HIT Cardio after HIT LEG Routines?

[MarkFlC5]

The only typpe of Cardio I can do is stationary bike. I learned a while ago that HIT techniques on the bike, that is 85 MHR at about 20 mins or INTERVALS has achieved phenmomenal bodyfat reduction results for me. But should I do this on my leg days which I do twice a week? Anyone who has done HIT Stationary cycling will know that ther is a pretty good quad lactic acid burn, especially with intervals, and I'm concerned that this kind of leg burn after SQUATS and LEG PRESSES will lead to overtraining.

 

[Guinness]

Mark,

I'm pretty new to HIT myself, and don't really follow HIT protocol for cardio (although, I'm spending most of my time in zone 4 on my runs and cycling routines anyway), but I definitely would not do a HIT cardio routine on or right after doing legs...I'd give myself at least 2 days of rest afterwards....Swim...or do very light cycling...keep your HR in zone 2 (aerobic zone), otherwise, you are going to tax your legs too much, which I'm sure will lead to overtraining..sure, your cardiovascular fitness will probably improve, but you probably won't get the mass on your legs that you are trying to achieve. I haven't done as much HR research as I probably should to make the following statements, but I think if you spend 30-45 minutes in zone 2 (60-70% MHR) you won't be taxing your legs too much, but you'll be burning fat very efficiently, since your energy stores will be relying more on fat and not glycogen and then protein sources as in anaerobic work. Again, I'm no expert, but this is some of the stuff I've read here and there that has sorta stuck with me.

Where are you getting your HIT info from, by the way? I've been reading everything I can at Cyberpump and IART, but I'm always looking for more info, especially if I can get it free of charge.

 

[MarkFlC5]

Mark,

I'm pretty new to HIT myself, and don't really follow HIT protocol for cardio (although, I'm spending most of my time in zone 4 on my runs and cycling routines anyway), but I definitely would not do a HIT cardio routine on or right after doing legs...I'd give myself at least 2 days of rest afterwards....Swim...or do very light cycling...keep your HR in zone 2 (aerobic zone), otherwise, you are going to tax your legs too much, which I'm sure will lead to overtraining..sure, your cardiovascular fitness will probably improve, but you probably won't get the mass on your legs that you are trying to achieve. I haven't done as much HR research as I probably should to make the following statements, but I think if you spend 30-45 minutes in zone 2 (60-70% MHR) you won't be taxing your legs too much, but you'll be burning fat very efficiently, since your energy stores will be relying more on fat and not glycogen and then protein sources as in anaerobic work. Again, I'm no expert, but this is some of the stuff I've read here and there that has sorta stuck with me.

Where are you getting your HIT info from, by the way? I've been reading everything I can at Cyberpump and IART, but I'm always looking for more info, especially if I can get it free of charge.

Thanks for your opinion. Its tough for me to spend 45 mins on the bike - I just don't have that much time. And like I said, swimming or any other aerobic excercise isn't an option due to a physical limitation. Since I believe in cardio 5 days a week, what I might try is one of the following:

1. Don't do cardio on my leg days. Although I may be doing the Cardio HIT only 24 hours later, because its not truly resistance training, hopfully I won't interupt anabolism with my legs.

2. I could also try and do cardio on the morning of my leg days. Again, since there really isn't weight resistance, I should be good to go for a good leg workout that evening. With this routine, the 2 days that I would not eb doing cardio would be the days following my leg workouts. The problem is HIT Cardio is tough and to do it in the morning, well you have to be a glutton for pain.

As far as where I get my cardio info, I think it was Tufts University or one of the University Studies which had done some clinical research on HIT Cardio. It stated that although FAT Store depletion encounters diminishing returns once you hit the 80% MHR and in fact many people say 70% MHR, it was discovered over a 3 month trial that the participants doing HIT cardio lost a significant more amount of bodyfat. Now to be honest, I've learned to take scientific studies whith a grain of salt because one usually undermines the other. But i figured that I would try it because at that point I was at a bodyfat reduction plateau. In the begining it was very tough - I mean this is grueling work and I couldn't do more than 10 mins of 80% MRH (I first did 5 mins of warming up) when I first started. And when I tried Intervals, I had goals of Ten 60 sec sprints (cycling as fast as I can with the appropriate wheel resistance) but when I reached 4, I said, "Screw this." But I stuck with it and I alternate with Intervals and 20 min 80 MHR sessions.

 

[Guinness]

Mark,

Can you email me some info on that HIT cardio program? I'd like to look at it...and if you have a link or a copy of that study, that too.

Yeah, I think you are gonna wanna do the cardio that you are doing for leg day in the morning, although I don't know how well you would be recovered for a leg workout in the evening if you smoke yourself on the bike in the morning. I don't know about you, but in order for me to get my HR up in the 80% MHR range on the bike, I've gotta be cranking pretty hard on the pedals 70-90 rpms at a good resistance, and usually my legs give out before my lungs do. Now, when I run, I can get my HR way up and keep it way up (case in point, ran 3.8 miles the other day in 31:30, avg. HR 175, Max 194....time in zone 4 was like 28 minutes! My max is probably around 196 or so, although the calculators I've found on the net come up with 190-191, which obviously isn't correct...either that or I'm a freak of nature), but for me to get my HR up on the bike, I really have to kill my legs.

