High intensity steady state cardio

[OneUseThrowaway]

So, I've been googling and searching everywhere. I simply can't find any literature from a layman's point of view that talks about the benefits and disadvantages of steady state high intensity cardio.

By that I don't mean HIIT. I mean on a treadmill with your heart rate at 85% to 90% max for 20 or 30 minutes straight. No rest periods.

It seems low intensity steady state is common.
But I can't find anything about high intensity steady state.

Can the fitness experts here fill me in or point me to some good resources?

[LactoseTolerant]

Think about it. If HISS was possible, why would anyone bother with HIIT or LISS?

[DaveDavit]

Not to mention, is it even effective at all?

[GeneralSerpant]

Think about it. If HISS was possible, why would anyone bother with HIIT or LISS?

I'll go on a bike for a 45 minute run and end up with a 160+ pulse for the last 20+ minutes.

Not to mention, is it even effective at all?

I think that's part of the inquiry.

[GeneralSerpant]

So, I've been googling and searching everywhere. I simply can't find any literature from a layman's point of view that talks about the benefits and disadvantages of steady state high intensity cardio.

By that I don't mean HIIT. I mean on a treadmill with your heart rate at 85% to 90% max for 20 or 30 minutes straight. No rest periods.

It seems low intensity steady state is common.
But I can't find anything about high intensity steady state.

Can the fitness experts here fill me in or point me to some good resources?

It's worth pointing out that HIIT is supposed to be anaerobic. 20-30 minutes and Anaerobic exercise are pretty mutually exclusive.

I agree though that I don't find much on it in terms of formal assessment. I think a lot of people have generally regarded it as a waste of energy and/or unsustainable in practice. I'm not sure why specifically it isn't regarded as just another training parameter though.

[BromanianDL]

Sounds like running a 5k race, or something like that, if you want to be a runner, then do it. Anyway, I would check out the running websites about the benefits or disadvantages of 5k or 10k races.

[LactoseTolerant]

I'll go on a bike for a 45 minute run and end up with a 160+ pulse for the last 20+ minutes.

That's medium intensity. High intensity would be a sprint.

[DCSpartan]

High intensity by definition relies on your ATP energy transfer, and it only lasts 10-15 seconds.

What you are advocating for is a good hard training run, nothing wrong with that. BUt you should mix it up with some true intervals and some LSD runs as well to relay become a better runner.

[grouchyjarhead]

By that I don't mean HIIT. I mean on a treadmill with your heart rate at 85% to 90% max for 20 or 30 minutes straight. No rest periods.

So basically, running a 5K. By most heart rate training standards for runners, 80-90% is where they do speed work and competitive 5K times.

[DCSpartan]

So basically, running a 5K. By most heart rate training standards for runners, 80-90% is where they do speed work and competitive 5K times.

Well, according to most people on this website, running a single 5K will burn up all of your muscle and suppress your testosterone for life. Its a proven fact here at BB.com that one cannot get better at running and strength simultaneously. Far better to take 2 scoops of a PWO and get your cardio in that way.

[Millz12323]

So, I've been googling and searching everywhere. I simply can't find any literature from a layman's point of view that talks about the benefits and disadvantages of steady state high intensity cardio.

By that I don't mean HIIT. I mean on a treadmill with your heart rate at 85% to 90% max for 20 or 30 minutes straight. No rest periods.

It seems low intensity steady state is common.
But I can't find anything about high intensity steady state.

Can the fitness experts here fill me in or point me to some good resources?

There is no such thing as high intensity steady state cardio.

High intensity would be sprinting. If you can do whatever activity you're doing for longer than 2 minutes then it's not high intensity

Medium intensity is what you're doing. MISS? Medium intensity steady state cardio.

And then there's LISS. Which is like walking or jogging at a very easy conversational pace

[sunsean]

I agree it essentially sounds like OP is describing a 5k - for most people running 3.1 miles as fast as they can will take in the 20-30 minute range.

No one can do high intensity (sprinting) for 20+ minutes. If they could they'd be dominating races all over the world.

Even Jason Bourne could only sprint a mile before passing out.

[GeneralSerpant]

[OneUseThrowaway]

Because of ease for beginners and it's less painful. I routinely do 20 minutes of cardio where my hr is at 80-85% of my max. It's not fun. But I'm committed to changing my body and regaining what I used to be.

So I was just wondering what science says about my approach.

[OneUseThrowaway]

I'm not describing a 5k or something similar. I'm a former bodybuilder. I used to have 20 inch biceps, a 54 inch chest and a 10% bf at 225 pounds. I'm 6'7 and thick bodied. Best of both worlds. But after a severe sports injury and a pretty bad breakup I got complacent and am only now at 31, 9 or 10 years since my glory days am I trying to recover what once was.

I used to know everything about muscle building and training. I lived the religion of the iron. That sweet, sweet joyous pleasure that it is.

But I'm older now. And fat. And untoned.

So im doing what I did originally, which is just throw **** at the wall with high intensity and not obsessing over training regimens. But I still like to be educated and know I'm not wasting my time. So that's what I've been doing and why I'm asking. I was never big into cardio. But as fat and pathetic as I currently am, I've decided to make it a larger portion of my training regimen. Cardio daily and weights 3 times a week.

I used to do 2 hour workouts with just weights. But I tried doing that again after years of not being in the gym and hurt myself and was out for a week. Erasing the gains. So I'm trying a different approach.

[GeneralSerpant]

I'm not describing a 5k or something similar.

