HIIT or distance

[boom ting]

OK so heres the situation, I'm doing weights 3 days a week (looking to gain weight) and on the alternate days doing cardio. I am going to switch my normal 40 min run for HIIT. However what I want to know is should I now do all my cardio sessions (3 in all) as HIIT or mix it up with long distance runs. Thanks tom

 

[Karky]

long distance runs can quickly start burning protein and muscle instead of carbs and fat.
Can you handle that much cardio while bulking? I would do HIIT.

 

[boom ting]

yeah i'll try just doing HIIT, in answer to your question I love the challenge of cardio so guess I'll just have to handle that much cardio!

 

[Karky]

then you gotta eat!

 

[BigStew]

OK so heres the situation, I'm doing weights 3 days a week (looking to gain weight) and on the alternate days doing cardio. I am going to switch my normal 40 min run for HIIT. However what I want to know is should I now do all my cardio sessions (3 in all) as HIIT or mix it up with long distance runs. Thanks tom

If your trying to gain, 3 HIIT sessions is too much. Even 40 minute runs 3 times a week is too much. I would stick to maybe one or two HIIT session TOPS. As for your long distance runs, those can be very catabolic, so I'd limit those as much as you can. I'm not saying to completely stop doing cardio, because you want to maintain cardiovascular health, but the focus should be on weight training and a well balanced diet.