HIIT cardio VS low intensity

[musclestack]

Hey, guys. I am cutting right now, and my cardio consists of 45 minutes in the morning on an empty stomach. I do 15 minutes on the punching bag, then 15 minutes on the ellyptical, then the last 15 minutes on the bag again. I would prefer to run, but I injured my heel a few weeks back so just waiting for it to heal so I can get back at it.

I've read that if you get your heart rate up too high, you can burn muscle. I'm concerned because sometimes I get a bit carried away on the bag I really haven't lost any significant amount of strength (ok, 1 rep on my bench), but I guess my real question here is if intensity is TOO high, will I be unable to burn body fat? Will my body target my muscle RATHER than fat while doing high intensity cardio?

[Billysale2000]

I am hitting the bag as well for my cardio, I am doing minute on, minute off, am up to 9 minutes on now. I then do 30 minutes on the treadmill or eliptical trainer. I think it is a great way to lose weight, am just stripping it off at present. I am not sure if I will go up much more than doing 10 x 1 minute, I find it is very taxing, I lift less the day after a cardio session than I normally would. But the weight loss from the HIT is I think worth it.

I go as hard as a can when I am hitting the bag, try different punches to work every muscle out, feels good and I am sure has a good effect.

[musclestack]

Thanks Billy. Yea, I too, enjoy hitting the bag. I am just wondering if HIIT will target muscle loss more than fat loss??? Anyone with an answer to this??

I actually tried running this morning. Heel felt pretty good! I think I'm going to start consistently again on Monday. I did notice that when I'm hitting the bag, my heart rate changes dramatically throughout the session. It will be rapid for about 30 seconds, then drop way back down when I slow it up a bit. When I ran, I notice that my heart rate doesn't escalate that high, but it is Very constant.

Can anyone answer my question, though? Will HIIT cardio target muscle more than fat? Will I burn more fat while keeping heart rate a bit lower?

Thanks.

[musclestack]

Anyone with an answer?

[baseline_9]

I would never reccomend HIIT cardio fasted...

It is a glucose dependent training system

Fasted cardio yes if its low intensity IMO

HIIT when you have the glycogen you need to actually do that type of training

BTW most people who think they are doing HIIT are actually doing interval training

HIIT is VERRY intense and hard to do properly