Combining HIIT cardio and Low Intensity cardio!!!

After all my research in regards to Hiit cardio and Low intesnity cardio I've made a few conclusions about each of them.... here goes

HIIT
1. Is best for raising metabolism longer after your session is complete
2. It is less optimal at actual lypolysis, therefore, most of your fat burning will be as a result of raised metabolism.
3. Depletes glycogen and may turn to amino acids in deprivation of oxygen for energy.

LOW Intensity
1. Yields the greatest lypolysis during the workout, less of a metabolism boost after wards
2. For maximum effectiveness, glycogen stores must be depleted and no alternative forms other than fat, eg. food in your stomach, must be present. Therefore it is optimal to perform first thing in the morning before eating.

Now, other factors to be concered with are as follows
1. In HIIT cardio it is reccommended to consume dex/protein before to achieve an insulin spike, My question to this is WHY? Insulin is a very anabolic hormone, which means when its present, FAT is not going anywhere.
2. Secondly, glycogen is ALWAYS present in your body, true there is less of it in the morning, however there has been no form of excercise to deplete glycogen stores, so the concern of HIIT turning to amino acids for energy, I feel isn't a major concern unless it is for extended periods of time.

Now my possible solution to the great dispute as to which is most effective and how it should be used, my theorry is to combine both in such a fashion...
1. Warmup for about 5 minutes
2. Perfomr 30 second intervals of HI, LOW, HI, LOW intesity for about 10 minutes to accomplish two things, firstly to achieve your maximum heart V02 and elevate your metabolism and secondly, maximum deplete your glycogen stores, and thus prime you for step 3.
3. With your heart rate elevated, you have pretty much eliminated the 20 minute building point that you need to work up your ideal 65%-70% heart rate. You essentially now cooldown to your 65% heart rate for about 3 minutes of light intesity.
4. Perform 20 minutes of low intensity cardio at 65-70% heart rate for about 20 minutes, for lypolysis,
5. Wait your usual 1 hour or whatever you do after low intesnity cardio
6. Consume a Protein/Fat meal to further aid in lypolysis

Now I know many of you are going to tear this apart, and I hope Swole Cat reads this just because I know he is such a firm advocate of Low intensity, but there are also many respectable people(STR8FLEXED) who are firm beleivers of HIIT, both have there benefits and i think we should try to combine such benefits for maximum effects.

IMO the best way to combine them is do them separately. For example myself, I do not have the time to do AM cardio, and only get a chance to train mid-morning (around 90 minutes after breakfast) due to work and studies commitments. What I do is train weights, after which I do 10-12 minutes of intervals. On off days I will do the low intensity cardio for 35-45 minutes. If intervals are done as they should, you shouldn't be able to do a warmup, HIIT and then 20 minutes low intensity afterwards. If you can the HIIT wasn't done effectively IMO.

Hmmm yes, but we all know that different people are capable of different things, right?

To measure if the HIIT was effective, all you simply have to do is make sure you have reached your vO2 max, and that can be done by measureing you heart rate, if the number is within 85%-95% of your MHR, then you have effetively achieved it.

On a personal note, I did try this this morning, Yes it was hard, but I found the time went by ALOT quicker, I didn't notice the pain as much, and after wards i felt very good.

I've found what works for me for my goals, yup that's the overall key. I prefer the medium intensity/longer duration for what it is I need to accomplish.

~SC~

swole, do you have any specific evidence that shows this method doesn't work? Im not trying attack or question your personal preference, i just know your a very knowledgable person, and I'd rather not waste my time if there have been studies negating my new theory...?

Just a few things I wanted to chime in on which I think people should bear in mind:

-There is a difference between 'doesn't work' and 'less effective'. I think at the end of the day it will ALL work, but the extent to which it works differs.
-The same applies not only to the method but also to the subject (the person, as each may respond very differently).
-Scientific studies are not the be-all and end-all. I am sure there are numerous accounts of doing things (whether it be diet related, workout related, cardio related etc.) different to what studies have prized as the best and only way and achieved fantastic results. And take a look at studies carefully as often it shows that method A is better than method B (in general) but only by a few percent. That does NOT mean that method B is a waste of time!

Cheers,
X

Depends a lot on what your goals really are too... Fat loss, maintenence, endurance, sprinting power etc. HIIT is crucial to me but I'm not a powerlifter or bodybuilder, I'm a cyclist (endurance athlete that also needs sprinting power) so to me HIIT is not optional nor can it be substituted with anything else to achieve what I need.

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Originally Posted by Justarting

swole, do you have any specific evidence that shows this method doesn't work? Im not trying attack or question your personal preference, i just know your a very knowledgable person, and I'd rather not waste my time if there have been studies negating my new theory...?

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Yeah, I can find evidence for both sides of the argument if I look, and can present probably close to 50-100 for each.

However, that's still not going to solve the issue, which is to find out what works best for YOU through experimentation. For me, the lower intensity version works better, no matter what any study says. It may be entirely the OPPOSITE for yourself, (I doubt it), but you never know. This is why one must try both methods to know exactly what each one does. I think your experiment is good for YOU, and you should definitely try. Trying is what it's all about.

It's true that for bodybuilding/fitness purposes, the lower intensity is favored, and for strength athletes and sport-specific athletes, the HIIT type seems to win the vote. I say this from the perspective of a trainer, because that is just "what is" in the real world of these types of athletes. I work with people doing HIIT, but they don't have the same goals as others who are doing a different form of cardio.

~SC~