you need a break from all that cardio and it can be added in, in moderation. I say take baby steps while you get yourself sorted and tweak things.

[Noel Clark]

Don't do it everyday, and personally, when I do real, authentic HIIT, I feel like I just might keel over and die, so the day off is welcomed! :lol:

Really though, you have to remember that most of your fat loss is going to come from your diet, not how much you exercise. In fact, many on this board have gotten into the best shape of their life with NO cardio, a clean diet, and balls to the wall heavy lifting.

Start a good weight training program twice a week and do that in replace of all that unproductive extra cardio you feel so inclined to do. You'll be amazed at the results!!!

I think this is a great post.

Cardio does have its place. I think that if you are lighter...you are definitely going to do cardio to get lean...just because the deficit that you have to make with food is gonna suck! But I think the thing that you want to get away from is the cardio bunny thing...the more you do, the more your going to have to do to see the same results. It is about balance.

[Audrey]

Are you aloud, or is it profitable to do HIIT everyday? Not weekends, of course, those are my relaxing days, unless I slip up on my diet. It might not be competely all out HIIT. But I jog or bike everyday, and I feel I'm not doing enough exersice to burn fat so I up the speed every two minutes for about 30seconds. This way I sweat and afterwards I feel as though I truly had a great workout. Do you recommend it everyday? I do I little bit of weight too when I think about it. Only 5 and 10 lbers though.

You certainly don't want to do HIIT everyday. The maximum I would do it is probably 2-3 times a week (and again, this depends on your training program... if you were to do full body workouts 3 times a week, it would be a lot less than that - or none at all).

I have a feeling however that what you are describing is not real HIIT per se, but more like varying intensities during your cardio session. True HIIT would be doing all out sprints (or close to all out) for a certain period of time (usually between 30-60 seconds) and then recover for a certain period of time before doing it again.

And why are you only lifting 5-10lbs though? A good weight lifting program and getting your diet in order would do a lot more for your physique than cardio will.

And 1,200-1,300 calories may or may not be enough for you. What is your current bodyweight?

[GraceGirl]

The loss comes from creating a deficit. You can do that with diet, with activity or with a combination of both.

I wasn't trying to imply that cardio doesn't have its place, however I was implying that excessive cardio is unnecessary. A greater deficit can be achieved simply by watching our diet, whereas the more we MOVE, the more calories we require, and oftentimes we either: a) overestimate the amount of calories we burn during exercise, or b) underestimate the amount of calories we need to fuel the exercise. It was under this assumption that I said "most" of your fat loss will come from your diet. You can exercise everyday and still not lose fat if you keep eating a bunch of crap (I've tried)! (And also as someone else said, the leaner you are, the more necessary it will be to create a deficit by cardio.)

I found this post by Thunder a few months back that explains this nicely:


People who are often of lighter bodyweights have a harder time creating the necessary deficit by food alone, without suffering through painfully low caloric intakes.

If you can achieve satisfactory fat loss with minimal cardio, through nutrition alone, then go with that.

When it stops working start adding a bit of cardio to add to the caloric deficit. I believe it should be seen as adjunct therapy - not the primary means of fat loss. Nutrition first.

That's all cardio is - a means of expending energy and creating the deficit. Again, the deficit can be created by nutrition, exercise or some combination of both.

If you're creating a fairly big deficit via nutrition, you don't *want* to be dong a lot of cardio as it becomes counter productive. It doesn't speed up results; it tends to hurt results.

More exercise requires more calories, even when fat loss is the goal.

Here is a link to the original post:

http://leanbodiesfitness.net/showthread.php?p=785545&highlight=diet#post785545


Who has done this with NO cardio?

I can try and find various posts, but I can recall a few people who stated that they did no to minimal cardio. Personally, at my leanest, I was doing 40 minutes of HIIT a week. (Some of those posts could have possibly been back when LBF and EP were one.)

[GraceGirl]

And 1,200-1,300 calories may or may not be enough for you. What is your current bodyweight?

This is especially true if she's doing alot of cardio. If she's eating substandard calories AND doing max cardio, she may not be getting the results she desires.

