how much cardio for optimal weight loss?

[Wrangell]

I have been using the bike...do about 2-3 minute warmup...then 5 intervals of 1 minute sprint 2 minute recovery...then do about a 5 minute warmdown. I am usually wiped at the end of it with my legs feeling pretty sore. I usually follow the HIIT workout with an additional 20 minutes on the treadmill at a lower pace.

Sounds pretty good !

Although, I'm somewhat surprised you have anything left in your tank after your HIIT to still be able to do 20 minutes of cardio on the treadmill. Why do you tack on those additional 20 minutes on the treadmill at a lower pace - i.e is there some ' training ' rationale for doing this ?

With respect to your bike....

- Do you stand up ( i.e does the bike have toe traps ? ) during your 1 minute work intervals ......or do you remain seated ?

- What rpm do you maintain for your recovery intervals ?

- Do you alter speed, resistance - or both - during your work intervals ?

- Would there be any value ( fat burning wise ) in maybe doing 7 X 1:2 intervals sets ( instead of 5 ) for a total of 21 minutes of interval set time, combined with a 3 minute warm up and a 5 minute cool down to give you a total HIIT session time of 29 minutes ? That way you could add 6 minutes of additional intervals in exchange for perhaps fewer - i.e only 15 minutes ( instead of 20 ) - on the treadmill at a lower pace.
​

 

[jokerswild1130]

Sounds pretty good !

Although, I'm somewhat surprised you have anything left in your tank after your HIIT to still be able to do 20 minutes of cardio on the treadmill. Why do you tack on those additional 20 minutes on the treadmill at a lower pace - i.e is there some ' training ' rationale for doing this ?

With respect to your bike....

- Do you stand up ( i.e does the bike have toe traps ? ) during your 1 minute work intervals ......or do you remain seated ?

- What rpm do you maintain for your recovery intervals ?

- Do you alter speed, resistance - or both - during your work intervals ?

- Would there be any value in doing 7 X 1:2 intervals sets ( instead of 5 ) for a total of 21 minutes of interval set time, combined with a 3 minute warm up and a 5 minute cool down to give you a total HIIT session time of 29 HIIT session minutes ? That way you could add 6 minutes of additional intervals in exchange for perhaps fewer - i.e only 15 minutes ( instead of 20 ) - on the treadmill at a lower pace.
​

I use a recumbent bike so I remain seated. I usually ramp up the level on the bike from 3 to 12..by the 3rd interval I can only really get the level up to 10. I also alter speed during the interval and basically pedal as hard as I possibly can.

RPM during the intervals usually is around 118 with the level at 10-13. Recovery level is about 90-95rpm.

I plan on ramping up the number of intervals in a week or so.

I really dont have a ton of energy for the treadmill after the HIIT which is why I usually keep the pace fairly moderate for the duration. I do the treadmill after my HIIT for 2 reasons: 1. I figure that my metabolism is running pretty high so why not try and burn some additional calories. 2. Im doing HIIT on my offdays from lifting and considering Im spending about 20-25 minutes roundtrip in the car getting to and from the gym, I want to spend more then 30 minutes there.

 

[Wrangell]

I use a recumbent bike so I remain seated.

Too bad.....cause standing up during a bike ' work interval ' and going flat out is brutal / great ( just ask BikeSwimLaugh about his spinning classes ) !

Can't stand recumbent bikes myself - most of the recumbent bikes I've seen ( i.e in quantity ......in one location ) have been in rehab settings. ...and I won't tell you what one of my favorite trainers called recumbent bikes.

If you have other bike options, I'd choose them first over a recumbent - but that's just me. Then again, if all you have is a recumbent bike, you have to work with what you have.

I'm curious - why don't you use the traditional stationary bikes ( i.e LifeFitness etc. ) at the gym as well ?

I usually ramp up the level on the bike from 3 to 12..by the 3rd interval I can only really get the level up to 10. I also alter speed during the interval and basically pedal as hard as I possibly can

Actually, that sounds pretty darn good.

Better than me, that's for sure ...I usually kept the resistance steady and just pedaled as fast as I could till my legs started burning.

RPM during the intervals usually is around 118 with the level at 10-13. Recovery level is about 90-95rpm.

Again, your work interval certainly sounds demanding - well done ! Though if you're pedaling as fast as you can, your top end pedal speed ( i.e 118 ) probably isn't an issue you have to worry about......pedaling as fast as you can is pedaling as fast as you can after all.

