HIIT or moderate cardio

[sasa]

what is better for fat loss...HIIT or low to moderate cardio doing? And why?

 

[mbrooke5]

what is better for fat loss...HIIT or low to moderate cardio doing? And why?

From what i've read and heard from other females on this board...HIIT is better mainly because you allow your body to recover instead of hitting a point where you start buring muscle, which could happen while doing cardio at a strong steady pace. Look in the female board and there is some good infor there on the why's and how's.

 

[impulse3k]

Why not do both? I lift every other day, do HIIT in the mornings on my off days and do normal cardio in the morning on my lifting days. I'm currently cutting though.

 

[psychedout]

Honest to god, I don't know which is better. I've done both and get dammed near the same thing for fat loss.

However, I don't really like to do hiit because I find it takes way too much away from my leg workouts. Walking on the incline for 45 minutes is cool with me. My legs are fine for leg workouts with that type of cardio.

 

[FigureSkater]

HIIT shouldn't be done more than 3 days a week. Try alternating the two if you are the type of person who can do cardio daily without losing muscle mass.

Another idea: isntead of straight up and down intervals, try doing building intervals. For example, on a treadmill, I'll warm up (at 6.0 mph) for a few minutes and then do one minute of each of the following speeds (these are MY speeds, you may need to go faster/slower, so start at what is your "easy" pase that you feel like you could do for a long time): 6.5 mph, 7 mph, 7.5 mph, 8 mph...repeat for 20 min (5 times) and then cool down. It really helps build endurance and it's especially good if you have a quick recovery time.

 

[Daisy_Girl]

This answer is found in several places on the board. I am moving this to the Cardio Board, since it is not a Diet-related question.

Here are some links, but it is VERY useful to do a search before posting a generic question. Or even spend 15 minutes looking for prior posts.

http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=316666

http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=339863&highlight=HIIT

http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=334712&highlight=HIIT

http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=317756&highlight=HIIT

http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=311687&highlight=HIIT

 

[Synpax]

Fat loss. Long (30-45-60 minute) cardio exercises in the 60% of max HR area.

Just have some protein afterwards.

Forget the HIIT thing.

 

[Jesse1]

From everything that I could find with a Google search (and there were dozens of articles), it would seem that the best would be moderate to high intensity long duration cardio, if you have the time and are up to it. It is the total amount of calories you burn durining your workout and afterwards that counts, not just fat calories. Also, with long duration moderate to high intensity you are getting additional benefits of aerobic and endurance improvement. This is stirctly for weight loss and fitness and has nothing at all to do with body building and how it affects muscle, although many articles said that it will not hurt muscle development as long as your diet is correct.

 

[jj3778]

I've been seeing good results with 20-25 minute sessions. If I do cardio after a workout I get directly to it: jog @ 5mph for 2 minutes then alternate between running at 8.5mph for 1 minute and walking at 3.5mph for 1 1/2 minute. If it's in the morning before breakfast or before I've done anything else then I'll warm up for 5 minutes just walking at a fast pace, like 4mph. So, it's either 20 minutes or 25.

 

[ChefWide]

For me its all a matter of time: I do HIIT because I cant spend an hour doing cardio, I do it mostly on an eliptical with 6 peaks in 20 minutes. I am HAMMERED by the end of that fest, one minute at 40 rpm one at 85, repeat.