HIIT before strength training...thoughts?

I tend to do 40 to 45 minutes of weights followed by 40 to 45 minutes on the elliptical (Precor AMT) with a 30 second-90 second and repeat HIIT session. I really go very hard the last 10 to 15 minutes increasing the resistance way up high so that by the time I finish, I am so hot and sweaty, that all I can do is go into the sauna to "cool" down.

Not for me because hiit done properly will take a lot out of me.

Whatever your focus is, do that first. If your goal is fat burning and calories so hiit first. If you want muscles do lifting first. That's "dumbed down language" but you get the point

BeginnersBootcamp wrote: »

Whatever your focus is, do that first. If your goal is fat burning and calories so hiit first. If you want muscles do lifting first. That's "dumbed down language" but you get the point

That's just incompletely true too.

Is 10 min enough to consider it an HIIT 'workout'? just wondering. (OP does a walk, then interval run, then cooldown)

I have always been under the impression that HIIT is a workout in itself and with the intensity of it, would be pretty beat to do a full workout.

biziebun wrote: »

I'm 33 male 6'3" 285lbs

So here's my routine.

15 mins on treadmill, which consist of:
-2.5 mins walking
-10 min of ...60 sec speed 7 and 60sec speed 3.5, but I don't let my HR drop below 140
-2.5 min walking cool down
I build up a good sweat going and I do enjoy it.

Then off to strength training for 50mins.

I would say that what you are doing is really cardio level of exertion. Not trying to be smart or anything here.

To get to HIIT, it is a 90% and above heart rate max application. HIIT is so draining on your system that lifting isn't really gonna be a desire.

My HIIT workout is 3 min warm up and then 30 seconds at 14 or so mph on cardio glide for 30 seconds. That gets me up to around 92-97 % HRM

I do 7 rounds of that. It is only 21 minutes of actual HIIT but it is all out effort. 3 minutes of cool down

It is a sweat dripping off your elbows workout

I get around 155-165 heart rate spikes during the sprints.

My trainer started me on that program and no lifting that day. When you really slam it hard on the HIIT, that is gonna do
ya.

Again, no disrespect here, just I think you are a bit below HIIT intensity.

Try that little 21 minute HIIT cycle. It seems so easy. Just 21 minutes... I scoffed at it myself.

But it kicked my butt hard.

Good luck.

biziebun wrote: »

professionalHobbyist wrote: »

biziebun wrote: »

I'm 33 male 6'3" 285lbs

So here's my routine.

15 mins on treadmill, which consist of:
-2.5 mins walking
-10 min of ...60 sec speed 7 and 60sec speed 3.5, but I don't let my HR drop below 140
-2.5 min walking cool down
I build up a good sweat going and I do enjoy it.

Then off to strength training for 50mins.

I would say that what you are doing is really cardio level of exertion. Not trying to be smart or anything here.

To get to HIIT, it is a 90% and above heart rate max application. HIIT is so draining on your system that lifting isn't really gonna be a desire.

My HIIT workout is 3 min warm up and then 30 seconds at 14 or so mph on cardio glide for 30 seconds. That gets me up to around 92-97 % HRM

I do 7 rounds of that. It is only 21 minutes of actual HIIT but it is all out effort. 3 minutes of cool down

It is a sweat dripping off your elbows workout

I get around 155-165 heart rate spikes during the sprints.

My trainer started me on that program and no lifting that day. When you really slam it hard on the HIIT, that is gonna do
ya.

Again, no disrespect here, just I think you are a bit below HIIT intensity.

Try that little 21 minute HIIT cycle. It seems so easy. Just 21 minutes... I scoffed at it myself.

But it kicked my butt hard.

Good luck.

I would agree it's not HIIT level...I just didn't know what else to call it. Also when I said strength training I meant compound workout. Sorry for the choice of words/description isn't the best, as this is all new to me.

However I did try compound workout today for 45mins and didn't have the energy and my leg were shaking that I could barley run.

So I think in conclusion, I'm going to break my workout in sessions. 1 day will be full cardio and the next will be compound training. My main goal is to shed some unwanted weights and from what I've read, strength training is the way to do it

Any input on that?

That is just about exactly what I paid a trainer to set me up on.

Over 18 months I have lost 125 lbs net and have around 12 pounds of added muscle mass from the initial Polar Body Comp analysis when I joined the gym

I will share that I was told to eat maint calories on hard lifting days. That way I have enough calories those days to build muscle

Defecit of 500 calories and burn of 500 minimum calories on cardio days.

The math works out to around 1.5 lbs a week loss of fat and the opportunity to add 1/4 lb of muscle per week.

The cardio days are way more than 500 burnt off

Today was a 1512 calorie burn bike ride. It will work. It is just hard work.

Form really is my foremost concern, even with my piddly bodyweight workouts, so I prefer to do them first as well. just because if I do them after even a moderate interval cardio session on a machine, I'm more likely to get sloppy.