Why HIIT Is NOT Better For Fat Loss (Blog)

[Mehdi]

Use this thread to discuss the next post from StrongLifts.com's blog:

Why HIIT Is NOT Better For Fat Loss

[rafaerusan]

Wow... is this just your opinion? Where's your proof?

HIIT did wonders for me, sorry.

[Mehdi]

More info, can't give you a reply if you don't give me more information so I can actually understand your point of view.

[atypical1]

Wow... is this just your opinion? Where's your proof?

HIIT did wonders for me, sorry.

Could you describe what it did including all of the factors that might have influenced your changes? In my experience (I've got my experiences posted HERE fat loss is diet alone and cardio doesn't do it for me. One thing that I didn't mention in that original post I made was that the only change I made to my routine was my diet and my physical activity level actually went down during those first couple of months.

james

[Mehdi]

Wow... is this just your opinion? Where's your proof?

HIIT did wonders for me, sorry.

Could you describe what it did including all of the factors that might have influenced your changes? In my experience (I've got my experiences posted HERE fat loss is diet alone and cardio doesn't do it for me. One thing that I didn't mention in that original post I made was that the only change I made to my routine was my diet and my physical activity level actually went down during those first couple of months.

james

That's a very important point: you don't need to do cardio. There are competitive bodybuilders reaching very low body fat percentages using their training & diet alone, no cardio. You only need a caloric deficit to lose fat, you can do that by eating less and/or burning more. Can be done without cardio (touched on this briefly in the article).

[rafaerusan]

Well I guess I'm out of place here, but since I'm paleo, I believe that sprinting for short amount of times is what the human body was built for (think running away from animals). Not only it helped me with my weight loss, but I gained a significant amount of muscle on my legs and shoulders. It was the only thing that worked to shed those last few 5 pounds. I know diet is the main factor in weight loss. If you say HIIT doesn't help, then I don't see how cardio could.

[Mehdi]

Well I guess I'm out of place here, but since I'm paleo, I believe that sprinting for short amount of times is what the human body was built for (think running away from animals). Not only it helped me with my weight loss, but I gained a significant amount of muscle on my legs and shoulders. It was the only thing that worked to shed those last few 5 pounds. I know diet is the main factor in weight loss. If you say HIIT doesn't help, then I don't see how cardio could.

Did you really read the article?

HIIT burns fat and will thus help fat loss. And steady state cardio without strength training is wrong, you should always do strength training. I agree with everything, which part don't you agree with?

[rafaerusan]

Well I guess I'm out of place here, but since I'm paleo, I believe that sprinting for short amount of times is what the human body was built for (think running away from animals). Not only it helped me with my weight loss, but I gained a significant amount of muscle on my legs and shoulders. It was the only thing that worked to shed those last few 5 pounds. I know diet is the main factor in weight loss. If you say HIIT doesn't help, then I don't see how cardio could.

Did you really read the article?

HIIT burns fat and will thus help fat loss. And steady state cardio without strength training is wrong, you should always do strength training. I agree with everything, which part don't you agree with?

Of course I read it. Based on my personal experience, I don't agree with you in that HIIT is less effective and that cardio burns more calories. It's not all about calories in, calories out.

SSC is boring and pointless, like all those people wasting their time in the treadmill at the gym. That's not training hard and smart.

[FilthyMcNasty]

WI believe that sprinting for short amount of times is what the human body was built for (think running away from animals).

Lets be honest, nobody knows why cavemen ran, it could have been to catch the 11:20 to Bedrock the rest is guesswork.
The fact the human body is capable of Hussain Bolt and also Marathon feats just underlies its range of adaptability.
Long distance running is used in warfare, tracking animals that were shot with poison darts/arrows in aboriginal cultures today. HIIT is an invented protocol using monitors and masks. It doesn't mean its not effective its just not a panacea. It's easy to globalize our personal experiences.
I'm glad you got your extra 5lbs, serious kudos.

