Hiit back to back?

[babarnold3]

Was wondering if it's ok to do hiit and/or interval workouts on consecutive days? Something such as To The Max followed by an Imax. Will it cause muscle breakdown? These are the only types of workouts I want to do. Thanks in advance

 

[elsie3]

I just finished Cathe's July rotation last week (I'm a bit behind on rotations). Cathe had TTM, ME, HiiT 40/20, followed by CF, KickMax and then TTM. When I got to Wednesday, I was thinking "she seriously wants us to do CF after 40/20?!?" But I lived and it was awesome.

 

[atompki1]

You might just have to try it an see how your body feels. For me, the only way I can do two of those workouts in a row is if I totally rest my legs the following day(like an upper body lifting type workout). I've tried it where I do leg heavy workout consistantly day after day and my legs just burn out to the point where even on my rest day they feel extremely exaughted. I really don't like the feeling when my workouts make me feel worse, not better.

My sweet spot seems to be two leg heavy days followed by a day off of legs(or a steady state cardio day). But I'm sure there are plenty of people who can handle that much leg activity without a problem

 

[nckfitheart2009]

cardio workout only

Hi,

If you only want to do cardio then you may need to read cathe's article and eventually reconsider your approach. I do not know your goal but if it is weight loss, I certainly would not do cardio only! You would definetely benefit and speed up the weight loss process adding weight lifting.

Even if your goal is to maintain your weight and get lean and/or build muscle, it is still not the approach in my opinion.

To reply to your question, if you keep on exercising high impact intensely, you may jeopardise your health due to risk injuries. Plus it will cause muscle breakdown in a long period. This had happened to me years ago!! It happened to me, due to lack of knowledge at the time and I kicked myself when I realised!

All the best,
Cathe Friedrich - Is 30 Minutes of Exercise More Effective Than an Hour for Weight Loss? You May Be Surprised

Nathalie

 

[RapidBreath]

I would not do a HIIT workout two days in a row. The second day would be either intervals (not true hiit, not seeing your red line, top of your HR), steady state (70% of max), strength training (aren't those fun??), or yoga. The point of the workout is the recovery period, not the workout itself.

 

[mini-natty]

Please clarify babarnold3, did you mean that you only want to do hiit cardio and NO strength training at all? Or did you mean that you only want to do hiit and/or intervals as your cardio of choice back to back?

My advice would be to listen your body. Only you know what you can/cannot handle. I've done hiit 40/20 and then Imax2 the next day and lived to tell the tale . I've also done 2 hiit workouts back to back if I'm feeling very energetic, no DOMS, and got a restful nights sleep. Do I do it often? Nope. I just find hiit's to be very taxing on the body and joints. It also has a certain dread factor for me, so I like to break it up with steady state cardio.
When in doubt, look at some of Cathe's Rotations:
http://cathe.com/forum/f100/july-2012-rotation-289653/
This one for example. To The Max & Crossfire & 40/20...IN THE SAME WEEK!!

As far as doing only cardio and NO strength training (assuming if that was your original question) I would say please reconsider! Strength training, even 1X/week, has so many wonderful benefits! A balance of cardio & strength would be ideal.

Take care,

Natasha