[dianefaith]

hey girls... and guys? I've been away from the computer for too long. I miss reading these posts. I am about 130 lbs. And 5 foot 2 inches. So I think that is the correct amount of cals for weightloss right? And you are right, Probably not all out sprints, I will speed up for aout 30 secs, and then rest for about a minute and a half. This only goes on for about 20-30 minutes. I mean I am always ready to slow down and sometimes get to the point of nausea. But I could probably push myself harder with some of the sprints or high intensity "spinning" By the way I just relized My age says I am like 50 years old..... I put 1956 instead of 1976. Not sure how to change that of how I did that. But no big deal I guess. Just failed today on my diet. My friend just brought over some yummy cookies, muffins and scones from the health food store and of course I gave in. My diet is deffinetly my downfall. Now I am gona feel the need to exercise for hours tomorrow, just to get through the day!!!!!!! I have failed. it is so hard to know how much to exercise...

[Meechel]

1300 calories is 10 times your body weight which MAY be a little on the low side.

Doing all out for 30 sec is fine if you are only going to rest for 30 sec.

What you are describing is called compensatory cardio and it is not needed....you made a bad choice so what life happens.

Make good choices tomorrow and wrap your head around why you have your goals and what you really want to achieve.....not just a number.

[Audrey]

What you are describing is called compensatory cardio and it is not needed....you made a bad choice so what life happens.

Make good choices tomorrow and wrap your head around why you have your goals and what you really want to achieve.....not just a number.

:yeahthat:

Trying to compensate for eating those cookies by doing hours of exercise/cardio just makes things worse and creates a very unhealthy relationship with food and exercise.

You made a bad choice. Just move on and get back on plan today. Don't try to skip meals or do more exercise/cardio to compensate. Just get back on track, learn from your mistakes and next time, try to learn moderation. Eating one cookie will not undo your progress... eating the whole box may.

[dianefaith]

Thank you gals! I am on track so far, Hope to stay. I just want the results quickly so I figure upping the exercise might help.

[Meechel]

Thank you gals! I am on track so far, Hope to stay. I just want the results quickly so I figure upping the exercise might help.

:uhuh: watcha in a hurry for? You prepping for show? other wise this should be a lifestyle and no need to rush anything unless you got a tight deadline like photo shoots or competition.

Now that being said I used to be in a hurry too until this time around and I realized I have to make a lifestyle change not short-term thinking.

[Erik]

Thank you gals! I am on track so far, Hope to stay. I just want the results quickly so I figure upping the exercise might help.

It's generally going to come down to nutrition, not exercise. Look how many people in your gym work hard day in and day out - and yet, they don't progress very well. Why? What are they doing the other 23 hours of the day?

Look to your nutrition first, not to more exercise.

[dianefaith]

Nope no deadline, Just want to feel good right away. I am impatient. I quickly gained some weight, which was all my fault, non stop binging, so I am trying to fix it asap! I have no patience! I want my tummy gone!!! This waist of mine expanded so fast.

[dianefaith]

Thank you, Thunder, I will try and analyze my diet better. I know I keep skimping when I feel strong enough to resist food. Probabky not the best thing to do, cause then fatigue sets in. But I will keep my cals at around 1300 with enough protein I know that is most important.

[FitnessModerate]

For a couple of years I did 45 second intervals. But I find I'm more effective now with 30 second intervals that I can go full out. I know I'm in the best cardio shape ever because I find myself breathing more through the nose later in the HIIT then ever before. Also I cut down the amount of HIIT sessions per week I do to 2-3 now from 5-6. Also I do them on separate days from weight lifting with even better results now.

[FitnessModerate]

Nope no deadline, Just want to feel good right away. I am impatient. I quickly gained some weight, which was all my fault, non stop binging, so I am trying to fix it asap! I have no patience! I want my tummy gone!!! This waist of mine expanded so fast.

diane, the key is lifestyle change. If you keep the right diet and exercise it will all come off eventually. There is no hurry. I'm 2 months into my cut and I do get impatient for the flab to go away, but then I realize that I'm in this for the long haul. I know the blubber on the abs and love handles will slowly melt away. Just take a long-term view and focus on getting stronger for now.