Tough call on that bro....You sure you need to do that much cardio? Most of the HIT stuff I've read advocates three days a week, on your non-weight lifting days.

How long have you been going with this program? Just curious to see if you have experienced any overtraining symptoms...

Good luck man, and send me that stuff if you have links or articles in electronic formats.

 

[MarkFlC5]

Mark,

Can you email me some info on that HIT cardio program? I'd like to look at it...and if you have a link or a copy of that study, that too.

Yeah, I think you are gonna wanna do the cardio that you are doing for leg day in the morning, although I don't know how well you would be recovered for a leg workout in the evening if you smoke yourself on the bike in the morning. I don't know about you, but in order for me to get my HR up in the 80% MHR range on the bike, I've gotta be cranking pretty hard on the pedals 70-90 rpms at a good resistance, and usually my legs give out before my lungs do. Now, when I run, I can get my HR way up and keep it way up (case in point, ran 3.8 miles the other day in 31:30, avg. HR 175, Max 194....time in zone 4 was like 28 minutes! My max is probably around 196 or so, although the calculators I've found on the net come up with 190-191, which obviously isn't correct...either that or I'm a freak of nature), but for me to get my HR up on the bike, I really have to kill my legs.

Tough call on that bro....You sure you need to do that much cardio? Most of the HIT stuff I've read advocates three days a week, on your non-weight lifting days.

How long have you been going with this program? Just curious to see if you have experienced any overtraining symptoms...

Good luck man, and send me that stuff if you have links or articles in electronic formats.

I started the Cardio HIT about 3 weeks ago. I don't know how many RPM's on a bike but after the first 7 minutes of getting my MR to 60-70 range, at that point is when I take it to the next level. Its not until I take it to the next level that I start to sweat perfusely and really begin to huff and puff. I never sweat that much when I was around the 60 range. I do feel the lactic acid burn but the only way I can get through the workout is some serious music. All I know is it got me past my plateau. As far as 3 days a week, that may be enough for maintanace. The thing is , the older you get, and I just hit 40, the more you have to make sure that you are burning the calories. And the only way to do this is either eat less or become more active. And I'm not going to chose to eat less - we all know what result that will bring.
I'll try and do another search for the article.

 

[Guinness]

Mark,

I feel your pain on the age/metabolism slow down issue..I just hit 30, and it happened to me in a big way....actually, it started about 5-6 years ago with me, but eating tex-mex food and drinking beer all the time didn't help either. I've toned down my diet a lot, especially during the week, and increased my lifting and cardio quite a bit, and I've lost about 17 pounds in a little over a year....not too bad, especially since I'm not all that disciplined with my diet, and I don't follow a precise cardio/lifting split.

One thing you might consider is doing some light riding, or jogging on your leg day...keep it in zone 2 (60-70% MHR), so that you'll still be in that fat burning zone, but you won't be killing yourself for your later workout. Then, crank up the intensity in a big way on your cardio days. Not sure what kinda shape your joints are in for running, but I guarantee you, if you cross-train and change things up a little and throw in some running, it'll cut down on the boredom factor, and you'll be able to get your heart rate up in a hurry....It's also a little easier to control your intervals...course, you need a heart rate monitor to verify this, but you can get some good ones for cheap on the net these days....great tool.

Good luck with the workouts bro....like I said, if you find that stuff..just zap it over to me...

 

[MarkFlC5]

Mark,

I feel your pain on the age/metabolism slow down issue..I just hit 30, and it happened to me in a big way....actually, it started about 5-6 years ago with me, but eating tex-mex food and drinking beer all the time didn't help either. I've toned down my diet a lot, especially during the week, and increased my lifting and cardio quite a bit, and I've lost about 17 pounds in a little over a year....not too bad, especially since I'm not all that disciplined with my diet, and I don't follow a precise cardio/lifting split.

One thing you might consider is doing some light riding, or jogging on your leg day...keep it in zone 2 (60-70% MHR), so that you'll still be in that fat burning zone, but you won't be killing yourself for your later workout. Then, crank up the intensity in a big way on your cardio days. Not sure what kinda shape your joints are in for running, but I guarantee you, if you cross-train and change things up a little and throw in some running, it'll cut down on the boredom factor, and you'll be able to get your heart rate up in a hurry....It's also a little easier to control your intervals...course, you need a heart rate monitor to verify this, but you can get some good ones for cheap on the net these days....great tool.

Good luck with the workouts bro....like I said, if you find that stuff..just zap it over to me...

Guinness,

I haven't found the link to the study but here is a different link:

http://www.cbass.com/fatburn.htm

Also, do a search using the words "High Intensity Aerobics" - Use the GOOGLE Search engine and you should get back plenty of hits on this.

 

[4heavyduty]

Yes it will

Yes, this will lead very quickly to overtraining. If you want, try doing it 2 days after your workout day, giving you a couple to recover, even this is not optimum