HIIT Training

[Wouter]

Hello, I'm doing HIIT-Training 5 days/week (or atleast try to) and I do them after my workouts.
I was wondering if this was the best time to do it, I'd figure your glycogen would be depleted and you would burn more fat that way.
But it can also be the other way round: burn more muscle then normal.
Which would be better, doing it about 5-10 mins after your workout (after drinking milk) or 2,5 hours before (maximal time between them, 1630-1900)?
And which of these 2 is the best: a stationary bike or a crosstrainer?
While using the stationary bike the HIIT is more intense (higher HR), but you use more muscles on the crosstrainer (almost your whole body).

[Stephen Johnson]

Hello, I'm doing HIIT-Training 5 days/week (or atleast try to) and I do them after my workouts.
I was wondering if this was the best time to do it, I'd figure your glycogen would be depleted and you would burn more fat that way.
But it can also be the other way round: burn more muscle then normal.
Which would be better, doing it about 5-10 mins after your workout (after drinking milk) or 2,5 hours before (maximal time between them, 1630-1900)?
And which of these 2 is the best: a stationary bike or a crosstrainer?
While using the stationary bike the HIIT is more intense (higher HR), but you use more muscles on the crosstrainer (almost your whole body).

I would do HIIT after my weight workout, or on an off day for weight training. Doing HIIT before weights will negatively impact the intensity that you hit the weights with - assuming that you're trying to build muscle.

As for the choice between the bike and the crosstrainer - why is that an either/or proposition? Why not do both? The more variety you have in your cardio, the less likely you are to suffer an overuse injury

BTW - why are you drinking milk before HIIT? Drink it after to aid in recovery. I read somewhere that chocolate lofwat milk is better than most sports drinks for that

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/524370

[stuward]

If you're doing HIIT right, 5 days/week will lead to burnout. Limit to 2 per week. The chocolate milk thing was discussed on Dr. Squat a while back. Yes, it's better than some sports drinks but is inferior to a custom blend of whey, carbs, amino acids, etc.

[TimD]

Stephen, you're showing your age with that tidbit on lowfat choc milk. My football/wrestling/T and F coach turned us onto that back in the early 60's.
Tim

[Ironman]

Why not whole milk? It tastes better. You can always mix your whey in it too.

[Stephen Johnson]

Why not whole milk? It tastes better. You can always mix your whey in it too.

I guess the fat police have busted me. I try to avoid whole milk, since I drink a good deal of milk and want to ditch the extra calories. I draw the line on cheese, however - lowfat cheese is an abomination.

Stephen, you're showing your age with that tidbit on lowfat choc milk. My football/wrestling/T and F coach turned us onto that back in the early 60's.

My High School track coach was big on chocolate milk, too. He preferrred Ovaltine, while I drank Cocoa Marsh and Bosco. All these high tech meal replacements might do a better job, but there's something to be said about the retro beauty of chocolate milk after a workout. Makes you feel like a kid again! ;-)

[Ironman]

That makes sense. I have to agree about the low fat cheese. That is truely nasty. At least the skim milk still tastes like milk.

I think chocolate milk with whey mixed in is perfect as a bulking drink. You have lots of protein and you get all the lactose and sugar to spike insulin. It's a perfectly good weight gainer with a reasonable price.

[Wouter]

I drink 1 liter of very-low fat milk (<0,1g/100ml) after my workout to get 30g of protein (don't have any proteinpowder/creatine,...).
And I drink real cowmilk (5gfat/100ml) which tastes a lot better then that pasteurised milk you can buy in the supermarket.
BTW If you begin to drink real cowmilk from the time you were a baby, you will get extra immunity against 'wealth-diseases'. But if you're not adapted to drinking it, you might get sick.

Also another question:
Since I don't get 6 meals/day, have proteinpowder, creatine, ... will I gain alot less mass/strenght?

[Stephen Johnson]

Since I don't get 6 meals/day, have proteinpowder, creatine, ... will I gain alot less mass/strenght?

The old time bodybuilders were able to develop impressive physiques without the benefit of supplements and protein powder. And most of them ate only three times a day. I suspect it's because the old timers actually paid attention to the lifts and how the lifts affected their bodies. They also put the lifts together in sensible exercise programs. These days, a great many gym rats are clueless about their workouts, yet they wonder why they don't get results from them. So, they take some supplement, thinking that it will make a difference. Most times, it doesn't.

Don't worry about what you don't have. If you follow a good exercise program, eat sensibly and get adequate rest, you will make progress. You will probably make more progress, in fact , than the typical supplement user

[Matt Z]

I'm not sure it's really fair to compare the great bobybuilders of past generations to the average gym rats of today. These men were gifted atheletes with dedication far beyond that of the casual lifter (then or now). Likewise, while there were/are some great, old-school programs, there were also a lot of lousy ones.

[Stephen Johnson]

I'm not sure it's really fair to compare the great bobybuilders of past generations to the average gym rats of today. .

I was thinking of the club lifters of yesterday when I wrote what I did, not the superstars. You're right, it wouldn't be fair to compare a superstar to a gym rat.

And lousy training programs were less likely to pass muster in those days. Nowadays, with steroids readily available, they can.

[Matt Z]

I don't think steroids eliminate the need for a well thought out program (at least not at the higher levels of competition). If they did, there would be a lot more guys who look like pro bodybuilders. But they definitely change the equation of what works.

[Matt Z]

Of course, for someone who's just trying to attain a moderate level of development, I suppose steroids would provide an easy shortcut.

[Matt Z]

I think personal trainers are also part of the problem. Fifty years ago novice lifters typically learned from older, more experienced lifters. Today many are instructed by personal trainers who are in general a lot less knowledgable. Many can't ever perform the exercises properly themselves, let alone teach others.

Of course, there are good trainers out there, but in my experience there are a lot more bad ones, and most novices don't know enough to tell the difference.