Then what are you talking about lol

[kennycroxdale]

I don't mean HIIT. I mean on a treadmill with your heart rate at 85% to 90% max for 20 or 30 minutes straight. No rest periods.

Millz12323

"There is no such thing as high intensity steady state cardio."

As he stated, you cannot maintain your heart rate at 90% for 20 to 30 minutes.

As Vince Gironda so aptly stated, "You can train hard or long but NOT both.

Exercise For Weight Loss

Exercise helps with weight loss to some degree. However, is isn't very effective at burning calories.

As you should know the real key to weight loss is diet.

EPOC, Excess Post Oxygen Consumption

The number of calories is helps. However, what's even more important is the amount of calories burned after your workout.

That is one of the benefits of High Intensity Interval Training. Research show that EPOC elevates you metabolism for hours after your workout; 9 time more than with low intensity cardio.

That applies to High Intensity Resistance Training, like Circuit Weight Training.

As DCSpartan said, a mixed combination of cardio intensity training works.

Kenny Croxdale

[DCSpartan]

welcome back kenny!

[grouchyjarhead]

I'm not describing a 5k or something similar.

80-90% heart rate is Zone 4 according to most standard heart rate training tables which is speed work, interval work, and fast 5K times. Are you running 3-5 miles during that time period? Because that’s the low and high end of military run times in that 20-30 minutes.

[GeneralSerpant]

I don't know what my max heart rate specifically is, but 160-170 is a significant percentage of any kinda formula I've seen, which would suggest that the over exhaustive rates I'm seeing in this thread is not that exhaustive. I'm sitting on the stationary bike, keeping a gradually increasing RPM for a 45 minute session. Without a doubt, with 10 minutes left at an absolute minimum, my heart rate is between 160 and 170, as read by the heart-rate sensor and me watching the clock and taking my pulse (the sensors are reliable!).

Just like perspiration, I'm inclined to think that heart rate isn't such the determination of work capacity and limit, but instead resistance or rate of exertion by the muscles (heavy or fast). Along with perspiration, a heart rate can rise due to any factor, such as stress. Physical exertion will get you there, but sustaining a "90%" heart rate doesn't seem out of line.

[OneUseThrowaway]

I hike. I set the treadmill incline to max which is like 15 and then go at 3.3 mph for 20 minutes. It gets my hr to 170 on average which following the old formula 220-age(31) × .90 is 90% of my max hr.

[GeneralSerpant]

I hike. I set the treadmill incline to max which is like 15 and then go at 3.3 mph for 20 minutes. It gets my hr to 170 on average which following the old formula 220-age(31) × .90 is 90% of my max hr.

That's what I'm talkin about.

That being said, I would not consider that HI.

[LactoseTolerant]

I hike. I set the treadmill incline to max which is like 15 and then go at 3.3 mph for 20 minutes. It gets my hr to 170 on average which following the old formula 220-age(31) × .90 is 90% of my max hr.

That's LISS. I used to do around that pace for the 2.4 mi. distance each way to and from work every day. I'd call that brisk. It's certainly less than a jog.

[OneUseThrowaway]

80-90% heart rate is Zone 4 according to most standard heart rate training tables which is speed work, interval work, and fast 5K times. Are you running 3-5 miles during that time period? Because that’s the low and high end of military run times in that 20-30 minutes.

No. Hiking. Max incline on the treadmill and doing about 1.5 miles.

[OneUseThrowaway]

That's LISS. I used to do around that pace for the 2.4 mi. distance each way to and from work every day. I'd call that brisk. It's certainly less than a jog.

Sure buddy. Whatever you say. Lol.

[LactoseTolerant]

Sure buddy. Whatever you say. Lol.

Cardio bunnies do more intense treadmill runs than you but you do you.

[GeneralSerpant]

Max incline walking @ 3.3 > Jogging

[JeremyM07201978]

I hike. I set the treadmill incline to max which is like 15 and then go at 3.3 mph for 20 minutes. It gets my hr to 170 on average which following the old formula 220-age(31) × .90 is 90% of my max hr.

What are you tracking HR on? Hopefully not the machine...

HI workouts require max effort in short bursts. This does not include pacing to make it through 20-30 straight minutes - that is not to say that workout you're doing is not difficult...it just isn't what is meant by HI

Odds are if you can walk at that incline for 20 minutes at 3.3 mph, then you can run at that incline at 5.5 mph for say, 30 seconds and then slow down and recover. The speed and time period may be different, but the point is, you give all the intensity you can for a burst and then slow down and recover and then another burst of intensity. Anything that is steady-state will not be HI nor max effort.

[grouchyjarhead]

I hike. I set the treadmill incline to max which is like 15 and then go at 3.3 mph for 20 minutes. It gets my hr to 170 on average which following the old formula 220-age(31) × .90 is 90% of my max hr.

That just shows you’re straining and out of shape for what you are trying to do. That’s really not that intense otherwise. Are you using the machine’s heart rate monitor or your own?

[GeneralSerpant]

I think the most pronounced benefit you get from such training is a lower resting heart rate.

Calories burned is sub par, as what Kenny said. The running adaptation isn't for nothing, but there's lots of room for improvement (and without the EPOC as mentioned also).


I used to train 800's to 5ks on the treadmill, then after my gym membership ended I switched to 5k's on the street. I really sucked at running on pavement (w/ hills) in comparison, but I noticed that I had a somewhat exceptionally low resting heart rate when I looked it up online.