Thread: HIIT and ordinary cardio

Cardio doesn't really burn many calories anyway, but yes - do intense exercise first, and lower intensity exercise second.

As gaz said.. In a word, yes, check out built's article Daredevils are Shredded ( sry can't link on my blackberry for some odd reason, lil help??)

Daredevils are Shredded

^Good find.

I read over built's article yesterday and I gave it a try today.

Just reading about "lactic threshold" really made me think about if I was doing HIGH INTENSITY or not. Needless to say, today's cardio/hiit rocked.

if you dont feel sick it sucks!

Originally Posted by Gazhole

Cardio doesn't really burn many calories anyway, but yes - do intense exercise first, and lower intensity exercise second.

what burns alot of calories then. i know its a noob question but ive always been told cardio burns alot of calories and thats how i lost 40 lbs

Depends. What kind of cardio are you talking about in what kind of time frame?

Akira.. I swore by hill repeats and 8 seconds of glory for the longest time, now I throw some low intensity in at the end for good measure.. Sometimes after a good workout if time permits too..

BODOM:
Well a lot of people that are doing that high of a level of cardio have either muscle they don't mind losing, or are vewry overweight.. Unless you were doing some derivation of HIIT.. What was it that you did to drop ALL that weight? How was your diet??

to drop the weight i cut back alot of calories. like alot.

i went to about 1500 a day and used to do cardio 6 days a week for about 35mns on an elliptical. plus lifting of course.

i did variations of hiit on the ellipticals but after i hit 200 lbs i quit that cycle.

now 3 days out of the week i run on the treadmill for about 15 mns and do some hiit intervals increaseing from 6mph for 2 minutes to 8.5mph for 1 minute.

You lossed weight cuz of the caloric deficit. It wouldnt surprise me what so ever, had you done the same thing, but didnt do cardio.

An old wise man told me that 20 mins of walking burns more fat than jogging for 20 mins.

Would someone like to highlight the science behind this?? Has it got to do with the lower demand for energy meaning that the body burns off fat instead of glycogen right?

Originally Posted by bodom

now 3 days out of the week i run on the treadmill for about 15 mns and do some hiit intervals increaseing from 6mph for 2 minutes to 8.5mph for 1 minute.

That's not HIIT. See:

To HIIT or not to HIIT?

Originally Posted by T_man

An old wise man told me that 20 mins of walking burns more fat than jogging for 20 mins.

Would someone like to highlight the science behind this?? Has it got to do with the lower demand for energy meaning that the body burns off fat instead of glycogen right?

You might burn off a few more grams of fat, but fewer calories. Ultimately it's all about the deficit.
For what it's worth, 20 minutes of either burns off what, 100-150 calories? Big deal. You're better off just not eating the snack bar.

Originally Posted by Built

You might burn off a few more grams of fat, but fewer calories. Ultimately it's all about the deficit.
For what it's worth, 20 minutes of either burns off what, 100-150 calories? Big deal. You're better off just not eating the snack bar.

what if you lay off 4 snack bars, and then finnish it off with 20 mins brisk walk so you can eat that fish n chips?

It all adds up. If you take 80-100 calories off every meal thats 500 cal deficit isnt it?? Or is that 80-100 cal not worth it cos it's so miniscule? :P

It all counts.

Originally Posted by WillBrink

That's not HIIT. See:

To HIIT or not to HIIT?

according to you its not. high intensity interval training can be done at many different intensities. thats probably why they never refer to it as maximum intensity interval training.

im easing in to hiit on treadmills so im starting small and working my way up

Originally Posted by bodom

according to you its not.

It's not period. Read the data. HIIT is a type of interval training, but most interval training is not HIIT. End of story.

whatever you say big guy.

I think HIIT is best done outside in "real life". Here are a couple of reasons why (e.g running):
1.) Even if it's hard on your joints, it will make them stronger as you're not doing it for long lengths of time like marathon runners. I have found running outside to help repair my groin more than running on treadmills. Also on treadmills it hurts my knees more because im doing a harder landing as compared to running outside.
2.) On treadmills, it's not really a natural movement but more like just jumping up and down I find. There's no real stress on your legs to pull your whole body weight forward and upward in an explosive fasion.
3.) Most important reason: you can control the speed and intensity instantly. I've thought, what if you're doing HIIT sprints at level 14-15 but your legs cant run anymore before you finnish the set time, but yet takes a while to bring the level down? You'll just buckle and injure yourself. It's also much more explosive when running outside rather than waiting for the speed to bump up - you just go.
4.) I have found running outside to improve my speed whereas on the treadmill did not.

Originally Posted by T_man

I think HIIT is best done outside in "real life". Here are a couple of reasons why (e.g running):
1.) Even if it's hard on your joints, it will make them stronger as you're not doing it for long lengths of time like marathon runners. I have found running outside to help repair my groin more than running on treadmills. Also on treadmills it hurts my knees more because im doing a harder landing as compared to running outside.
2.) On treadmills, it's not really a natural movement but more like just jumping up and down I find. There's no real stress on your legs to pull your whole body weight forward and upward in an explosive fasion.
3.) Most important reason: you can control the speed and intensity instantly. I've thought, what if you're doing HIIT sprints at level 14-15 but your legs cant run anymore before you finnish the set time, but yet takes a while to bring the level down? You'll just buckle and injure yourself. It's also much more explosive when running outside rather than waiting for the speed to bump up - you just go.
4.) I have found running outside to improve my speed whereas on the treadmill did not.

I totally agree IMO the best HIIT is done on either a track or grass.. Or turf.. Yeahhh turf is the besttt

Bodom, Will's right on this one.

T-man, outside is better to be sure, IF you're a trained sprinter. If not, stick with the treadmill. I do mine on two side-by-side treadys, one at a walk and one at a sprint. I just straddle the one at a sprint when I start, and to stop. I grab the handles to mount and dismount the thing.

Okay, that sounds dirty.

Originally Posted by Built

Bodom, Will's right on this one.

I have many faults. Being wrong is not one of them.

Originally Posted by T_man

I think HIIT is best done outside in "real life". Here are a couple of reasons why (e.g running):
1.) Even if it's hard on your joints, it will make them stronger as you're not doing it for long lengths of time like marathon runners. I have found running outside to help repair my groin more than running on treadmills. Also on treadmills it hurts my knees more because im doing a harder landing as compared to running outside.
2.) On treadmills, it's not really a natural movement but more like just jumping up and down I find. There's no real stress on your legs to pull your whole body weight forward and upward in an explosive fasion.
3.) Most important reason: you can control the speed and intensity instantly. I've thought, what if you're doing HIIT sprints at level 14-15 but your legs cant run anymore before you finnish the set time, but yet takes a while to bring the level down? You'll just buckle and injure yourself. It's also much more explosive when running outside rather than waiting for the speed to bump up - you just go.
4.) I have found running outside to improve my speed whereas on the treadmill did not.

You can't do true HIIT on a treadmill (unless you have two running at the same time as Built does) for the simple reason the machine can't speed up and slow down fast enough to do it. Other then that, it can be done on stationary bike, stair stepper (what I often use) and other gizmos. Running on hard pavement is a no go for me personally. If you can do it as you are, Tabata's are killer.