Who's used HIIT for contest prep?

[beary4]

I'm wondering who out there has used HIIT in their contest prep...I have one competition under my belt and only did steady state cardio and I felt like I lost some muscle. I'm wondering who out there successfully used HIIT during contest prep and approximately how many times a week you used it along with steady state...thanks for the help :)

[bree marsh]

i mainly do HIIT, either on the elliptical or running bleachers. i feel i lose muscle if i do long cardio, so my sessions are rarely over 30 min. i actually think i may have gained a bit of muscle during my last prep!

[SBT]

I mainly to HIIT as well... either the spin classes that I teach, intervals on the step mill, or bleachers ;)

I get tooooo bored with steady state :o

[beary4]

i mainly do HIIT, either on the elliptical or running bleachers. i feel i lose muscle if i do long cardio, so my sessions are rarely over 30 min. i actually think i may have gained a bit of muscle during my last prep!

so how many days a week do you do HIIT or intervals during your prep? do you do any cardio the other days? ...and do you take any days off?? Thanks for the info!!!

[Erik]

I have everyone do some form of interval training.

I'm anti-excess-cardio.

[Erik]

Here's a side bar/conclusion to an article I wrote for a print mag on interval training and fat loss.

Intervals and Contest Preparation

Interval training is well established as a time-efficient and very effective means of fat loss and this is also true for competitive bodybuilders and figure competitors. Steady state cardio, and lots of it, has been the Holy Grail of contest prep for years. However, there really is no good reason to have to resort to 10-14 hours or more of cardio per week to get in shape. So, can competitors use interval training in their contest prep? Yes, most definitely. However, they should do so while keeping certain things in mind.

One, a competitor of any significant size (ie. big male bodybuilders) should probably not be running, or running much. They should opt for non-impact cardio modalities like the stationary bike. Two, they need to keep in mind that interval training, similar to intense weight training, is a very CNS (Central Nervous System) intensive form of exercise. Short sprint intervals (~ 20s) are more CNS intensive than longer sprint intervals and as such you want to be mindful of how you balance that out with your lower body training. A few key points to consider:

1. Think of interval training as a lower-body workout and as such, be sure to be mindful of just how much lower-body training (volume) you’re doing. Too many interval workouts and too many lower-body workouts is a recipe for muscle and strength loss.

2. Put your interval-training workouts on your heavy lower body days. Why? So that your legs have more complete rest days per week. Doing them on your ‘Off’ or ‘Upper Body’ days gives your legs less recovery time and you run the risk of localized overtraining of your legs.

3. As your bodyfat approaches very lean levels recovery is at a premium. Consider less intensive forms of cardio – longer duration intervals (which by nature are less intense and therefore not as hard on the CNS), more steady state cardio, etc.

[Siouxcountry]

I have one competition under my belt and only did steady state cardio and I felt like I lost some muscle.

Hi Casey! :waving: Welcome aboard! :)

[LadyZ]

I do low intensity cardio... just to burn off the fat... I think the HIIT for me would be too much that i would no energy what so ever.

[beary4]

Here's a side bar/conclusion to an article I wrote for a print mag on interval training and fat loss.

Intervals and Contest Preparation

Interval training is well established as a time-efficient and very effective means of fat loss and this is also true for competitive bodybuilders and figure competitors. Steady state cardio, and lots of it, has been the Holy Grail of contest prep for years. However, there really is no good reason to have to resort to 10-14 hours or more of cardio per week to get in shape. So, can competitors use interval training in their contest prep? Yes, most definitely. However, they should do so while keeping certain things in mind.

One, a competitor of any significant size (ie. big male bodybuilders) should probably not be running, or running much. They should opt for non-impact cardio modalities like the stationary bike. Two, they need to keep in mind that interval training, similar to intense weight training, is a very CNS (Central Nervous System) intensive form of exercise. Short sprint intervals (~ 20s) are more CNS intensive than longer sprint intervals and as such you want to be mindful of how you balance that out with your lower body training. A few key points to consider:

1. Think of interval training as a lower-body workout and as such, be sure to be mindful of just how much lower-body training (volume) you’re doing. Too many interval workouts and too many lower-body workouts is a recipe for muscle and strength loss.

2. Put your interval-training workouts on your heavy lower body days. Why? So that your legs have more complete rest days per week. Doing them on your ‘Off’ or ‘Upper Body’ days gives your legs less recovery time and you run the risk of localized overtraining of your legs.

3. As your bodyfat approaches very lean levels recovery is at a premium. Consider less intensive forms of cardio – longer duration intervals (which by nature are less intense and therefore not as hard on the CNS), more steady state cardio, etc.


thanks for the info! This helps a lot!

Hi Casey! :waving: Welcome aboard! :)

Hi Sioux! :waving:

[Gin]

2. Put your interval-training workouts on your heavy lower body days. Why? So that your legs have more complete rest days per week. Doing them on your ‘Off’ or ‘Upper Body’ days gives your legs less recovery time and you run the risk of localized overtraining of your legs.


Interesting.... I do some HIIT on my leg days but my most intense interval days I typically do on upper body days because I feel like I have more stamina and leg strength to hit it hard. Do most of you follow Erik's recco here or have you been doing it on upper body days?

[SBT]

Interesting.... I do some HIIT on my leg days but my most intense interval days I typically do on upper body days because I feel like I have more stamina and leg strength to hit it hard. Do most of you follow Erik's recco here or have you been doing it on upper body days?

I do one of my interval days the same day as legs, and the other when I teach spin is the day preceeding my leg day which benefits me so that way I don't over due it on my leg day ;)

[Rainy]

I use mainly HIIT and moderate intensity cardio. Steady state bores the life out of me... I need to feel drained afterwards as well :tr:

[dvsness]

I did it for my first show and haven't since. I prefer SS, but I still don't do the long monotonous hours that I have seen performed.

[bree marsh]

so how many days a week do you do HIIT or intervals during your prep? do you do any cardio the other days? ...and do you take any days off?? Thanks for the info!!!

sorry, just saw this!.....i'd say i do HIIT 3x/week, then i do 1-2 other sessions per week, either 30 min (usually elliptical) increasing intensity every 10 minutes, or incline walking for 20-30 minutes, @ 3mph and highest grade possible.

[Jennie]

HIIT here as well.

[Aletha]

HITT has been the most effective form of training for me. I've been doing it since high school and that's a long time ago...LOL.
Cheers