Mixed Messages from Weight Loss Articles on MFP

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rustychord
rustychord Posts: 166 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I just finished reading an article on burning calories using HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) techniques (HIIT for beginners:Week 1-4). The article states that daily mindless cardio routines are not the way to lose weight and goes on to explain the HIIT theory, and provides workouts as well. Ok great...ready to go!

However...there is a link in the article that says "How to Target Your Heart Rate & Get Into the Fat Burning Zone". I clicked there and it states pretty much the opposite of HIIT, that you have to get to and maintain your heart rate at 60-70% of max to produce the best results for losing weight.

I'm not sure what to believe will work best for me and I wish there weren't so many conflicting methods on the same web site. I want to make sure that when I spend an hour of my busy day at the gym that I am using the best techniques to maximize my weight loss and avoid plateaus.

Help?
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Replies

  • jkwolly
    jkwolly Posts: 3,049 Member
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    Weight loss is from calories. Eating less than you burn. CICO.

    Exercise is for health. Review your resources, there's a lot of bunk out there.
  • gotblues66
    gotblues66 Posts: 58 Member
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    jkwolly wrote: »
    Weight loss is from calories. Eating less than you burn. CICO.

    Exercise is for health. Review your resources, there's a lot of bunk out there.

    Yes, that. There's conflicting info on almost everything around fitness and nutrition. Diet > exercise for weight loss. Exercise helps since it burns some calories. I don't pretend to know the science but my take on it is HIIT burns in a shorter period of time, and is recommended over steady state lower intensity cardio for better retention or recovery from weight training. It seems like a bang for the buck thing.
  • Rogstar
    Rogstar Posts: 216 Member
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    I was looking for the specific article, and all I could find were Jessica Smith's 4 week plans that include a day of HIIT for beginners each week, was that it? I couldn't find the link to the heart rate zone website so maybe I didn't get to the same article.

    Usually her full weekly plans are very balanced, tend towards beginner moves, and include HIIT, steady state cardio, bodyweight and dumbbell strength training and stretching. I'd been following her YouTube channel for a couple of years, and just noticed she started programs here. Anyway, all of these workouts have benefits to you in different ways. Not one is better than the other; they all complement each other.

    There's plenty of blogs and other articles out there that will promote one over the other, but I'd say do what you enjoy. If you don't like steady state and that makes you dread going to the gym to get on the treadmill, don't do it! If you want to dance or kickbox or skip for your cardio, do that instead!

    And as always, you lose weight by being mindful of calorie intake and having a doable deficit, not by exercising alone, though of course exercising can help create a deficit.

    Good luck!
  • rustychord
    rustychord Posts: 166 Member
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    Rogstar wrote: »
    I was looking for the specific article, and all I could find were Jessica Smith's 4 week plans that include a day of HIIT for beginners each week, was that it? I couldn't find the link to the heart rate zone website so maybe I didn't get to the same article.

    Usually her full weekly plans are very balanced, tend towards beginner moves, and include HIIT, steady state cardio, bodyweight and dumbbell strength training and stretching. I'd been following her YouTube channel for a couple of years, and just noticed she started programs here. Anyway, all of these workouts have benefits to you in different ways. Not one is better than the other; they all complement each other.

    There's plenty of blogs and other articles out there that will promote one over the other, but I'd say do what you enjoy. If you don't like steady state and that makes you dread going to the gym to get on the treadmill, don't do it! If you want to dance or kickbox or skip for your cardio, do that instead!

    And as always, you lose weight by being mindful of calorie intake and having a doable deficit, not by exercising alone, though of course exercising can help create a deficit.

    Good luck!

    Thanks for the input. The other article was titled "How to Lose an Extra Half Pound per week" at the bottom of the article you found (HIIT for beginners: week 4)

    I am watching what I eat and monitoring calories using MFP. 3 days a week i do strength training and the other 3/4 days I do cardio type workouts. I dont mind going to the gym no matter what exercise I'm doing. I guess, being an engineer, I want to maximize my workouts and if I"m doing something thats not going to benefit my weight loss as doing something else...i'd like to know.

    I just am getting confused by so many conflicting articles on here saying so many different types are the 'best way to lose weight'.

  • legsnbacon
    legsnbacon Posts: 122 Member
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    bsgraham10 wrote: »
    I just finished reading an article on burning calories using HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) techniques (HIIT for beginners:Week 1-4). The article states that daily mindless cardio routines are not the way to lose weight and goes on to explain the HIIT theory, and provides workouts as well. Ok great...ready to go!

    However...there is a link in the article that says "How to Target Your Heart Rate & Get Into the Fat Burning Zone". I clicked there and it states pretty much the opposite of HIIT, that you have to get to and maintain your heart rate at 60-70% of max to produce the best results for losing weight.

    I'm not sure what to believe will work best for me and I wish there weren't so many conflicting methods on the same web site. I want to make sure that when I spend an hour of my busy day at the gym that I am using the best techniques to maximize my weight loss and avoid plateaus.

    Help?

    lift
  • crzycatlady1
    crzycatlady1 Posts: 1,930 Member
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    If you're trying to lose weight then your focus should be on your calorie intake, and making sure you're hitting your weight loss calorie targets ie how much food you're eating. Exercise is good for health and giving you a few extra calories to eat, but in the scheme of weight loss it has a pretty minimal impact.
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
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    jkwolly wrote: »
    Weight loss is from calories. Eating less than you burn. CICO.

