How many times a week should I do HIIT?

[Wendal]

I lift weights 4 days a week and I do about 45 minutes of cardio on treadmill after my work out. To burn even more calories, I decided to add HIIT before I go to bed. How many minutes should I start out with and how many days a week should I add to my current excercise program? Or does it not matter?

[hodag1]

Three times a week, max. If you do it as you suggest, you will not be doing HIIT so I am not sure it matters. At a minimum, if you attempt HIIT after a full day of normal life activities, lifting weights, and treadmill cardio you will not have the intensity needed for HIIT. Have a read of what Lyle McDonald says about HIIT (he is spot on with his comments):

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/res...d-vo2-max.html

If you want to do real HIIT, then do it 3X per week on alternate days plus weights on alternating days. Take one full day off where you don't do much.

HIIT will tell you how many minutes, not the other way around. At first, it will not be very long (maybe only 2-3 minutes), but over time you can build up to 20-30 minutes. Again, go back and read the link very carefully and ask yourself if any athelete can exert themselves at the required intensity for more than 30 minutes. There may be a handful who can, but they are Olympic class performers.

[euclid]

Tell you what man, me and HIIT before bed is NOT a good combination. I end up waking up in a pool of sweat at least 2 times a night if I do it before bed. To answer your question, i've increased my HIIT sessions to 4 times/week. I respect what Hodag wrote above, but my feeling is that if you've been exercising for at least 3-4 months and are really putting your all into things, you should be able to force yourself to perform at a higher level on a more consistent basis. For the beginner, I would say limiting HIIT is a good thing - give yourself a chance to get used to training, but at some point you've got to be able to push through being tired and sore. That body of yours is made to take abuse and I really think you start living once you've got a pool of sweat collecting on the floor and you feel as though you could go into cardiac arrest at any moment.

[Dietdude]

Tell you what man, me and HIIT before bed is NOT a good combination. I end up waking up in a pool of sweat at least 2 times a night if I do it before bed. To answer your question, i've increased my HIIT sessions to 4 times/week. I respect what Hodag wrote above, but my feeling is that if you've been exercising for at least 3-4 months and are really putting your all into things, you should be able to force yourself to perform at a higher level on a more consistent basis. For the beginner, I would say limiting HIIT is a good thing - give yourself a chance to get used to training, but at some point you've got to be able to push through being tired and sore. That body of yours is made to take abuse and I really think you start living once you've got a pool of sweat collecting on the floor and you feel as though you could go into cardiac arrest at any moment.

Sounds like you have experienced it somewhat..try exhausting so many resources that you cannot walk, must sit, cannot speak and the world is spinning, and it takes 10-15 mins before you can do anything...no one get to that point 4x a week. Sorry, that is human nature...when I did that 2x a week my BF% was 5.6% GL

[belairdfence99]

Three times a week, max. If you do it as you suggest, you will not be doing HIIT so I am not sure it matters. At a minimum, if you attempt HIIT after a full day of normal life activities, lifting weights, and treadmill cardio you will not have the intensity needed for HIIT. Have a read of what Lyle McDonald says about HIIT (he is spot on with his comments):

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/res...d-vo2-max.html

If you want to do real HIIT, then do it 3X per week on alternate days plus weights on alternating days. Take one full day off where you don't do much.

HIIT will tell you how many minutes, not the other way around. At first, it will not be very long (maybe only 2-3 minutes), but over time you can build up to 20-30 minutes. Again, go back and read the link very carefully and ask yourself if any athelete can exert themselves at the required intensity for more than 30 minutes. There may be a handful who can, but they are Olympic class performers.

YEAH REPPED.
/hyper

But OP this is very good advice. HIIT is intervals so it's basically going at close to, if not, maximum effort followed by a recovery period which is usually a jog or a walk. Repeat this cycle as many times as possible or increase the speed.