HIITs vs steady cardio

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  • zdyb23456
    zdyb23456 Posts: 1,706 Member
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    I started jogging/running last December... I started out only being able to jog super slow for 2-3 minutes. This past summer I got up to running about 4.8 miles in about 45 minutes. So a bit better than 10 minute miles, but it seemed so matter what, I couldn't do any better than that. It felt hard and I couldn't get any faster to reach my goal of 9 minutes miles for 5 miles (an 8K race).

    I decided to try out HIIT since I wasn't getting anywhere and I wanted to add short mileage on my "off" days just to reach my step goals on my Jawbone (weird, I know). Anyway, it's been amazing! My long runs have improved so much and I've surpassed my goal of 9 minutes miles! I just did 8:32 miles for 5 miles yesterday! Now I do a 30 minute HIIT run 2 days a week and a 40 minute HIIT workout 1 day a week, then a long run 2 days a week.

    Anyway, this is all to say even if you aren't burning as many calories doing HIIT, you will improve your performance/endurance for your long runs by either going faster or longer or both!
  • a_stronger_me13
    a_stronger_me13 Posts: 812 Member
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    h7463 wrote: »
    Capt_Apollo wrote: »
    Francl27 wrote: »
    Thanks. I'll do some steady cardio on lifting days then.


    i think most people do the short 20 minute HIIT sessions on lifting days, and save the LISS (low intensity steady state) work for it's own day. but i could be wrong.

    OMG NO! When I'm done lifting, I'm DONE! HIIT happens on a different day....lol.
    I also currently do my cardio sessions on non-lifting days. I lift heavy, and I rather feed, rest, and heal my muscles before doing anything else. For me, this works great, and the muscles are growing nicely... :)

    So you use your recovery day between lifting days to fatigue your body with HIIT sessions rather than actually rest? That's kinda silly logic but if it's working for you, it's mostly personal preference anyway.

    I personally do 15-20 minutes of HIIT work either on the rower or hill sprints after I'm done lifting on lower body days (squat day and deadlift day) and do LISS for 30-45 minutes on upper days and recovery days to assist in mobility and active recovery.
  • matchsetgame
    matchsetgame Posts: 11 Member
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    I do a longer HITT style class that's 60 minutes and often I'll run or bike for a bit before the class. I do it long enough to get my muscles loose, not get too tired, and sort of wake up as well. It might compliment your feeling that 25 minutes isn't enough.
    When deciding what to do, just remember to keep things diverse and also keep at it. You'll get to the point where you won't be quite as beat after your short HITT sessions (unless you up your weights.)
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
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    shutupandlift308 wrote: »
    h7463 wrote: »
    Capt_Apollo wrote: »
    Francl27 wrote: »
    Thanks. I'll do some steady cardio on lifting days then.


    i think most people do the short 20 minute HIIT sessions on lifting days, and save the LISS (low intensity steady state) work for it's own day. but i could be wrong.

    OMG NO! When I'm done lifting, I'm DONE! HIIT happens on a different day....lol.
    I also currently do my cardio sessions on non-lifting days. I lift heavy, and I rather feed, rest, and heal my muscles before doing anything else. For me, this works great, and the muscles are growing nicely... :)

    So you use your recovery day between lifting days to fatigue your body with HIIT sessions rather than actually rest? That's kinda silly logic but if it's working for you, it's mostly personal preference anyway.

    I personally do 15-20 minutes of HIIT work either on the rower or hill sprints after I'm done lifting on lower body days (squat day and deadlift day) and do LISS for 30-45 minutes on upper days and recovery days to assist in mobility and active recovery.

    a lot of people will do hiit on non-lifting days. they just have to be smart about it. usually they try and do it on a day that is not before or after a leg day.

  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    matchsetgame wrote: »
    I do a longer HITT style class that's 60 minutes and often I'll run or bike for a bit before the class. I do it long enough to get my muscles loose, not get too tired, and sort of wake up as well. It might compliment your feeling that 25 minutes isn't enough.
    When deciding what to do, just remember to keep things diverse and also keep at it. You'll get to the point where you won't be quite as beat after your short HITT sessions (unless you up your weights.)

    The point of effective HIIT is to always be quite beat after a short session because no matter the improvement the intensity still needs to go up enough to reach 86+% max heart rate which is pretty taxing within a short period of time.

  • h7463
    h7463 Posts: 626 Member
    edited November 2014
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    shutupandlift308 wrote: »
    h7463 wrote: »
    Capt_Apollo wrote: »
    Francl27 wrote: »
    Thanks. I'll do some steady cardio on lifting days then.


    i think most people do the short 20 minute HIIT sessions on lifting days, and save the LISS (low intensity steady state) work for it's own day. but i could be wrong.

    OMG NO! When I'm done lifting, I'm DONE! HIIT happens on a different day....lol.
    I also currently do my cardio sessions on non-lifting days. I lift heavy, and I rather feed, rest, and heal my muscles before doing anything else. For me, this works great, and the muscles are growing nicely... :)

    So you use your recovery day between lifting days to fatigue your body with HIIT sessions rather than actually rest? That's kinda silly logic but if it's working for you, it's mostly personal preference anyway.

    I personally do 15-20 minutes of HIIT work either on the rower or hill sprints after I'm done lifting on lower body days (squat day and deadlift day) and do LISS for 30-45 minutes on upper days and recovery days to assist in mobility and active recovery.
    Nope. I work a 4-day split. Lifting is heavy weights and all supersets. Training time about 1 hour each session. I don't really need cardio, because I only have 60 sec rest between sets. That's enough to get my heart rate through the roof. But I will add some sessions on my stationary bike on occasion.

    This is my week:
    Arms
    Plyo exercises, legs
    optional rest or cardio
    Back
    Chest/shoulder
    HIIT
    Rest

    Works great for me. Also has enough recovery time between muscle groups, and all is healing and growing nicely.. :)

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