Interval Training

anewme1202

Yeah give it a go and see how you get on. If performed correctly HIIT will not leave you the time to be bored as you'll be too busy recovering in the rest periods. Remember intensity is key make sure the work bit of the intervals is a balls out effort.

Will do!

nick1109

Not a big fan of intervals, they increase appetite, they also have a bigger risk of losing muscle mass. WHich slows down your metabolic rate.

For a beginner, what JNICK gave you is pretty good in terms of ratios. I think it's too short though. I'd start off with 1minute on 2minutes off. As you get better you can cut off 15 seconds from rest time, so you do 1minute on 1min 45 seconds off. Work towards a 1:1 ratio.

Intervals have the complete opposite effect. You're more likely to lose muscle mass doing endless hours of cardio as your body goes catabolic. Also Intervals fire up your metabolic rate and studies have shown they elevate your metabolic rate for up to 36 hours of completion. Because of the intensity the muscles are working harder making it much like a weight session which is why a lot of body buidlers opt for HIIT whilst cutting. Each to their own though of course but adding some intervals into a weight training and steady state regeme coupled with a clean diet is going to aid weight loss and fitness gains.

At the end of the day you cannot out train a poor diet so nailing this should be the first step for most people.

I honestly don't know of one bodybuilder who would opt for HIIT. Think about what you said, "HIIT is like lifting weights." The more often you lift the more likely you'd be catabolic. You can be catabolic by doing too much or too little.

Training legs(normal lifting) + HIIT isn't a good thing, very easy to over train and be catabolic. This is why low intensity is recommended, you're training type 1 muscle fibers for the most part, and lifting is more of Type 2 and 3 muscle fibers.

Sure there might be an increase in metabolic rate after you're done, but you also get hungier and want to eat more. Low intensity doesn't have this effect.

Fair point but I'd much rather look like an athlete that conducts interval type training then steady state. I'm thinking marathon runner vs 100 metre sprinter as extreme examples. Liftng heavy should always be kept on its own days but doing 1 or 2 HIIT sessions on off days for no more than 20 mins for a body builder is ideal, its short, intense and doesn't eat into your bodies reserves like a steady state session would.

Also type 3 muscle fibres? You only have type one and type two?

Both types of cardio are going deplete the body and can cause you to feel hungry but I'd rather spend 20 mins doing HIIT and spend my time doing other things than steady state for 1 hour whilst boring myself stiff.

Its a personal thing really as to which type you do. Some people may enjoy steady state. HIIT does increase metabolic rate though and I'm not convinced many people would argue that.

Also why would steady state not have the same effect on appetite?

nick1109

Not a big fan of intervals, they increase appetite, they also have a bigger risk of losing muscle mass. WHich slows down your metabolic rate.

For a beginner, what JNICK gave you is pretty good in terms of ratios. I think it's too short though. I'd start off with 1minute on 2minutes off. As you get better you can cut off 15 seconds from rest time, so you do 1minute on 1min 45 seconds off. Work towards a 1:1 ratio.

Intervals have the complete opposite effect. You're more likely to lose muscle mass doing endless hours of cardio as your body goes catabolic. Also Intervals fire up your metabolic rate and studies have shown they elevate your metabolic rate for up to 36 hours of completion. Because of the intensity the muscles are working harder making it much like a weight session which is why a lot of body buidlers opt for HIIT whilst cutting. Each to their own though of course but adding some intervals into a weight training and steady state regeme coupled with a clean diet is going to aid weight loss and fitness gains.

At the end of the day you cannot out train a poor diet so nailing this should be the first step for most people.

I honestly don't know of one bodybuilder who would opt for HIIT. Think about what you said, "HIIT is like lifting weights." The more often you lift the more likely you'd be catabolic. You can be catabolic by doing too much or too little.

Training legs(normal lifting) + HIIT isn't a good thing, very easy to over train and be catabolic. This is why low intensity is recommended, you're training type 1 muscle fibers for the most part, and lifting is more of Type 2 and 3 muscle fibers.

Sure there might be an increase in metabolic rate after you're done, but you also get hungier and want to eat more. Low intensity doesn't have this effect.

Fair point but I'd much rather look like an athlete that conducts interval type training then steady state. I'm thinking marathon runner vs 100 metre sprinter as extreme examples. Liftng heavy should always be kept on its own days but doing 1 or 2 HIIT sessions on off days for no more than 20 mins for a body builder is ideal, its short, intense and doesn't eat into your bodies reserves like a steady state session would.

