Did HIIT Work For You? Please Share Your Experience!

[C_Guy]

Hi everyone;

This year is the first time I've attempted a "cut". With guidance from my trainer, I managed to get down to about 9% bodyfat.

However, I am nowhere close where I want to be and will soon be increasing my calories a bit to put on more lean mass.

Up to this point I have been doing long-duration moderate intensity cardio. I know that HIIT is far more efficient at burning fat and I would like to add this type of cardio to my program. If you have benefitted from HIIT cardio could you please help me with a couple questions:

1. Can HIIT help keep my BF% below 10% while I am trying to gain lean mass?

2. I plan on doing it 3 mornings a week, should it be more or less than that? Should I do it on weight-training days or off days?

3. If I do HIIT first thing in the morning what (if anything) should I eat before I get to the gym and how long should I wait to eat my first meal afterwards?

If you've used HIIT successfully, how long before you saw results? What are your intervals like?

Thanks everyone!

[jamiesona]

1. It's usually difficult to gain lean mass without gaining a bit of fat at the same time. So I wouldn't worry about that. Because once you've gained that lean mass you can always use the HIIT to cut back down to the BF% you want to be at. That being said, I don't think it's impossible.

2. I've read that this is about right. Any more than that and you might overtrain.

3. Not sure. I'd say get some carbs before your workout and some protein and carbs after. Same as any pre- or post-workout meal.


I used HIIT, while dieting and lifting, and it allowed me to lose 50 pounds over a period of about 7 months. I originally started with steady-state cardio and wasn't getting any results. Once I switched to HIIT the weight came off a lot quicker. So I definitely recommend it over steady state cardio.