Originally Posted by Metallibanger

Can I get big and strong just by listening to a frustrated wannabe (without any experience at all) that spends all his life sitting at his computer? Has anybody followed his routine (How to Exercise While Sitting at Your Computer - wikiHow) and seen good results?

Originally Posted by goob

Good post.

You can credit me later Witch

Originally Posted by Witchblade

I'm going to have to find a way to categorize all this and get off my lazy ass and update more frequently.

Programs
Q: Which is better, HIIT or steady state cardio?
A: Neither is better. They are different. Steady state cardio used to be the preferred choice of cardio, but HIIT is being hyped up a lot lately, because of a study that showed HIIT was better for fat loss. This is false. Fat loss will most importantly depend on your caloric deficit. Let's sum up the characteristics of both exercise forms:

HIIT
- you can have a great workout in 10min.
- you don't risk burning muscle for energy
- your body won't adapt to endurance workouts (ie. more slow-twitch muscle fibers)
- you can add muscle and strength (your body adapts to short high intensity work)

Steady state cardio
- it takes longer to burn the same amount of calories, but you have the potential of burning more calories
- it's great for your cardiorespiratory health
- it's not nearly as stressful on the central nervous system (CNS) as HIIT

So steady state cardio has the potential of negatively affecting your body's adaptions to high intensity training. For bodybuilders, powerlifters and other strength based exercisers this is very bad. However, you won't burn muscle or cause heavy adaptions if you limit steady state exercise to a few times a week (about 2-3) and limit the duration of exercise (to less than ~30mins). You don't have to be paranoid about this.

An often overlooked disadvantage of HIIT is the resulting stress on the CNS. HIIT is about equally stressful as weight training of similar intensity and duration so you manage fatigue accordingly.

The verdict? Athletes and performance orientated gym rats should pick a type of cardio that resembles their sport's needs. American football players should incorporate short and intense sprints, while marathon runners should... well, run marathons. Cardiorespiratory training is just as specific as power training.
If you're cutting, HIIT will greatly benefit you, but you need to manage fatigue properly (even moreso than while bulking). Steady state cardio 2-3 times a week for 20-30mins is a less stressful way of burning extra calories, but it's more time consuming and you shouldn't overdo it.

P.S. There are a lot more cardio options. HIIT and steady state cardio are just the ends of the cardio spectrum. Lower intensity intervals, circuit training, etc. are all nice inbetween options and have a combination of the aforementioned characteristics.