As for recovery intervals, I've always ( and I don't really know where I got this from ) stayed at 80 rpm - which is my warm up rpm as well. A 90-95rpm would be too high for me to recover with I think....at least for me.

I plan on ramping up the number of intervals in a week or so.

A week or so ?

Why not do 7 X 1:2 intervals sets starting ....as of tomorrow ?

Trust me...if you can do 5 X 1:2 today ...you can do 7 X 1:2 tomorrow.

You can do it.

I really dont have a ton of energy for the treadmill after the HIIT which is why I usually keep the pace fairly moderate for the duration. I do the treadmill after my HIIT for 2 reasons: 1. I figure that my metabolism is running pretty high so why not try and burn some additional calories.

That's certainly your prerogative, but if your goal in doing treadmill work is to burn more calories ( and I assume you want to burn as many calories as you can ? ), 20 minutes of low intensity may not be the most efficient way to go about it. You might want to try doing an additional 10 minutes of HIIT instead and therefore be able to forgo the 20 minutes of low intensity treadmill work altogether, or simply do your 20 minutes of treadmill work again - as hard as you can - whether you have a " ton of energy " or not.

2. Im doing HIIT on my offdays from lifting and considering Im spending about 20-25 minutes roundtrip in the car getting to and from the gym, I want to spend more then 30 minutes there.

Let's say you continue to train 6X a week as you do now.

Why not simply do HIIT cardio after each weight workout....i.e 3X a week ( M-F )

Then, on your ' offdays ' do 30 minutes of ' hard as you can ' ss cardio followed by a hard 20- 30 minute HIIT session ...again, about 2 X a week ( M-F )

Then on Day 6 ( Sat ) , simply go for a longer cardio session like a 10 k run or something.

 

[amp89]

Not to butt in... but Wrangell, what do you think of my usual HIIT routine on a tredmill:
-5 minute warmup
-200m or 30-40 sec intervals at 11mph
-200m or 60 sec recovery at 6mph
-5 min warmdown

I usually do the HIIT for 21 minutes total

 

[Wrangell]

Not to butt in... but Wrangell,

Hey, no worries.....it's all good !

Any time you can discuss HIIT.....it's a good day !.

what do you think of my usual HIIT routine on a tredmill:
-5 minute warmup
-200m or 30-40 sec intervals at 11mph
-200m or 60 sec recovery at 6mph
-5 min warmdown

I usually do the HIIT for 21 minutes total

Looks pretty good to me.

First of all, I'm particularly impressed with the fact that you do an 11 mph ' work interval ' - that's not easy ! And a 6 mph is a pretty good clip for a recovery as well IMO ! So, well done on both counts !

Actually, it's pretty close to some of the HIIT protocols we used for hockey. Our work intervals were close to what you do now - with treadmill speeds anywhere from around 10 mph - 12 mph. Only difference is, our players would go beyond 40 seconds ( you do now ) and instead would go for 1 full minute at 10 mph - 12 mph.....we found that they could usually get to 40 seconds with some reasonable effort but those last 20 seconds ( from 40 to get to 60 ... to get to 1 full minute ) took real effort and were real killers and they were hanging on for dear life by the time the minute was up. Oh, and we'd also do what's called a 10 /10 work interval sometimes...which is 1 minute at 10 mph set at an incline setting of 10...something you could try just to mix things up here and there.

And for their recovery interval , they'd actually get off the treadmill and walk around till their heart rate dropped to a pre-determined level which would usually take around 2 minutes or so. That's a work / rest ration of 1:2. Your ratio appears to be very close to that as well. Although, you run at 6 mph for your rest interval...which is harder to do IMO ...so hats off to you amp89 .

Beyond that, while there's nothing wrong with a 21 minute session, you might try and stretch the session out a bit to more to around 30 minutes or so once in awhile, perhaps...

- 3 - 5 minute warm up
- 20 - 25 minutes of interval sets
- 3 - 5 minute cool down​

...but overall, I think it's a pretty challenging HIIT protocol you've got there.

Keep it up....and remember TRAIN HARD !

 

[jokerswild1130]

Too bad.....cause standing up during a bike ' work interval ' and going flat out is brutal / great ( just ask BikeSwimLaugh about his spinning classes ) !

I'm curious - why don't you use the traditional stationary bikes ( i.e LifeFitness etc. ) at the gym as well ?

Let's say you continue to train 6X a week as you do now.

