HIIT for Burning fat?

Question

Would it be more effective to do HIIT on a stationary bike in the morning for 10-15 mins or doing regular speed stationary bike in the afternoon for 40 mins? In terms of burning fat and maintaining muscle.

Answer 1

The answer to that would be variable, depending on your day's schedule.
Generally, you'll see much better results using the HIT method, particularly when looking to hold on to muscle mass.
This again is variable however, and if you were only doing the morning session cardio, you would eventually adapt to the stimulus. Depending on just how much condition you're looking to achieve, you would eventually need to increase your cardio work to achieve further fat loss.

I would probably recommend that you start with cycle sprints (a.m.) as follows;

4 minutes warm up
4 minutes sprints (20 secs max, 10 sec moderate, repeat for a total of 8x20 sec sprints)
4 minutes cool down

Your fitness level will determine your work capacity for at least 2 weeks, at which point you'll start to find the sprints much easier. Continue on for a further 1-2 weeks, then consider adding afternoon cardio (not sprints) to your regimen.

Again, start out at 15-20 mins, increasing by 5 mins weekly up to a max of 30-40 mins. Then allow your fitness level to determine your effort (increase).

Finally, consider taking 1-2 rest days (separate) from sprints, as you will need to allow for recovery in order to see improvements in performance and a maintaining of muscle mass.

Good Luck!!

Answer 2

Mmm can't really say based on those specifics. Usually HIT will burn more fat simply by virtue of watts / calories expended per time. But if you only do 15 minutes vs 40, then you're going to have to put out 2.67 times the calories... very difficult to do.

Why not go for a 40 minute HIT workout?

Answer 3

Too much aerobic activity will not allow you to hold onto lean muscle mass,you have to keep it in the anerobic level,that and only the first ten minutes of exercise utilizes stored fat,after that your body is running on glycogen for energy

Answer 4

For burning fat and using that reserve energy, it is better to do the longer workout. If you were looking to build speed and sprint, the shorter one could be effective. However, the strategy that works in my experience is one that has variety. Do both of them. Have longer days and shorter ones.