Another HIIT Question.

[sheparay]

Ok I have done some searching and reading on HIIT. I am pretty clear on what it is....and that it is effective. What I cant seem to find the answer to is, when should a person consider starting HIIT vs. other options for Cardio. For example, in my situation... I am 5'9" and 255lbs...trying to get back down to 200. I started cleaning up my diet, doing WBB1 and cardio about 5 weeks ago. For cardio I have been doing an eliptical machine on an interval setting for 25 minutes....according to the machine my HR is usually around 175-180. At the end it says I have burned anywhere from 350-370cals (not sure how accurate this is). Oh, about 4 times a week. Anyway, should I stick with this program or do you all think I should switch it up? I guess I am also not clear on what 'high intensity" is... I know my big @ss is working during eliptical, BUT its not like I am sprinting for a minute. Thanks all....

[MJS]

If you are trying to burn fat AND muscle, 180 bpm is good. If you are looking just to lose the fat try to maintain 130 bpm and atleast 30 minutes. I say 30 minutes minimum because a lot of research suggests that the first 20 minutes only burn that days calories and not stored ones.

Sorry, I know this doesn't address HIIT just figured I would tell you what I know.

[Anthony]

sheparay: true HIIT is difficult to do on a machine. Try sprinting for 10-20 seconds and then relax for 10-30 seconds and you quickly realize you'll be spending more time messing with the buttons than actually training. The best machine I've found for HIIT is a bike. But even some of those suck as a sprint sometimes causes the resistance to decrease. You'll have to play around with the machines or go outside.

ironman: The "fat burning zone" myth is less effective than HIIT at burning fat. Period. If you have a study to show otherwise, feel free to post it.

[MJS]

Anthony, I know, after seeing this post I went and researched HIIT. You are correct. I was just telling him what I know about fat burning - and yes, HIIT seems like a better approach. The cardio with low bpm is just an alternative.