Why not simply do HIIT cardio after each weight workout....i.e 3X a week ( M-F )

Then, on your ' offdays ' do 30 minutes of ' hard as you can ' ss cardio followed by a hard 20- 30 minute HIIT session ...again, about 2 X a week ( M-F )

Then on Day 6 ( Sat ) , simply go for a longer cardio session like a 10 k run or something.

Ive used the recumbant bikes over the traditional model based mostly on comfort and the lack of numbness which I usually end up with on the regular bike. I have used the standup model and tried standing and pedaling but felt off balance and wasnt able to push as hard as I would from a seated position.

I have read on here and elsewhere that HIIT should be done on non-lifting days? Is that not the case? I also read on TNation that HIIT shouldnt be done on consecutive days?

I wish I could do a 10K With being overweight and quitting smoking a little more then 2 months ago after being a smoker for 15 years...my lungs arent quite ready for that challenge. I am working on gradually trying to incorporate some running and increasing the time and distance but I am not even close to being there yet.

The one thing I have noticed is that my quads are getting bigger and toned between the HIIT and probably more likely the squats and leg pressing.

 

[amp89]

Hey, no worries.....it's all good !

Any time you can discuss HIIT.....it's a good day !.

...

Oh, and we'd also do what's called a 10 /10 work interval sometimes...which is 1 minute at 10 mph set at an incline setting of 10...something you could try just to mix things up here and there.

...

- 3 - 5 minute warm up
- 20 - 25 minutes of interval sets
- 3 - 5 minute cool down​

...but overall, I think it's a pretty challenging HIIT protocol you've got there.

TRAIN HARD !

Hey thanks alot wrangell! And I will look into that 10/10 thing. I'm not sure if I could increase that time to a minute though like your hockey players, as towards the end of the session i have to grab onto the bars while it slows down so I don't fly off into a wall! The time issue however, when i said 21 minutes, I meant 21 minutes of intervals with a 5 minute warm up before and 3 minute warmdown at the end. But I'll look into doing 2 or 3 more intervals just to really kick my own ass! But again thanks.

 

[Wrangell]

4 weeks of HIIT at HIIT 4X a weekIve used the recumbant bikes over the traditional model based mostly on comfort and the lack of numbness which I usually end up with on the regular bike..

Well, this is just my personal take on things mind you, but ' comfort ' is way down on my list of concerns when trying to get as hard a cardio workout as I can under my belt. If anything, during most of my HIIT workouts, ' comfort ' is the not even on the radar - in fact, I feel like I'm dying the entire time of my HIIT sessions ! In other words, if I expect to train hard, I expect to be ' uncomfortable ' - and that's under a best case scenario - but that's just me.

As for ' numbness ', i assume it's your butt that gets numb ?

I have used the standup model and tried standing and pedaling but felt off balance and wasnt able to push as hard as I would from a seated position.

That's really odd. " Off balance "......... in what way ?

If you have toe traps on the bike ( did you have toe traps ? ) and you hold fast of the bike handles you should be able to go 100% standing up and leaning forward without any trouble whatsoever IMO. Without toe traps - it's close to impossible to go flat out though. Not only have I done standing up and going 100% on bikes for over 20+ years, almost every kid I've seen doing bike training for hockey can do it too.

I have read on here and elsewhere that HIIT should be done on non-lifting days? Is that not the case?.

I don't see why you can't.

In fact, Alywn Cosgrove - co-author of ' new Rules of Lifitng - has a HIIT protocol for fat loss in which he claims HIIT can easily be done after weight training if you so choose.

And don't forget, when you combine games and high tempo practices, hockey players can do HIIT cardio 6 days a week for a period of 6 months or more.

I also read on TNation that HIIT shouldnt be done on consecutive days?

Why ?

Again, going back to Alywn, his 16 week fat loss program calls for his last 8 weeks to be 4 weeks of HIIT at HIIT sessions 4X a week and wrapping up with the last 4 weeks of HIIT at HIIT sessions 5X a week. So, in the short term at least, and assuming you're fueling properly, consecutive days of HIIT shouldn't be a significant issue IMO. Now if you wanted to plan a cardio schedule for the next 20 years, I'd probably mix up HIIT with some other cardio - something like HIIT 2 - 3X a week and some steady state cardio thrown in on other days.

I wish I could do a 10K

If you can do 30 - 45 of steady state cardio and HIIT cardio as you do - physically - you can definitely do / finish a 10k IMO.

My sense is that you just don't ' think ' you can do it.....that's the difference

Don't sell yourself short jokerswild....you're working hard and obviously have a lot of commitment and discipline to train...you could do a 10k.

