HIITs vs steady cardio
Francl27
Posts: 26,371 Member
I'm going to use the machine's numbers, I know they're not accurate, but it's a good point of comparison...
When I do HIITs, I'm just beat after 25 minutes, and will burn about 280-300 calories. But when I do steady cardio, I can go for an hour and burn 500-550... I know that HIITs are supposedly better for you, but from a pure calorie burn point of view... is it really worth it? Time is typically not an issue, but I need the calorie burn.
It's just a bit disheartening to go all out and be totally beat after 25 minutes to burn less than 300 calories.
When I do HIITs, I'm just beat after 25 minutes, and will burn about 280-300 calories. But when I do steady cardio, I can go for an hour and burn 500-550... I know that HIITs are supposedly better for you, but from a pure calorie burn point of view... is it really worth it? Time is typically not an issue, but I need the calorie burn.
It's just a bit disheartening to go all out and be totally beat after 25 minutes to burn less than 300 calories.
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Short answer - You continue to burn calories thought the day(recovery) after your done with HIIT and there's fat loss benefits. You generally only burn what you did during exercise with steady/slow paced cardio. Both are good to do. Research and google.0
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Interesting - I guess I'll just alternate each one. Thanks!0
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OK, first. You do not stop burning calories after you stop a LSD (long slow distance...or steady state cardio session). If you want to know how long you continue to burn calories, wear a heart rate monitor. After you drop back into your normal zone, you are back to burning based on your RMR (resting metabolic rate). That's the same way for a HIIT session, by the way. Once you have dropped back into your normal zone, your burn rate is the same as your normal activity level.
Now, which do you prefer? What's your goal. HIIT isn't "better." HIIT workouts are just different. Why do you think endurance athletes rely on LSD workouts? You can't train for a marathon by doing only HIIT workouts.
Your idea of alternating is a good one, but you can change your workouts based on your goals. So, the short answer is what do you want to accomplish?
Me? I'm trying to get back into competitive triathlon shape. HIIT workouts can have their place in the off season, or mid-season as an addition to my longer sessions. It's all about what you want.0 -
My goal is just to lose a couple pounds at this point, and increase my calorie burn over time (so I can burn more calories in the same time)... So performance I guess?0
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Then you are so close to your goal, it doesn't matter. HIIT workouts will get you FIT in a lot of ways that LSD workouts don't. I would use LSD workouts to supplement your HIIT training.0
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gamesandgains wrote: »Short answer - You continue to burn calories thought the day(recovery) after your done with HIIT and there's fat loss benefits. You generally only burn what you did during exercise with steady/slow paced cardio. Both are good to do. Research and google.
This, this and this. Steady cardio is nice in rest days but for beneficial exercise HIIT and lift stuff!
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Something is better then anything but there are multiple studies lately showing that HIIT is better the Slow steady cardio. 1st as already stated is it elevates your metabolism and gives you a elevated calorie need for recovery. 2 if you are doing any Weight Training as part of you weight loss regime HIIT is extremely complimentary as it works in and Anaerobic zone which will not be contradictory to you muscle gain.
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you should be doing both, if your goal is to be a faster runner. you want to build endurance and speed, but you can't be expected to do both at the same time. do one long and slow run a week, one medium tempo run, and 1-2 speed sessions a week.0
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Thanks. I'll do some steady cardio on lifting days then.0
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It doesn't matter. Do whichever one you enjoy doing. I never liked HIIT. I don't do cardio at all now, though. When I first lost 50ish lbs 4-5 years ago, I solely did MISS. Had I lifted heavy while doing this and monitored protein intake, I probably would have gotten to my current body fat goal. Instead I got to the mid 20s. But I still lost a whole lot of weight. Although my approach was not smart: I relied on exercise to create my deficit. Stopped exercising, ate the same and hten more, gained weight.0
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The residual burn of HIIT (EPOC) is not as significant as it is cracked up to be, but there is a great benefit to HIIT that makes it well worth it. It's a great way to improve your VO2 max and does it better than steady state, which means after a while you would be able to do steady state at a higher intensity for longer times with less perceived exertion = higher calorie burn. I like to to include a couple of HIIT a week. The trick is to push yourself really hard on HIIT sessions.0
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Capt_Apollo wrote: »
Yeah but I'm just too spent for the HIIT lol.0 -
Capt_Apollo wrote: »
When I was still doing cardio, I only did LISS or MISS for 15-30 minutes after weights. If I did HIIT I'd be hampering my recovery too much. but I've since stopped doing cardio altogether because it's just not fun and isn't needed for body composition.0 -
Just do whichever exercise you enjoy the most. If you can't keep doing the exercise it's pointless to ask which one burns slightly more calories. Just do something you'll keep doing.0
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Just do whichever exercise you enjoy the most. If you can't keep doing the exercise it's pointless to ask which one burns slightly more calories. Just do something you'll keep doing.
I like both, that's why I asked (ok maybe 'like' is a strong term, let's say I like being able to eat more because of it).
I also lift weights, even though I hate it.
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amusedmonkey wrote: »The residual burn of HIIT (EPOC) is not as significant as it is cracked up to be, but there is a great benefit to HIIT that makes it well worth it. It's a great way to improve your VO2 max and does it better than steady state, which means after a while you would be able to do steady state at a higher intensity for longer times with less perceived exertion = higher calorie burn. I like to to include a couple of HIIT a week. The trick is to push yourself really hard on HIIT sessions.
Gold star.
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Depending on what you goals are and time limitations, could you do some of both during the week?
I do not do HIIT, but I do different types of training runs like @Capt_Apollo mentioned to improve both speed and endurance. I'll have one long run (10-14 miles) a week, a shorter pace run, intervals, and an easy recovery run throughout the week. Along with that, I lift following a 5x5 program 2-3 times a week.0 -
Yes I push myself hard... that's why lately I haven't lasted longer than 25 minutes, and the last 5 minutes are tough.
Yes I'll do both... it's colder out now anyway so I'm less likely to go for a walk, so I'll just go to the gym every day and alternate.0 -
Capt_Apollo wrote: »
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...
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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!
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Capt_Apollo wrote: »
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.
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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.)0 -
shutupandlift308 wrote: »Capt_Apollo wrote: »
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.
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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.
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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.shutupandlift308 wrote: »Capt_Apollo wrote: »
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.
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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