Also type 3 muscle fibres? You only have type one and type two?

Both types of cardio are going deplete the body and can cause you to feel hungry but I'd rather spend 20 mins doing HIIT and spend my time doing other things than steady state for 1 hour whilst boring myself stiff.

Its a personal thing really as to which type you do. Some people may enjoy steady state. HIIT does increase metabolic rate though and I'm not convinced many peope would argue that.

yes you're right, there are 2 "categories" of muscle fibers, 1A and 2A and 2B, the categories are "A and B" which would be 2. I'd give you that, sprinters are more built. They're more muscular. But you have to think of the reasons. Endurance athletes have completely different goals. To maximize your VO2MAX you have to weigh a least as possible. VO2Max is based on weight. Sprinters aren't concerned about that.

You're kind of implying that people who do low intensity cardio can't have muscular bodies. I think at this level, it's kind of irrelevant. It's not like we're trying to cut fat for competition or some other athletic event. In the end it's about calorie burn, and i'll give you that, minute per minute intervals burn more calories. My issue is, I think they're just too intense for the body. Also the majority of calories burned from low intensity is fat, compared to intervals which is glycogen/carbs/sugar. Yes after the workout though you burn a lot of fat due to the elevated HR.

Oh i almost forgot, low intensity can be done daily, so the weekly calorie burn can end up the same as interval training, interval training shouldn't be done daily.

I agree totally that Interval training can't be done daily because of the nature of the training, I also agree that at the level of the OP its not too important either but I just wanted to highlight the options available.

However, Vo2 is not only about weight it is the milliliters of oxygen used in one minute per kilogram of body weight. So you're saying a rower can't have a high VO2 max because he/she weighs 16 stone. Steve Redgrave and James Cracknel would beg to differ.

As for the steady state burning only fat-You really need to do some research. The body does not simply start burning fat first for any type of cardio be it intervals or steady state. When you eat carbs your body stores them in the liver as glycogen ready to use when required. When you start doing any type of cardio the body will firstly use all the available glycogen stores it needs from the liver and you will not start burning any other stores (be it fat or muscle) until the livers stores are depleted.

nick1109

Somebody staying at the same weight though can increase their VO2. I still don't really buy into it. Your body will use glycogen stores firstly if you're doing intervals, steady state, gardening, walking or whatever. Only once you've expended the stores in the liver is the body going to start breaking down cells like fat and argueably muscle. Since at this stage you 'could' be burning up muscle after say 30-45 mins of steady state this makes it counter productive as to keep our metabolic rate high we need to retain as much muscle as possible.

This is the reason you see so many fat skinnies at the gym plodding on the treadmill at the same speed year in year out with the same body composition causing themselves over use injuries. Its the people in the weight room who minimize their cardio and crack the diet who look the best ( obviously in my humble opinion)

PHS7

Going to give interval training a shot. Intervals three times a week and weight training three times a week with regular endurance cardio. I'm hoping this gets me off my plateau.

crisanderson27

Bumping this, interesting arguments.

For the record, I'm all for Tabata...and do 5 minutes worth (not the normal 8...as my gym days are 100% heavy weight strength training) three days a week at the gym as my warm up on the rowing maching.

And for the record...I'm pretty much with Nick on this one.

millercn3

I actually started going to a gym that only does interval training, i love it and feel great and i agree the rowing machine kicks your butt i do it for 60 mins a day and its a full body work out and with weights as well.

DaveRCF

Using a rowing machine for interval training allows you to really max out your workout but in a safe manner, as long as you maintain your form. After doing intervals on my Concept II ergometer, I a) can barely stand up, b) want to have a nap, and c) feel like a million bucks once I've recovered.

Intervals are a MUCH better workout than what we used to call LSD: long, slow distance. More challenging? Absolutely. Better results? Absolutely. Come to think if it, that relationship is pretty much true for any training.

anewme1202

Once again, thanks to everyone for their suggestions on interval training.
Last night at the gym, I had my first "real" go after the discussion on here and frankly, I'm not even sure how I'm walking today :happy:

I did my intervals on the elliptical and O....M....G, did that kill - in a good way. You guys were right, great workout and that worked up quite a sweat. I did 30 secs full out, 1:30 recovery and went for 16 minutes. My legs were burning, my heart and lungs screaming, but it felt great. This morning was just some core work and pilates before it's back to the intervals tomorrow.

Keep the suggestions coming, I appreciate it all