With being overweight and quitting smoking a little more then 2 months ago after being a smoker for 15 years...my lungs arent quite ready for that challenge. I am working on gradually trying to incorporate some running and increasing the time and distance but I am not even close to being there yet.

If you keep up your cardio ( and perhaps go a bit harder ), there is no reason your couldn't do a 10k as of May1 IMO.

The one thing I have noticed is that my quads are getting bigger and toned between the HIIT and probably more likely the squats and leg pressing.

Sounds about right.

Keep it up jokerswild....and remember TRAIN HARD !

 

[Wrangell]

Hey thanks alot wrangell! And I will look into that 10/10 thing.

Hey......don't be in any rush to do a 10 /10 - it's brutal !

But it IS something you can shoot for down the road in terms of HIIt and slowly work up to if you like.

I'm not sure if I could increase that time to a minute though like your hockey players, as towards the end of the session i have to grab onto the bars while it slows down so I don't fly off into a wall!

No worries ...they ' hang on ' as well and can barely hold on till the 1 minute is up.

But, you're doing 40 seconds at 11 mph as it is now - which is very very good.

Given that, and given the idea is that you SHOULD be hanging on for dear life as that 1 minute work interval comes to a close - I'm certain you could do 1 minute at 11 mph at your usual incline level.

Don't sell yourself short amp89...with 11 mph HIIT sessions you're training hard now as it is.....give it a try tonight !! And when you hit that 40 second mark tonight and that little voice in your head tells you there is no way in God's green earth you can go till that the 1 minute is up and that you'll die if you go on for even 5 more seconds beyond 40 - you ignore what your mind is telling you and let your body do the talking and you keep going for those extra 20 seconds til 1 minute is up..... ...no ...matter ...what !

The time issue however, when i said 21 minutes, I meant 21 minutes of intervals with a 5 minute warm up before and 3 minute warmdown at the end. But I'll look into doing 2 or 3 more intervals just to really kick my own ass! But again thanks.

Oh...O.K.....I misinterpreted what you said...sorry.

If you're doing a 5+21+3 HIIT workout that's pretty darn good as it is....so all you might need is a bit of fine tuning amp89 to find where your real ' red line ' / near death threshold is.

You want to train so hard with your HIIT that other people in the gym actually stop what their doing, and gather around your treadmill just to watch and applaud cause they're so freakin' impressed !

 

[jokerswild1130]

Well, this is just my personal take on things mind you, but ' comfort ' is way down on my list of concerns when trying to get as hard a cardio workout as I can under my belt. If anything, during most of my HIIT workouts, ' comfort ' is the not even on the radar - in fact, I feel like I'm dying the entire time of my HIIT sessions ! In other words, if I expect to train hard, I expect to be ' uncomfortable ' - and that's under a best case scenario - but that's just me.

As for ' numbness ', i assume it's your butt that gets numb ?



That's really odd. " Off balance "......... in what way ?

If you have toe traps on the bike ( did you have toe traps ? ) and you hold fast of the bike handles you should be able to go 100% standing up and leaning forward without any trouble whatsoever IMO. Without toe traps - it's close to impossible to go flat out though. Not only have I done standing up and going 100% on bikes for over 20+ years, almost every kid I've seen doing bike training for hockey can do it too.

On a normal bike outdoors I've had no problems doing this, I tried it the other night on one of the Lifecycle bikes and felt off balance, and couldnt go as fast or as hard as when I was pedaling from a seated position. Its hard to describe, but I will try again and see how it works.



I don't see why you can't.

In fact, Alywn Cosgrove - co-author of ' new Rules of Lifitng - has a HIIT protocol for fat loss in which he claims HIIT can easily be done after weight training if you so choose.

And don't forget, when you combine games and high tempo practices, hockey players can do HIIT cardio 6 days a week for a period of 6 months or more.



Why ?

Again, going back to Alywn, his 16 week fat loss program calls for his last 8 weeks to be 4 weeks of HIIT at HIIT sessions 4X a week and wrapping up with the last 4 weeks of HIIT at HIIT sessions 5X a week. So, in the short term at least, and assuming you're fueling properly, consecutive days of HIIT shouldn't be a significant issue IMO. Now if you wanted to plan a cardio schedule for the next 20 years, I'd probably mix up HIIT with some other cardio - something like HIIT 2 - 3X a week and some steady state cardio thrown in on other days.


