Stop the steady state cardio today! Trust me...

dorianaldyn

I trained for two half marathons and didn't lose a pound. I joined here and started counting calories and also did the first half of INSANITY and lost 15 lbs. I'm sure diet had something to do with it too, but I know the HIIT helped.

Having said that, I will begin training for a marathon in the new year, so I have a lot of steady state cardio in my future! But I'll mix in some weight work during that training and once the marathon is over I'll probably go back to HIIT.

ETA: Oh yeah, and I should mention that this weekend I just did my 3rd half marathon after losing 15 lbs and doing the 1st half of INSANITY and I beat my PR by 10 minutes! Considering my first two half marathons were within 1 minute of each other for time, 10 minutes is a huge difference.

Martoch

http://www.fitnessblender.com/v/exercise-detail/Body-Firming-HIIT-Workout-for-Beginners-Beginner-HIIT-Home-Workout-Routine/a5/

ItsCasey

The best workout anyone can do is one they enjoy and will CONTINUE TO DO!

Speak for yourself. To me, the "best" workout is the one that consistently gets the best results. That's what motivates me to continue doing something. Screw what I "enjoy." Being fit is about getting outside of your comfort zone, and that means doing things you don't really want to do. When it comes to fitness, no one makes constant progress by just doing the things they like.

"Cardio" has a place in everyone's fitness routine, but that doesn't mean it has to be steady-state, run-for-an-hour-on-a-treadmill cardio, just like "strength training" doesn't have to mean pulling a 2X bodyweight deadlift. A person can get an excellent cardio workout from 10 minutes of kettlebell ballistics if his/her programming, technique, and loading parameters are correct. The same person can get a good strength workout from bodyweight-only exercises, without lifting a single pound of iron. The fastest way to stall your progress is to allow yourself to be an absolutist, in any direction.

It's a weakness of mind and will (not to mention a product of our instant gratification society) to believe that if you don't enjoy a workout, you won't be able to convince yourself to do it again.

jodiebarrette

I love love love HIIT on the treadmill! And at the track! I still do steady state distance runs just because I like running with friends as well as entering races...15k this weekend as a matter of fact. Doing HIIT has taken minutes off of my race times too! Plus its good for my heart! So many benefits!

I've increased my distance speeds with HIIT as well and it's great to run with a friend for sure.
Good luck this weekend! (or did you mean this past weekend?)
[/quote]

It is this weekend - and thank you!

Martoch

The best workout anyone can do is one they enjoy and will CONTINUE TO DO!

Speak for yourself. To me, the "best" workout is the one that consistently gets the best results. That's what motivates me to continue doing something. Screw what I "enjoy." Being fit is about getting outside of your comfort zone, and that means doing things you don't really want to do. When it comes to fitness, no one makes constant progress by just doing the things they like.

Wow...will you marry me? Haha! I couldn't have said it better myself.

waldo56

HIIT is for people that don't use their recovery more productively.

When strength training has dibs on your recovery, LISS is the way to go.

dym123

I tried to explain this to my ortho doc, because of my arthritic knees he wanted me to stop doing HIIT and stick to the elliptical and swimming. #1 I did not want to join a gym, didn't have the extra money, #2 I did not want to pay hundreds for an elliptical (see #1). It wasn't easy but I was about to modify my workout around my knees, still getting a good workout without all the jumping and hopping and now he doesn't even bother arguing with me because I'm losing the weight (which is good for my knees) and I'm taking better care of of my knees.

Yogi_Carl

How do you log your HIIT sessions in MFP?

I totalled all the minutes I did at low level, e.g. 150 bmp
Then totalled all the minutes I did at high level, e.g. 180 bpm
Took an average = total bpm divided by total minutes
Then put that average into this website:

http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/heart-rate-based-calorie-burn-calculator.aspx

Not sure how accurate that was but it came out with about 360 calories for a 20 minute HIIT run with two minute warm up and cool down runs; HIIT section was 30 second sprint against 90 second walk/run.

Hope that helps.

sunsnstatheart

I love running. I just wish my old self could do more of it. I do sprint for the last 300 to 500 meters of my runs though. Before I moved and was running with friends it was a great way to determine who bought the first round of post-run beers.

rml_16

The best workout anyone can do is one they enjoy and will CONTINUE TO DO! If that means someone runs on the treadmill for an hour and they enjoy it but they despise weights, they will continue. If someone loves weights and hates the treadmill, then they will do it. If the only thing you are looking for in a workout is calorie burn, you're doing it wrong.....

This.

Keto_T

bump for later

csuhar

I definitely think both have their place. I've always been something of a sprinter, able to put out some pretty good speed for a brief amount of time. But my job requires more steady-state type cardio for my evaluations (semi-annual 1.5 mile run test).

I actually found a way that used interval training to help me reach the steady-state standards by doing the intervals, which seemed more natural to me, and then reducing the amount of rest time between them. That way, I was stringing together a series of 0.25-mile sprints into a 1.5-mile distance. That worked for me. To this day, if I want to increase my speed by a set amount, I'll use the same protocol. I know others who do better by running the distance and simply trying to increase their speed / decrease their time for each 1.5-mile run.

Something that I found interesting during training was when we did a hybrid of the two. The overall course was about 3 miles long, but there were points along the course where we would stop and do intervals, two of which I still remember. One was running to the top of a hill and jogging back down in a relay. The other was running around a traffic loop, again in a relay where we rested until it was our turn again. I think it worked for us for a few reasons. First, it trained us to be able to be in a "steady state", fatigued condition and then burst with intervals. But the other reason is that physical training trains us MENTALLY, too. It's been brought up here by at least one other person. When you're doing the interval, you're pushing hard to make it through a relatively brief but strenuous period of exertion. Your mind focuses on getting through that phase. But when you're doing the steady-state, it helps to train you with the disipline to get through a long grind, where your focus is putting one foot in front of the other. By combining the two, everyone in the class, whether they preferred intervals or steady-state training, wound up having to train outside of their comfort zone.

michellekicks

While HIIT is definitely superior for body composition, steady state cardio still has it's place. Saying steady state cardio useless is just wrong.

I love being able to run for 2 hours or more (outside, mind you. I want to shoot myself after 10 minutes on a dreadmill)... so I came to MFP to learn how to eat so that I can do that. In fact, one of my races was pretty freaking cool - I ran from the beach to the top of a mountain... 10 miles distance with 4700' elevation gain in 2 1/2 hours. Can't do that kind of thing unless you train for cardio endurance.

myofibril

I'm of the opinion that for the vast majority of people and contexts, choosing whichever one you enjoy more is the best method.

As for which is better, that's quite debatable.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/steady-state-versus-intervals-and-epoc-practical-application.html

And a good answer from Alan Aragon here:
http://www.simplyshredded.com/nutrition-expert-alan-aragon-talks-with-simplyshredded-com.html

Word.

_Wits_

I'm just in for the free hugs.


Carry on.

Sarauk2sf

I'm just in for the free hugs.


Carry on.

Work for you?

bestbassist

Then there are those of us who do HIIT for an hour or more to try to burn calories. Perhaps we're in a special group all our own.

auroranflash

It works for me but it doesn't work for everyone. Rock and Sidesteel pwned the thread on the first page, no need to say much more.

MoreBean13

You're not the boss of me!

Seriously, I run for an hour all the time. I don't think its that big of a deal. Certainly not worth a thread telling me I'm training wrong.

WestCoastPhoenix

Then there are those of us who do HIIT for an hour or more to try to burn calories. Perhaps we're in a special group all our own.

Then you're doing HIIT wrong. Up the intensity if you're able to do it that long...unless this is just a lame joke.