Fat Loss: HIIT or LISS?

[BrockBadger]

There are countless discussions on prepping for a physique competition, and whether low-intensity steady state cardio (LISS), fasted or not, or high-intensity interval training (HIIT) was most effective.

Examine.com just published a fantastic discussion of a systematic review and meta-analysis looking at this exact question!

Ultimately, the researchers determined that *on average*, so long as calorie output is equal, there is no difference between LISS and HIIT on fat loss. And that what ultimately matters for most is to pick modalities that you can see yourself sticking to long-term.

Here's the link to read the whole breakdown and analysis of the paper: http://www.examine.com/nutrition/be-...-for-fat-loss/

NOTE: Most of this text is stolen from a Facebook post.

Prepping for physique competition entails, ideally to lose bodyfat and build muscle at the same time. The longer you do cardio the more muscle you lose is suggested. If you do HIIT and take sprinting for example... research has found not only do you lose more fat than low intensity cardio but you actually gained muscle in the quad at the same time... Sprinting is anabolic... Which just means you gain muscle... But your also burning fat...

If you're talking about ONLY fat loss then it is plausible that high intensity and steady state cardio produce the same results. However, that is under inspection still. And I don't think anyone has the ultimate answer yet to which is better for fat loss... The article that is posted mainly goes into fat loss not muscle mass... If you are concerned with muscle mass then HIIT may be more advantageous else you will lose it with long cardio bouts. Also you need to consider the body composition of quote long steady state cardio... These body types are not what physique competitors aspire to be... Look at a marathon runner. As a bodybuilder, Mens physique competitor, etc your not aspiring to have a marathon physique. At the extreme an elite marathon runner has not much muscle.

Good article posted and I definitely learned some things but the verdict is still out on fat loss specifically... However, I had posted this before... I think both have merit... They both need to be included in a good program or overall health profile. Its just that some studies suggest more fat loss with HIIT.... even though this article suggest equal amount of fat loss. However, in this article they do go into how there are some problems with the studies they are combining... So the research isn't exactly clear yet... But when it comes to muscle mass and physique competitors muscle mass becomes a factor on which cardio type to choose not just fat loss... Personally, I like and do both.

[MuscleScience]

Prepping for physique competition entails, ideally to lose bodyfat and build muscle at the same time. The longer you do cardio the more muscle you lose is suggested. If you do HIIT and take sprinting for example... research has found not only do you lose more fat than low intensity cardio but you actually gained muscle in the quad at the same time... Sprinting is anabolic... Which just means you gain muscle... But your also burning fat...

If you're talking about ONLY fat loss then it is plausible that high intensity and steady state cardio produce the same results. However, that is under inspection still. And I don't think anyone has the ultimate answer yet to which is better for fat loss... The article that is posted mainly goes into fat loss not muscle mass... If you are concerned with muscle mass then HIIT may be more advantageous else you will lose it with long cardio bouts. Also you need to consider the body composition of quote long steady state cardio... These body types are not what physique competitors aspire to be... Look at a marathon runner. As a bodybuilder, Mens physique competitor, etc your not aspiring to have a marathon physique. At the extreme an elite marathon runner has not much muscle.

Good article posted and I definitely learned some things but the verdict is still out on fat loss specifically... However, I had posted this before... I think both have merit... They both need to be included in a good program or overall health profile. Its just that some studies suggest more fat loss with HIIT.... even though this article suggest equal amount of fat loss. However, in this article they do go into how there are some problems with the studies they are combining... So the research isn't exactly clear yet... But when it comes to muscle mass and physique competitors muscle mass becomes a factor on which cardio type to choose not just fat loss... Personally, I like and do both.

Individual variation is so hard to take into account and with the small sample sizes for most studies. There isn’t enough data to statistically account for confounding factors. Personally for me, I love HIIT. There is descent enough evidence to support that HIIT training preserves and may actually help build lean muscle mass. Partly because of the larger Number of motor units your body recruits when performing a near maximal exercise and also due to lactate buildup in the blood stream. Blood lactate levels and exercise induced HGH release have a linear relationship with each other. If you get very high levels of blood lactate you get a similar release of GH.

The whole losing muscle with increased cardio is a bit of broscience and gym lore left over from the 70’s and 80’s when the science wasn’t so developed. It was construded that long distance running would make you lose muscle and look like a marathon runner. There is truth to that of course, but we are talking about two extremes that a bodybuilder would need to put their body into inorder to lose hard earned muscle mass. One, being in an extremely caloric deficient state and two doing extreme amounts of Cardio on top of that. A typical bodybuilder isn’t going to be running 100miles a week and be dropping calories to 500-1000/day. An hour of cardio and a deficiency of 500 a day will produce nice fat loss. Couple anabolics on top of that, you can even increase that calorie deficient even more without fear of much muscle loss.

What all the studies do point to regardless of methodology is consistency. If you want to loss Bf you need to be consistent with your cardio and your diet.