I had read the do HIIT on non consecutive days in a number of articles I read on TNation. More specifically here: TESTOSTERONE NATION - Shredded at Last

On the other hand, he contradicts himself later in the article when he talks about doing HIIT 5x a week.


If you can do 30 - 45 of steady state cardio and HIIT cardio as you do - physically - you can definitely do / finish a 10k IMO.

My sense is that you just don't ' think ' you can do it.....that's the difference

Don't sell yourself short jokerswild....you're working hard and obviously have a lot of commitment and discipline to train...you could do a 10k.




If you keep up your cardio ( and perhaps go a bit harder ), there is no reason your couldn't do a 10k as of May1 IMO.

Thanks! I just havent been able to run for any sustained period of time yet. I have noticed my lung capacity improving from not smoking as the weeks go by, but Im not sure if I am there yet. As the weather gets warmer, I will go and hit the high school track in the neighborhood and see if I can run a mile or half mile and take it from there.



Sounds about right.

Keep it up jokerswild....and remember TRAIN HARD !

Wrangell I appreciate the words of wisdom and the support. I figure I am on a long road and shouldnt expect my physique to turn around overnight. Support like this definately helps keep me motivated and on track.

 

[jokerswild1130]

Couldnt figure out how to get my responses above to not show up in part of the quote...answers to your questions are included in your post.

 

[Wrangell]

Wrangell I appreciate the words of wisdom and the support. I figure I am on a long road and shouldnt expect my physique to turn around overnight.

That's an important point, because I think a lot of guys get very frustrated in their progress of training because they simply have made the fatal mistake of setting up what I would call ' unrealistic expectations' for themselves.

But it works the other way around too. Guys like yourself who do just a super job of training day in day out 6X a week and are motivated, committed, disciplined to train often sell themselves short and 9 at times ) tend to grossly under appreciate what they've been able to do in their training so far and what's more - grossly underestimate what their body is capable of doing next if pushed properly.

In your case, completing a 10 k seems improbable. In amp89's case, doing a 1 minute work interval at11 mph is a stretch. Whether you guys can or can not do either - your minds' certainly seem 100% convinced you can't. It 's been my experience, your mind is usually the first source of feedback you embrace to tell you that you either you can't do something or that something is impossible during training long before your body tells you that you can't do something.

To me, successful training is 80% mental.

Support like this definately helps keep me motivated and on track.

The only person who can really motivate you is you ( see my signature quote ) - so pat yourself on the backjokerswild and keep up the good work you've been doing so far.

Anyone who weight trains, does HIIT and long steady state cardio 6 days a week deserves to be admired IMO. Kudos !

 

[amp89]

BLAH... I did the 60 second intervals with 90-120 second recovery periods at 11 mph (the last two intervals were at 10.5 and 10.3 because I was scared I was going to fall off). It was so brutal, but I am so happy I did it. Thanks for that motivation Wrangell.

 

[jokerswild1130]

Well I took your suggestions and did HIIT after my full body workout tonight and bumped it up to 7 intervals from the 5 original. That truely kicked my ass. I noticed that right from the beginning I wasnt able to maintain the levels or RPMs that I did the night before and had to take it down to ranging between 5-8 in terms of the levels. I'm not sure whether that was due to it being after my FBW and my body and legs being pretty exhaused from weight training or it was from hitting HIIT 2 nights in a row. Tomorrow is my day off, so I will determine which one it was when I do HIIT after my FBW on Friday.

 

[Wrangell]

BLAH... I did the 60 second intervals with 90-120 second recovery periods at 11 mph (the last two intervals were at 10.5 and 10.3 because I was scared I was going to fall off).

It was so brutal, but I am so happy I did it. Thanks for that motivation Wrangell.

Hey, way to go amp89 !! Hate to say " I told you so ", but......

What can I say.......1 minute work intervals at 11 mph - nicely done !

As you say, it IS brutal ...but then again, that's the idea .You want to push yourself right to the edge during those work intervals ........and you did just that. Congrats.

Kudos amp89.....seems you can do more than your mind is giving your body credit for.........keep pushing the envelope.

 

[Wrangell]

Well I took your suggestions and did HIIT after my full body workout tonight and bumped it up to 7 intervals from the 5 original. That truely kicked my ass.

Hey jokerswild......that's great news !!! Way to go !

Congrats on taking your HIIT up a notch ( i.e to 7 intervals ) Doing 7 ' hard ' intervals sets is really tough sledding at best IMO...well done !

