Too Much HIIT Cause Cortisol- Fact or Fiction

I am working out with a trainer currently and alot of his exercises is HIIT workouts. 5 Round, 7 Rounds and etc.

I read alot that too much HIIT cause cortisol.

Then what is a good amount of HIIT to prevent this.

Replies

  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
    No more than 2x per week, to get ready for an A race. As part of your training plan, not just because.
  • jlklem
    jlklem Posts: 259 Member
    Yes, it’s a stress hormone, but stress also leds to adaptation
  • raven56706
    raven56706 Posts: 918 Member
    Azdak wrote: »
    “Cortisol” has become a four-letter word, but in fact, it’s actions are complex and dynamic, and the average person should not try to overthink it because there is about a 90% chance they will be wrong.

    The questions are: are you comfortable with the HIIT exercise routine and is it designed to meet your goal? A lot of trainers emphasize HIIT because it’s the trendy thing to do, and many of their clients expect it. IMO, HIIT workouts should not be the base of one’s routine—they should be the occasional “sharpeners” to push you to the next level.

    But they have their place. If you are doing more “base” workouts on your own, then 2 HIIT type workouts in a week is pushing it IMO, but it’s not necessarily too much. It really depends on your body, your goals, etc.

    But I wouldn’t evaluate the routines based on fears of “cortisol”.

    my goals are basically to burn fat. Thats what my trainer and i have the goal for. some of the exercises are mostly push ups, squats, jumping jacks and some weights.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
    mmapags wrote: »
    Azdak wrote: »
    “Cortisol” has become a four-letter word, but in fact, it’s actions are complex and dynamic, and the average person should not try to overthink it because there is about a 90% chance they will be wrong.

    The questions are: are you comfortable with the HIIT exercise routine and is it designed to meet your goal? A lot of trainers emphasize HIIT because it’s the trendy thing to do, and many of their clients expect it. IMO, HIIT workouts should not be the base of one’s routine—they should be the occasional “sharpeners” to push you to the next level.

    But they have their place. If you are doing more “base” workouts on your own, then 2 HIIT type workouts in a week is pushing it IMO, but it’s not necessarily too much. It really depends on your body, your goals, etc.

    But I wouldn’t evaluate the routines based on fears of “cortisol”.

    Agree with everything you said here. I also think HIIT is the most misused protocol out there today. It is primarily a protocol for increasing Vo2 max but it is used as a calorie burner and muscle building strategy. It's not really all that effective for those things compared to other methods.

    Every word of this.
  • raven56706
    raven56706 Posts: 918 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    raven56706 wrote: »
    Azdak wrote: »
    “Cortisol” has become a four-letter word, but in fact, it’s actions are complex and dynamic, and the average person should not try to overthink it because there is about a 90% chance they will be wrong.

    The questions are: are you comfortable with the HIIT exercise routine and is it designed to meet your goal? A lot of trainers emphasize HIIT because it’s the trendy thing to do, and many of their clients expect it. IMO, HIIT workouts should not be the base of one’s routine—they should be the occasional “sharpeners” to push you to the next level.

    But they have their place. If you are doing more “base” workouts on your own, then 2 HIIT type workouts in a week is pushing it IMO, but it’s not necessarily too much. It really depends on your body, your goals, etc.

    But I wouldn’t evaluate the routines based on fears of “cortisol”.

    my goals are basically to burn fat. Thats what my trainer and i have the goal for. some of the exercises are mostly push ups, squats, jumping jacks and some weights.

    Then you are doing the wrong exercise routine and also looking in the wrong place to drive your fat loss.
    If you seriously want exercise to be the driving force behind creating your calorie deficit then be prepared to dedicate a whole lot of time to it and HIIT isn't suitable for long duration exercise.


    ok then what are you suggesting? i am obviously on a calorie deficit so thats primary step one
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
    raven56706 wrote: »
    sijomial wrote: »
    raven56706 wrote: »
    Azdak wrote: »
    “Cortisol” has become a four-letter word, but in fact, it’s actions are complex and dynamic, and the average person should not try to overthink it because there is about a 90% chance they will be wrong.

    The questions are: are you comfortable with the HIIT exercise routine and is it designed to meet your goal? A lot of trainers emphasize HIIT because it’s the trendy thing to do, and many of their clients expect it. IMO, HIIT workouts should not be the base of one’s routine—they should be the occasional “sharpeners” to push you to the next level.

    But they have their place. If you are doing more “base” workouts on your own, then 2 HIIT type workouts in a week is pushing it IMO, but it’s not necessarily too much. It really depends on your body, your goals, etc.

    But I wouldn’t evaluate the routines based on fears of “cortisol”.

    my goals are basically to burn fat. Thats what my trainer and i have the goal for. some of the exercises are mostly push ups, squats, jumping jacks and some weights.

    Then you are doing the wrong exercise routine and also looking in the wrong place to drive your fat loss.
    If you seriously want exercise to be the driving force behind creating your calorie deficit then be prepared to dedicate a whole lot of time to it and HIIT isn't suitable for long duration exercise.


    ok then what are you suggesting? i am obviously on a calorie deficit so thats primary step one

    For example, yesterday I burned 1,163 extra calories (give or take 2.5%) riding a bike for two hours. It was sunny, and I did a route with a lot of twisty hills because riding downhill through switchbacks is so much fun. Guess how I'm about to spend my lunch hour?

    Find something you enjoy, that makes time stand still.
  • MT1134
    MT1134 Posts: 173 Member
    The poison is in the dose. Too little of something and there's no effective stimulus for change. Too much of something is likely to severely damage or kill. Both are equally harmful in the right context.

    I say that because it's important to know that a HIIT routine can be great or it can be harmful. You have to look at the bigger picture.

    There's many documented studies of HIIT being very effective for endurance runners. There's also counter studies showing the opposite.

    Both are true.

    Don't try to base your program on cortisol alone. There are many other factors that play a part in how you adapt.

    It's important that you're following a program that is containing itself following guiding principles with tactics to match.

    If your trainer is just giving you things to do to satisfy his ego or your curiosity an keep up with the latest trends then it's possible he/she doesn't quite understand what they are doing.

    However, it's also important that you put some trust into your trainer and allow them to take you through their process with all things considered.

    Program hopping isn't advised. Find something and stick it out for at least 6 to 12 weeks before changing programs.

    Random training gets you random results.
  • mojavemtbr
    mojavemtbr Posts: 65 Member
    Any type of overtraining will raise Cortisol levels
  • filovirus76
    filovirus76 Posts: 156 Member
    As a runner I use various workout routines to increase fitness. HIIT (ie. sprints) are only one of the routines in my repertoire. I also incorporate distance runs, tempo runs, LIIT (low intensity interval training), spreed trials, recovery runs, etc.

    In my opinion, HIIT should not be an everyday workout no matter what type of traing. It puts a lot of stress on the body.

    Also, make sure your trainer understands exactly what HIIT is. Many people consider HIIT as any type of interval training. High intensity can usually only be sustained for 30 seconds to a minute at most.