HIIT before strength training...thoughts?

biziebun

I'm 33 male 6'3" 285lbs

So here's my routine.

15 mins on treadmill, which consist of:
-2.5 mins walking
-10 min of ...60 sec speed 7 and 60sec speed 3.5, but I don't let my HR drop below 140
-2.5 min walking cool down
I build up a good sweat going and I do enjoy it.

Then off to strength training for 50mins.

rmitchell239

Strength first. Use up your bodys glucose to fuel those lifts, get more gains. Then when your body has used the glucose go into fat burning mode with the cardio. Otherwise, youre using glucose to fuel cardio, id rather use fat, and fat to fuel lifts which is inefficient. Im not a biochemistry major but it makes sense.

AsISmile

I would say strenght first, but mostly because for me I would cool off too much after HIIT cardio and doing strenght would be uncomfortable.
However, don't forget your warming up if you do strenght first.

jemhh

Most people are going to say to do HIIT after strength training or to do it on a different day. IMO you can do it whatever day you would like, as long as you are happy with the results you are getting.

I would rather smack myself in the face with a 2x4 than do HIIT before strength training but I'm not a big HIIT person in general so YMMV.

Azdak

rmitchell239 wrote: »

Strength first. Use up your bodys glucose to fuel those lifts, get more gains. Then when your body has used the glucose go into fat burning mode with the cardio. Otherwise, youre using glucose to fuel cardio, id rather use fat, and fat to fuel lifts which is inefficient. Im not a biochemistry major but it makes sense.

Except for the part that it's wrong.

Most people will not come anywhere close to "using up their (sic) glucose", esp with the workout routine described by the OP You don't get to randomly pick fuel substrates when you exercise, and fuel use is not an "all or nothing" process. Substrate mix is determined by the type, duration, and intensity of the exercise.

Doing 15 min of cardio on a treadmill will have no effect on anything, regardless of when or how it is performed.

rushbabe0214

I always lift first. There's no way I could give a lifting session all I had after doing a HIIT routine. Nope.

rybo

If you are doing HIIT properly, it should be used as a finisher after strength training

JoRocka

You're lifting is going to suffer tremendously if you do HIIT first.
I would recommend doing HIIT on a totally separate day if you can- but if you can't- do it after you lift.

JoRocka

Doing 15 min of cardio on a treadmill will have no effect on anything, regardless of when or how it is performed.

15 min of cardio =/= HIIT training

If they are properly doing HIIT training- then yes- a 12 min HIIT session will greatly impact a high volume squat session.

I maintained my fitness for almost 2 years PURELY on the basis of HIIT training and a moderately physical outside job. It works. And should be combined with a lifting program with wisdom- you can really mess yourself up over doing it using HIIT. Ask me how I know.

_incogNEATo_

The theory behind HIIT is that you're giving all you've got for short bursts. You should be pretty well spent by the end of a workout like that. With that being said, I think you should do that after your workout instead of starting your lifts without a full tank.

rmitchell239

Azdak wrote: »

rmitchell239 wrote: »

Strength first. Use up your bodys glucose to fuel those lifts, get more gains. Then when your body has used the glucose go into fat burning mode with the cardio. Otherwise, youre using glucose to fuel cardio, id rather use fat, and fat to fuel lifts which is inefficient. Im not a biochemistry major but it makes sense.

Except for the part that it's wrong.

Most people will not come anywhere close to "using up their (sic) glucose", esp with the workout routine described by the OP You don't get to randomly pick fuel substrates when you exercise, and fuel use is not an "all or nothing" process. Substrate mix is determined by the type, duration, and intensity of the exercise.

Doing 15 min of cardio on a treadmill will have no effect on anything, regardless of when or how it is performed.

I know that its a mix, its always a mix even if you've been working out for 5 hours. Im just saying the relative levels of what is being used. Some people can only do 15 min of cardio on a treadmill, when they get done their heart is thumping and they are gasping for breath, they definitely had an effect on something. Running an all out sprint for 60 sec on the treadmill followed by 30 sec rest and repeat for 15 minutes will have some kind of an effect on your body. The latter being likely a decent workout if you are pressed for time. It would be all dependent on your fitness level but even 15 is a start.

martyqueen52

Azdak wrote: »

rmitchell239 wrote: »

Strength first. Use up your bodys glucose to fuel those lifts, get more gains. Then when your body has used the glucose go into fat burning mode with the cardio. Otherwise, youre using glucose to fuel cardio, id rather use fat, and fat to fuel lifts which is inefficient. Im not a biochemistry major but it makes sense.

