Cardio: Steady State vs. HIIT

Letitiamcd

I am wondering about everyone's experience regarding Steady State vs. HIIT. To be honest, I hate doing HIIT but I have been doing 3 days of steady state followed by 2 days of HIIT for about 3 months and I don't think I see any significant difference in my fat loss. In the end, I think fat loss probably has more to do with diet than cardio. Thoughts?

sardelsa

This infograph by Steve Hall of Revive Stronger sums it up pretty well. I don't do anything too intense because I find it affects my lifting workouts which could actually affect muscle loss. And yes fat loss will come down to a calorie deficit. Cardio can add to the burn and strength training will help retain muscle as you lose.

FitSeachely

I find HIIT completely wipes me out. I haven’t seen the results steady state cardio has given me in the past by doing it. I am so tired for two days after pushing myself hard that my eating goes off track. I also thinks it stresses my body to the point that it spikes up my cortisol as a stress response which in turns, keeps me from loosing weight. I also think like Sardelsa that too intense of a HIIT session hinders my weight training progress.
Finally, I read somewhere that HIIT is best for people who are within their ideal weight range already. For people who are out of shape and carry a large excess weight, HIIT actually increases their risk of injuries.

Letitiamcd

Thanks for the responses! I think I’m obviously looking for a reason not to do HIIT. I think I need to put extra focus on my diet and stick with my steady state!😜

HoneyBadger302

Fat loss is all about your CI-CO ratio. You are correct, your diet is what is going to make or break losing weight. Cardio just lets you eat a little more and still maintain a deficit, but if you're not logging/weighing/tracking your food, chances are your appetite will also increase with the workouts, stalling weight loss.

If you hate HIIT, then skip it. I've done it sometimes, and find it a nice break. I LOATHE nearly all forms of steady state cardio, so outside of my martial arts, any cardio training tends to be circuit and/or HIIT style training. I don't keep it up year round though as I still don't enjoy it LOL.

I DO enjoy lifting, however, so that I do all the time.

RadishEater

Letitiamcd wrote: »

Thanks for the responses! I think I’m obviously looking for a reason not to do HIIT. I think I need to put extra focus on my diet and stick with my steady state!😜

Definitely do what you said!

The only reason I do a HIIT class is because I like to vary my type of exercise over the week and I just do one day. I also do vary low intensity exercise the next day (horse riding and elliptical) and no strength training.

For losing weight you should focus on the deficit. Exercise gives me bonus calories because I don't eat 100% of them back, but I DO eat more back on high intensity days; hence a smaller deficit, which if you are aiming for weightloss is not that helpful.

Lastly do what exercise is fun to you! Lots of people have recommendations on what exercises are best for weight loss or keeping muscles or toning areas, but unless you have the diet thing down pat, I would just stick with the steady state cardio until you are looking to branch out.