Cardio first, or Weights first?

[eXcessiveForce]

2 to 3 5 to 10 minute sessions of HIIT worked into your superset is still HIIT.

Most people don't lift with enough intensity so by they time they are done they are mostly recovered if they are already in decent athletic condition.

[Ghost]

Originally Posted by eXcessiveForce

2 to 3 5 to 10 minute sessions of HIIT worked into your superset is still HIIT.

Most people don't lift with enough intensity so by they time they are done they are mostly recovered if they are already in decent athletic condition.

i dont agree mate sorry thats just interval training at that point not HIIT.

ill agree to disagree with you i think on this one.

[eXcessiveForce]

I've got clients doing it, and it works for them.

But it is not easy.

[world_peace0]

First I am trying to lose about 15 pounds, then I want to gain some weight of muscle, but I don't want to be buff or for looks, I want to be using the muscle for power.

[world_peace0]

Also I want to try HIIT, what can I do. I don't have access to a gym, but am willing to try everything on my own.

[Tom Yum]

Check out www.crossfit.com

[eXcessiveForce]

HIIT is easy. Just find a track, or a good place to run and sprint as fast as you can for a minute and then walk for 30 seconds to a minute and a brisk pace. Repeat for 10 to 15 minutes.

You should feel like your going to throw up by the end of the HIIT, you should be completely spent after the sprint. If not you are not pushing yourself hard enough.

[world_peace0]

can you also do body weight exercises during hiit ............

Originally Posted by eXcessiveForce

HIIT is easy. Just find a track, or a good place to run and sprint as fast as you can for a minute and then walk for 30 seconds to a minute and a brisk pace. Repeat for 10 to 15 minutes.

You should feel like your going to throw up by the end of the HIIT, you should be completely spent after the sprint. If not you are not pushing yourself hard enough.

[jonbey]

Research suggests that weight training first is better for building muscle, but ideally your should do your weight training and cardio on separate days.

[Filero]

LOL it must be frustrating when you get competing advice from so many people, all of whom obviously know the subject. Here's my take, to keep things confusing...

First, I agree that strength training and aerobic cardio are best done on different days. On a day you're doing strength/power work, which gets your body to try to maximize for IIb fibers and maximum CNS engagement in a short time, doing aerobic cardio which gets your body to maximize for type I fibers and long-haul endurance makes no sense. However, HIIT is extremely compatible with strength training. Do your strength training first, then a (say) 5 minute HIIT finisher ... HIIT training reinforces your strength work in that HIIT also trains strength, speed, and power, and hits the aerobic and anaerobic cardio systems to boot. Save your aerobic cardio for a different day ... or consider minimizing your aerobic cardio and seeing if your fat loss doesn't accelerate with an all-HIIT program (I know that made a big difference for me, plus HIIT is more consistent with my goals as a fighter).

A bit more on HIIT, this article also has a good bibliography: www.cyclecambridge.com/Smith-HIIT.pdf Some of the questions about "which burns more calories" is addressed in this paper

[Filero]

Originally Posted by world_peace0

can you also do body weight exercises during hiit ............

It's HIIT if you are doing work periods where your heart rate is very high, separated by rest periods. You can do body weight exercises during HIIT, but it is relatively easy to go to a point where your muscles aren't keeping up, which in turn causes your heart rate to drop. With a little care, one can do HIIT with bodyweight exercises no problem. Some examples:

100 burpee challenge:
Do sets of 10 burpees (with pushups and jumps), with rest periods as short as possible in between each set of 10. Shoot for a goal of 100 burpees in under 10 minutes. Let me know if you don't know what a burpee is.

Work Capacity 101 (from Ross Enaimit):
10 rounds of:
- 5 pullups
- 10 medicine ball slams
- 15 burpees
- 20 jumping jacks

Finish the round above in 75 seconds. Rest 45 seconds. Do 10 rounds total.


Tabata sprints:
8 rounds of 20 seconds all-out sprints, separated by 10 seconds rest. This is an absolute killer! 4 minutes total, this is a fantastic finisher to your strength workout. Works nicely on the aerdyne and the elliptical machine with the arm levers (not so good on the regular elliptical w/o arm levers).


These kinds of routines are all-bodyweight, but your heart will be jumping out of your chest during the work periods. Ease into this kind of training if you haven't done it before, and make sure your doctor thinks you're healthy enough for it.

[Maxx]

Some recent research that I've read had stated that interval training, depending on the intensity of course, can elevate your metabolic rate for as much as 42 hours following exercise. High intensity lifting has been shown to have similar effects. As mentioned in previous posts it all depends on what you want to achieve.

My personal spin on it is if you are an athlete and are training for a specific event, train each aspect separately with several hours inbetween training sessions. This will allow you to focus all of your metal faculties on your performance. One right after the other can metally fatigue you though and reduce the overall effect, assuming that endurance and conditioning are your goals.

If you are trying to burn fat though and choose to do both weights and cardio one right after the other, weights first, cardio second. The weight training will deplete glycogen levels in the muscle and liver and will force the body to rely on other energy sources... fat.

Also, ExcessiveForce, where did you find the information regarding THR (target heart rate) being obsolete? I'd love to read the research.

[wado_kai]

refering back to the original question, without a shadow of a doubt weight should be done first (in some circumstances for specificity this can obvisouly not be true though, in your case it is though).

a few people are getting caught up in this hiit and calories burnt... you need to think exactly what calories it actually is you are burning up. calories are just the a measurement of energy, you need to think whats fueling it - carbs or fats. taking that into account it is plainly obvious to see for this guys purpose weights should be done first.

[jonbey]

More important that calories etc. is to think about why your are training with weights, and how your body responds to that training, and then why you are doing cardio. Although it is best to do weight first, it is better (IMHO) to do them on separate days. Overtraining is all too easy especially if you trying to do weights, cardio, martial arts classes several times a week.

[KirkhamsEbooks.]

I agree everything I've read thus far indicates weight training has more beneficial effects than straight cardio including increasing resting metabolic rate

Rick