Except for the part that it's wrong.

Most people will not come anywhere close to "using up their (sic) glucose", esp with the workout routine described by the OP You don't get to randomly pick fuel substrates when you exercise, and fuel use is not an "all or nothing" process. Substrate mix is determined by the type, duration, and intensity of the exercise.

Doing 15 min of cardio on a treadmill will have no effect on anything, regardless of when or how it is performed.

That's all opinion. Depending on how hard he does in cardio is an other story. And what he considers "strength" training is relevant as well. I wouldn't call benching 200, strength, by any means.

SezxyStef

For me it depends...if it's a leg day I do it after...upper body day I do that after cardio/HIIT

jimmmer

Do the one you feel is most important first.

If you value them both equally, split them out onto different days.

JoRocka

martyqueen52 wrote: »

Azdak wrote: »

rmitchell239 wrote: »

Strength first. Use up your bodys glucose to fuel those lifts, get more gains. Then when your body has used the glucose go into fat burning mode with the cardio. Otherwise, youre using glucose to fuel cardio, id rather use fat, and fat to fuel lifts which is inefficient. Im not a biochemistry major but it makes sense.

Except for the part that it's wrong.

Most people will not come anywhere close to "using up their (sic) glucose", esp with the workout routine described by the OP You don't get to randomly pick fuel substrates when you exercise, and fuel use is not an "all or nothing" process. Substrate mix is determined by the type, duration, and intensity of the exercise.

Doing 15 min of cardio on a treadmill will have no effect on anything, regardless of when or how it is performed.

That's all opinion. Depending on how hard he does in cardio is an other story. And what he considers "strength" training is relevant as well. I wouldn't call benching 200, strength, by any means.

hey now. benching 200 reps or 200 pounds? because my piddly 1 RMP is *only* 185 on bench.

_lyndseybrooke_

Another vote for lifting first, then doing cardio.

BrianSharpe

The most compelling reason to do strength first is to focus on form, while it's improbable that you'd be overly fatigued after 15 minutes on treadmill the variable is your fitness level.

Some people can only do 15 min of cardio on a treadmill, when they get done their heart is thumping and they are gasping for breath, they definitely had an effect on something.

That could just be an indicator of poor aerobic fitness. When I started running I was practically puking after less than a mile......there's no correlation between gasping for breath and depleting glycogen stores.

chivalryder

rmitchell239 wrote: »

Strength first. Use up your bodys glucose to fuel those lifts, get more gains. Then when your body has used the glucose go into fat burning mode with the cardio. Otherwise, youre using glucose to fuel cardio, id rather use fat, and fat to fuel lifts which is inefficient. Im not a biochemistry major but it makes sense.

One major problem with this concept:

While doing cardio, fat is the LAST source of fuel your body uses. It will use every last ounce of glycogen in the body before it starts to use anything else (unless you're doing an extremely long, 3+ hour cardio session).

That all being said, your body stores about 500g of glycogen in the body, or 2000 calories. During a lift session, you will not burn up all of this glycogen, so trying to do a cardio session after to "burn off fat," does not work. You're still using glycogen.

Besides, if you did burn off all of those 2000 calories of glycogen, your body will start eating away muscle before it starts to eat away at the fat. Protein is easier to break down into glucose than fat is, and if you're doing cardio, your body will want that energy asap. It's not going to go the slow way and use fat.

Fat will be burned off during recovery, when you're replenishing the glycogen stores and there's no immediate need for more energy.

emtjmac

My strength training is integrated with my HIIT, I only do functional strength training. Are you talking about free weights specifically? After my HIIT workouts I finish with 15-20 mins of steady state cardio and that always caps the workout nicely while burning some extra calories in the process.

Sam_I_Am77

It's kind of up to you. If you want a high level of strength training performance and work towards setting new personal records, then you definitely want to do HIIT last as it will likely (some people are different) have a negative affect on your lifting performance. If it doesn't matter, then do whatever you enjoy.

Azdak

JoRocka wrote: »

Doing 15 min of cardio on a treadmill will have no effect on anything, regardless of when or how it is performed.

15 min of cardio =/= HIIT training

If they are properly doing HIIT training- then yes- a 12 min HIIT session will greatly impact a high volume squat session.

I maintained my fitness for almost 2 years PURELY on the basis of HIIT training and a moderately physical outside job. It works. And should be combined with a lifting program with wisdom- you can really mess yourself up over doing it using HIIT. Ask me how I know.

No thanks. I'm busy doing an inventory of my diet coke supplies. Then I have my 2 hour elliptical workout to fit in before work.