HIIT Question

**Sgt. Hartman** · 11-22-2010, 02:51 PM

What is you guys opinion of HIIT for cardio?

I started doing it twice a week (in addition to my usual cardio) b/c research showed that it burned a ton of calories, aided in fat loss, and spared LBM more so than conventional high intensity cardio. But now I am seeing that jacking your heart rate that high is terrible for LBM.

I wore a heart rate monitor this morning on treadmill:

5 min jog warm-up 7mph
20 min of rotating btw 1 min @ 12mph and 1 min @ 4mph
5 min cool down 4mph

At beginning heart rate got to 168 at 12mph and down to 136 at 4mph

By the end heart rate got to 182!! at 12mph and down to 154 at 4mph

I have been doing this at least twice a week since January when I started a serious cut at a 500 cal deficit. I reached my goals by July and went back to eating maintenance but I am still doing the HIIT.

Am I slowly eating away my LBM?

**scotty51312** · 11-22-2010, 03:00 PM

Sprints have actually been shown to add muscle mass, but i believe the studies i read were 30-45 second sprints. I would in no way think you're eating up LBM 12mph for one minute is no joke when you're interval training espcially if you put up any kind of incline, being in my 30's and not the runner i use to be I still do intervals but at 3.5mpg an 8.0mph at a 5 degree incline. 45 second sprint 1 minute rest for 20 minutes. I'd definitley keep up the HIIT, as long as your joints tolerate it well. Long cardio sessions bore the hell out me anyway.

**baseline_9** · 11-22-2010, 03:05 PM

Ur doing Intervals not HIIT m8

HIIT IMO is 10/15 sec hill sprints with a 45/60 second recovery

**gbrice75** · 11-22-2010, 03:09 PM

I'm currently doing 3 mins of walking @ 3.5 with a 12.0 incline, then sprinting @ 9.0 with a 1.0 incline. Not sure if that qualifies as HIIT or not, but it's definitely harder and less boring then the mindless old low intensity cardio I used to do and not even break a sweat over.

***FireGuy*** · 11-22-2010, 03:14 PM

I started experimenting with HIIT and other forms of higher intensity cardio and loved the results. I use to subscribe the long low intensity type daily but I am beginning to change my thoughts on it. I am currently doing only three 30 minute sessions a week and getting leaner. I have also cut my calories a bit and the cardio sessions are very high intensity. Currently doing the stepmill at level 12 for 15 minutes then back down to level 8-7 for the remaining 15 minutes. The first few times I did it I thought my lungs were going to explode.

**JoeC6Z51** · 12-02-2010, 07:03 AM

Originally Posted by baseline_9

Ur doing Intervals not HIIT m8

HIIT IMO is 10/15 sec hill sprints with a 45/60 second recovery

1. HIIT is intravals "HIGH INTENSITY INTRAVL TRAINING"
2. Opinions are like ................nevermind. (J/K)

I did HIIT Training on a treadmill in the evening time after my 1 hr weight training. My goal was to burn fat, but try to sustain LBM. This is why I did the HIITT after workout. I would go min 30 min, some days if I felt good I would go 45 min. Must have good PWO supp prior to HIIT. I didn't worry about cal cutting. I ate really clean, 6 times a day for a total of about 2800-3200 cals. (6'0", 215lbs)I dropped 20 lbs in 6 weeks, and maintained LBM.

HIIT: Treadmill
used Polar Heart monitor to track

did 3 min warm-up
started out with 30 sec's of sprinting, 60 sec's of walking
after about 5 sessions, i would throw in 60 sec's sprinting, 120 sec's of walking.

In the Army we do this on a track. It's called 30/60's and 60/120's. Really brings your runtime down.

The key element to HIIT is the constant rise and decline of your heart rate. I love it.

Can't run no more due to knee injuries, so I do it on an Eliptical.

**musclestack** · 12-02-2010, 04:46 PM

Originally Posted by JoeC6Z51

1. HIIT is intravals "HIGH INTENSITY INTRAVL TRAINING"
2. Opinions are like ................nevermind. (J/K)

I did HIIT Training on a treadmill in the evening time after my 1 hr weight training. My goal was to burn fat, but try to sustain LBM. This is why I did the HIITT after workout. I would go min 30 min, some days if I felt good I would go 45 min. Must have good PWO supp prior to HIIT. I didn't worry about cal cutting. I ate really clean, 6 times a day for a total of about 2800-3200 cals. (6'0", 215lbs)I dropped 20 lbs in 6 weeks, and maintained LBM.

HIIT: Treadmill
used Polar Heart monitor to track

did 3 min warm-up
started out with 30 sec's of sprinting, 60 sec's of walking
after about 5 sessions, i would throw in 60 sec's sprinting, 120 sec's of walking.

In the Army we do this on a track. It's called 30/60's and 60/120's. Really brings your runtime down.

The key element to HIIT is the constant rise and decline of your heart rate. I love it.

Can't run no more due to knee injuries, so I do it on an Eliptical.

Hey, bro. I am also using the ellyptical due to injuring my foot a couple months ago. Are your times on the ellyptical the same as when you were running on the treadmill? 30/60 and 60/120? Do you feel you get as good as a workout on the ellyptical as you did running?