[atypical1]

SSC is boring and pointless, like all those people wasting their time in the treadmill at the gym. That's not training hard and smart.

You simply cannot make a blanket statement like that and expect to be correct. There is a time and a place for SSC. Bodybuilders have done this since the beginning for fat loss and for conditioning. Dave Tate does it for conditioning so it's not just for body builders. It's also great for doing on your off days or on a day that you don't feel like doing intervals.

The argument about "we were built for sprinting" is invalid. We weren't "built" to use computers but here we are all using them. We also weren't "built" to read books but I still do. We weren't "built" to drive in a car but I bet that you still do. My point is that we need to keep this discussion to the purely scientific and based either on studies or personal experience.

james

[tenkev]

A caloric deficit is necessary to LOSE WEIGHT; but, it is not necessary for Fat Loss. If you changed the word Fat to Weight then your article is correct. If not, then it is not because lots of LSD training will not lead to as much muscle growth as HIIT.

[WhiteGorilla]

Well I guess I'm out of place here, but since I'm paleo, I believe that sprinting for short amount of times is what the human body was built for (think running away from animals). Not only it helped me with my weight loss, but I gained a significant amount of muscle on my legs and shoulders. It was the only thing that worked to shed those last few 5 pounds. I know diet is the main factor in weight loss. If you say HIIT doesn't help, then I don't see how cardio could.

I'm with you here. Have you read that book called The Paleo Diet for Athletes? It's really good and explains how we were meant to eat and that we eat so much unnatural stuff today. The Hunter and Gatherer lifestyle before the Agricultural Revolution shows us how lean you can be my eating good meats and fresh fruits and vegetables. They also rarely ever had any heart diseases then. I think that paleo is the way to go for increased health and to lose fat.

[rafaerusan]

WI believe that sprinting for short amount of times is what the human body was built for (think running away from animals).

Lets be honest, nobody knows why cavemen ran, it could have been to catch the 11:20 to Bedrock the rest is guesswork.
The fact the human body is capable of Hussain Bolt and also Marathon feats just underlies its range of adaptability.
Long distance running is used in warfare, tracking animals that were shot with poison darts/arrows in aboriginal cultures today. HIIT is an invented protocol using monitors and masks. It doesn't mean its not effective its just not a panacea. It's easy to globalize our personal experiences.
I'm glad you got your extra 5lbs, serious kudos.

Have you seen how Marathon runners look? And the numerous health problems they face later in life? That tells you something. Now look at an Olympic sprinter...
So what if long distance running is used in warfare? That's beyond the point.
If HIIT is a modern invention, then what is cardio? At least HIIT tries to imitate a caveman's pattern of movement. Like suddenly bursting out into a run, or sprinting to chase an animal. On the other hand, there's no reason why cavemen would jog

But this is all my personal experience and beliefs, so I'm sorry if I'm coming of as an asshole, I don't mean to sound ignorant like that.

[mjh]

Olympic sprinters don't exactly live or train like prehistoric man, either.

I think the point here is that a lot of arguments about this kind of stuff are more often based on conjecture than real knowledge. Do you know, based on experience (ha!) or research, that prehistoric man didn't jog for long distances, when tracking an animal or simply covering large distances? If you don't you shouldn't claim that it is true, and you certainly shouldn't use it to support your argument.

[arehb]

The important point Mehdi makes in the article that might lead me to change my training pattern is that HIIT is very exhausting and combined with alot of heavy weightlifting might be too much for the body to cope with.

The Hunter and Gatherer lifestyle before the Agricultural Revolution shows us how lean you can be my eating good meats and fresh fruits and vegetables. They also rarely ever had any heart diseases then. I think that paleo is the way to go for increased health and to lose fat.

Good storytelling about what people ate in the stoneage isn't science. I wonder where the claim about heart disease came from. I can imagine people at that time lived until they were 30 maybe, in those days. Maybe that's a factor.

I eat paleo-like too. But there's plenty other ways to eat healthy. Vegetarianism is associated with good health, for example (though probably not great muscular strength )