I don't know about you, but I feel like a million bucks when I'm in the locker room after a " kick ass ' workout like that...especially when I previously thought I couldn't do that kind of workout.

I noticed that right from the beginning I wasnt able to maintain the levels or RPMs that I did the night before and had to take it down to ranging between 5-8 in terms of the levels.

Makes sense.

Play it by ear for awhile and do some trial and error till you find that interval set, intervals duration, interval intensity etc. that works best for you.

I'm not sure whether that was due to it being after my FBW and my body and legs being pretty exhaused from weight training or it was from hitting HIIT 2 nights in a row.

Tough call...probably a bit of both I suspect. But, if I had to bet on only one, the FBW may have had a more immediate adverse impact on your HIIT.

Tomorrow is my day off, so I will determine which one it was when I do HIIT after my FBW on Friday.

Good to hear.

And , this is just a suggestion mind you, but try and give that upright traditional stationary bike another chance. I know it's not your favorite type of bike, but if you can find one with toe traps and if you can try and slowly getting comfortable standing up in those traps during a work interval, I think you'll find you can eventually get a really ' kick ass ' workout on a traditional stationary bike.....just ask BSL about his experience in spinning classes.

Another thought is a rower.

I just love rowing both for steady state and HIIT workouts ( I have one at home ) . While rowing isn't a weight bearing cardio workout , it does engage your upper body so you get a full-body workout and it's one of the best calorie burning machines out there. You'll notice you don't see rowers being used very much at the gym. There's a good reason for that IMO. I think it's because rowing is hard.....and most people tend to avoid hard workouts. But, my philosophy is that there is more to life than just exercising endless hours in the gym, so you want to train to get the maximum results in the gym in the minimum amount of time. And to me, to get maximum results in the minimum amount of time, it means when you train, you train hard...as in " train hard or go home " !

 

[jokerswild1130]

the rower is an interesting idea...Im gonna have to try and incorporate that for HIIT maybe 1-2 times a week to switch it up.

So if my FBW is really wiping me out before I do HIIT, would you suggest keeping it to non weight training days? Or should I try and work through it?

 

[Wrangell]

the rower is an interesting idea...Im gonna have to try and incorporate that for HIIT maybe 1-2 times a week to switch it up.

Just my 2 cents.....but if you've never done any rowing before, a better idea might be to take a week or 2 and just get used to the rower and all the bio mechanics involved in a proper rowing stroke...maybe even have a trainer at the gym demonstrate the basic / proper rowing stroke for you. Maybe you could do a real easy 10 minute steady state row one day, and then maybe a longer easy 20 minute steady state row on some other day, a harder 10 - 15 minute row a few days later, a harder 20 - 30 minute row etc. etc. and THEN perhaps try some HIIT work on the rower. In other words, take your time getting used to rowing.

So if my FBW is really wiping me out before I do HIIT, would you suggest keeping it to non weight training days? Or should I try and work through it?

To be honest, there is no hard and fast rule when it comes to when it's ' best ' to do HIIT. In the end you have to do what seems to work best for you. And the best way to nail that down is to do some trial and error over a couple of weeks. In other words, try a few more sessions of HIIT after your FBW to see if your body adjusts and it becomes increasingly less difficult. If it still doesn't feel right to you after a few weeks or sessions, then you could just go back to the original 6 day schedule you posted at the outset of this thread.

All I would add however, is, don't go back to your original 6 day schedule just because you find it ' easier '. You want to train hard IMO. So, if you do revert back to your original 6 day schedule, just as we discussed earlier in the thread, if your primary purpose for cardio is to help you shred fat, make sure you do those steady state cardio runs ' hard ' and that your HIIT are ' hard ' as well. Where ' hard ' training embraces the notion of training to get the maximum results in the minimum amount of time.

 

[jokerswild1130]

Thanks Wrangell, I really do appreciate the advice. In terms of easier, I really mean it more in terms of maintaining a high intensity level. Im going to do some HIIT tomorrow after my workout and see how it goes. Today is my rest and recovery day so I will test the theory of whether its the consecutive days of HIIT or HIIT after my FBW which caused the lag in energy levels.

 

[Wrangell]

Thanks Wrangell, I really do appreciate the advice. In terms of easier, I really mean it more in terms of maintaining a high intensity level. Im going to do some HIIT tomorrow after my workout and see how it goes.

Today is my rest and recovery day so I will test the theory of whether its the consecutive days of HIIT or HIIT after my FBW which caused the lag in energy levels.

Sounds like a plan.

Let us know how it turns out.