Is this a good workout program?

[foodtastesgood]

Hi everyone, I'm new here and looking forward to learning more about fitness and diet.

Until recently I was a pretty hardcore hiker (at least an hour per day most days of the week). I moved to Texas the beginning of November, and unfortunately there really isn't much hiking where I am now so I have joined a gym.

I get really bored just using the weights and cardio equipment on my own, so I have been alternating three days of HIIT with 2-3 days of cardio based classes at LA Fitness. Is this a good idea or too much? I am in decent shape but still have a lot of progress to make (very little upper body strength and need more cardio conditioning). LA Fitness HIIT classes are more weight training focused than most other HIIT training from what I am told.

I was also told by one of the LA Fitness managers that it is ok to do the HIIT classes every day (5-6 days per week), but I read online that HIIT should only be done 2-3 days per week. I am really enjoying the classes, so I would do them more often, but I don't want to potentially injure myself. Is it ok to do these HIIT classes 5-6 days per week?

Thanks for your help!

[rsid97]

Depends on the actual goal at hand. Not to mention there isn't really a workout program here for us to critique, we just have a very broad style of training to go off of, paired with some cardio, which is extremely insufficient info. That being said, if gaining upper body strength (and hopefully lower too), you're much better off following an actually proven strength/muscle building program. Obviously if you don't enjoy it, and you think you'd ditch the program when you're 2 weeks in and go back to these HIIT classes, then just stick to the HIIT classes. But you'll have to come to terms with accepting that you'll be accomplishing sub-optimal progress in this way, in contrast to if you had actually followed a program and diet geared towards that goal.

The thing about the 5-6 days / 2-3 days thing is that these online articles are generally assuming you're actually doing HIIT. Which by definition of the term, is meant to be high intensity. While these classes at commercial gyms are generally more geared towards middle age mums and divorced men (only half serious). So its more like a somewhat-intense mix of movements, rather than an actual HIIT which should have you feeling like your lungs are about to implode when you're only 30 seconds into your first round. Most if not all HIIT classes I see last upwards of 30 mins, all the way up to 60 mins.

Imo, if a group of people are doing "HIIT" for 60 mins, that's most likely not actually HIIT.

Long story short, without actually being able to see exercises, sets, reps, time intervals, weights, RPE etc I can't really remark about frequency. Try it, see how you're recovering, adjust accordingly. My personal hunch is that you'll probably be able to do more than 3 days of it per week.

[TolerantLactose]

LA Fitness HIIT classes are more weight training focused than most other HIIT training from what I am told.

Unless I'm misunderstanding, HIIT weight training is an injury waiting to happen.

[foodtastesgood]

Thanks for your replies! I think I might try doing the "HIIT" (probably not true HIIT from what you describe) classes more often and see if it gets me to my current fitness goals (lose a few pounds and tone).

I don't want to injure myself though. From what I understand about these classes, they are very similar to Orange Theory Fitness. I will give it a try and pace myself and see how it goes.

[TolerantLactose]

If you're pacing yourself, it's not HIIT.

[BeginnerGainz]

Unless I'm misunderstanding, HIIT weight training is an injury waiting to happen.

Depends on how you do it.

Constantly using forced reps to go past failure? Bad.

One hard set to positive failure? Not bad.

[TolerantLactose]

Depends on how you do it.

Constantly using forced reps to go past failure? Bad.

One hard set to positive failure? Not bad.

That's HIT. HIIT is something else entirely.

[air2fakie]

LA Fitness HIIT classes are more weight training focused than most other HIIT training from what I am told.

You're mistaking cardio for weight training. Those colorful dbs you're using doesn't make it "weight training focused".

There's nothing wrong with HIIT if you like it. But if you're looking to increase your upper body strength and build muscle you should get on a proper weight training program that trains your whole body in addition to cardio.