    Exercise is for health. Review your resources, there's a lot of bunk out there.

    Except insofar as exercise can increase what you burn so it has an actual place in weight loss if you want to build a routine for yourself.

    OP, you can lose weight by controlling what you're eating versus what you're burning but just working out and eating whatever isn't going to work. Cardio can be good for your health and will also enable you to eat a little more some days which is a big upside when calories start to get spare. The majority of my workouts are heavy cardio because it burns the most calories out of my options. I control my calories in with my food choices and my calories out is supplemented by my workouts.
  • annacole94
    annacole94 Posts: 997 Member
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    Which do you like to do more? Find the exercise you enjoy - or at least the exercise you tolerate better than other exercise. For me, it's cycling to work (although that doesn't happen as much in winter), yoga, and kettlebells. Between those activities, I have a well rounded, healthy fitness routine. If you like HIIT, do that. If you hate HIIT, you can be healthy and lose weight without it.

    The best way to lose weight is the one that you actually do.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    Most fitness blogs are written by writers, not people who actually know anything. There also isnt' enough solid research to prove things one way or the other. Weight loss happens in the kitchen, fitness happens at the gym.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
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    bsgraham10 wrote: »
    I just finished reading an article on burning calories using HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) techniques (HIIT for beginners:Week 1-4). The article states that daily mindless cardio routines are not the way to lose weight and goes on to explain the HIIT theory, and provides workouts as well. Ok great...ready to go!

    However...there is a link in the article that says "How to Target Your Heart Rate & Get Into the Fat Burning Zone". I clicked there and it states pretty much the opposite of HIIT, that you have to get to and maintain your heart rate at 60-70% of max to produce the best results for losing weight.

    Ha ha, they're both wrong.

    So is 90 % of what you'll read about weight loss and fitness online.

    Losing weight comes from eating fewer calories than you burn. That's all there is to it. You can lose weight without any exercise at all. You'll have to restrict your eating a lot to do that; exercising lets you eat more food and still lose weight. Chances are even if you exercise you'll have to eat less than you're used to, though.

    HIIT is something a lot of woo and fad people have latched onto. In reality it's a great way to get race ready after you've spent years building a solid base. If you actually do the math out you'll see that it's not going to burn a whole lot of calories compared to doing something you enjoy at a moderate pace.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
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    lorrpb wrote: »
    Most fitness blogs are written by writers, not people who actually know anything. There also isnt' enough solid research to prove things one way or the other. Weight loss happens in the kitchen, fitness happens at the gym.

    I think weight loss happens on the trail, and weight gain happens in the kitchen. For sure, all the time I spend skiing and biking and hiking is time I don't spend eating chocolate cake. Even if I wasn't burning any calories at all from exercise, it's keeping me from eating them. The kitchen is where all the temptations (like iced cream) live.
  • tmoneyag99
    tmoneyag99 Posts: 480 Member
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    Weight loss is from a deficit of calories. How you get there depends on you.

    Some people choose diets designed to maximize satiation.
    Some people choose to

    Fitness is the same way.
    Some people can only walk 2miles a day. It's very demoralizing for them to hear "that's not good enough" The truth is them getting up and walking 2miles a day when the month prior they weren't walking at all, THAT IS a HUGE CHANGE. They will get better.

    As with anything the theory of overload and adaptation is at play. The only real change occurs when you are slightly uncomfortable. THEN once you are comfortable you change something that is a healthy change. Slowly but surely you improve.

    If you can do HIIT... then do that.
    If you want to run a marathon do that.

    It's also about goals. More cardio = longer and leaner muscleclature with great endurance.
    More resistance = equals stronger muscles that may be bulkier based on your genetics (If your genetics dictate long and lean, then you won't be bulky. But resistance training results in thicker muscle fibers than endurance/cardio training)



    We only have 3 options, backward, stagnant, or forward. Challenging yourself and constantly challenging your comfort zones regardless of what they are is the only way to go forward.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,996 Member
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    annacole94 wrote: »
    Which do you like to do more? Find the exercise you enjoy - or at least the exercise you tolerate better than other exercise. For me, it's cycling to work (although that doesn't happen as much in winter), yoga, and kettlebells. Between those activities, I have a well rounded, healthy fitness routine. If you like HIIT, do that. If you hate HIIT, you can be healthy and lose weight without it.

    The best way to lose weight is the one that you actually do.

    Amen. I know given the same amount of time running burns more calories than walking but I stopped running when I left the military and no one could make me run anymore. However, I love to walk outside in nature, so that's my go to exercise.
  • jessiferrrb
    jessiferrrb Posts: 1,758 Member
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    TR0berts wrote: »
    My advice: ignore all of the MFP blogs. They tend to be rather myopic in viewpoint - and sometimes factually incorrect. I think the last one I read was on body recomposition - a few of the things the author stated one must do? Not required at all.
    rainbowbow wrote: »
    Ignore all the articles on MFP.

    They are the same nonsense you'll see anywhere else online as they are written by contracted individuals who cater to the diet and fitness industry.

    I know the MFP community cares about this stuff, but MFP the brand cares about clicks, traffic, ads, and.... money. They won't be gaining tons of traffic with "Hey guys, eat less calories it's that simple" blog and article posts.

    completely agree with the posters above. you can learn a lot more from the community than you can from the content of the mfp blog.

    also +1 for the best fitness regime being the one you enjoy doing.

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