Which is better for fat loss, HIIT or weight training?

I'm getting conflicting reports on this site. The more I read, the more confused I get. I like to do the most efficient possible, and I still have a bunch of fat to lose. I really enjoy weight lifting. Though I'm just using my bowflex right now, and lifting as heavy as I possibly can, I'll be investing in free weights soon.

I would be very happy to continue my weight training if that is better than HIIT, because I do prefer it to cardio. But, I don't want my weight loss to come to a screeching halt if I focus more on lifting and less on cardio.

Your rate of weight loss is going to be determined by the difference in calories between what you eat and what you burn.  Beyond that, exercise is good for you.

FWIW I am doing both HIIT and weights. 3 days of weights (2 upper, 1 lower); 2 days HIIT; 1 day of hiking or swimming.

I think it is more of a personal preference once you understand the difference between them all.

Cardio burns a lot while you do it, but doesn't continue the burn.

Weights strengthen muscles and make them burn more for you at rest.

HIIT burns reasonable amount during, but keeps metab up for hours afterwards.

I just don't like cardio. I'm actually pretty proud of myself for the HIIT since it involves a little running. :D

But like trawley said - as long as you've got a deficit and you're getting out and moving - you're on the right track.

I am at a deficit. I don't really count calories anymore (my bad) because I never know if this site is really accurate. Like when I enter a yogurt, this site is about 25 calories higher than what's on the container. So, I guesstimate what I eat. Almost everything I eat is clean, but I allow myself treats now and then (usually only on the days I workout hard). I lookup recipes on this site and experiment with them at home.

So far, I'm managing to lose .5 - 1 lb / week. Maybe it could be more, but I'm really happy with the way my body is starting to look and I'm losing a bunch of inches. I'm recording them each week also.

I guess I'm just looking ahead to the dreaded plateau, and wondering what the heck I'm going to do when I encounter one, and I actually want to lift more than twice a week, because I enjoy it so much, but I don't want to slow the progression since I'm losing so little each week as it is.

I don't know about which promotes more fat loss, but I do know that I HIIT has done wonders for a) my metabolism b) my running times and c) my endurance.  That said, HIIT shouldn't be something you do every day, so why not mix them up?  My exercise scheduler for this past week looks like this:

M: 3-5 mile run

T: 1 circuit HIIT (takes about an hour, actually ended up doing a 1 1/2 hr yoga class instead)

W: Rest day (though I ran a mile in honor of national running day)

R: Strength training, mixed upper & lower

F: Run 3-5 miles

S: 1 circuit HIIT

Su: Strength training, mixed upper & lower

I often switch things up, and find that having many different routines is a good way to ensure that I stick with it regularly...that and the $42 that comes out of my bank account every month for my gym membership!  When I get my endurance up and can run 5 miles at a time easily, this will be a daily burn of 400-600 calories (right now, it's 300-400 most days).  That's 2400-3600 calories per week that I can put toward faster weight loss or tasty treats.  There's enough strength training that I can maintain and even build some muscle (with commensurate diet), enough HIIT to improve my run times and endurance, and enough variety to ensure that these habits last my lifetime.  Mixing it up also helps you to avoid plateaux.

I'd say weights (although diet is #1) based on this.

However, it depends on how much effort you put into it, and what you are willing to do consistently.

I dont have much in put but if you like lifting that much you can do it everyday. Just focus on one muscle group a day. Upper body one day, lower body the next, core workouts another day. Just remember to give yourself a day or 2 for rest so you dont burn yourself out emotionally.

There is no reason you can't incorporate both into your weekly workout routine/sep days.  They both have enormous benefits and mixing things up is truly best for you body!

Regardless of which is "best" for weight loss - they are both exercise, they both burn calories, they are both good for you - do what you like to do and it will be easier to stick with your workouts.  Doing both would reap the benefits of both - strength and cardio - but you are seeing results doing what you are doing.

Absolutely, up your weights to 3 times a week - it's awesome you found something you like to do so much - just remember to take a day off in-between.  That's a good time to do some cardio, if you have the inclination. 

When you hit that plateau, it often helps to do something a little different than usual, both with exercise and diet, but the main thing is STICK WITH IT!

If you cannot find foods that match the containers here on the site, you can always enter them in manually, then tag them if you are eating them often.  It sounds like your guesstimations are pretty good if you are losing .5 to 1 lb a week, which is a good rate.  I'm not so good at it!

Keep going!

Most hard-core lifters who utlize HIIT will tell you to do both, whether you do it on alternating days is up to you but you should do it no more than 4 times per week, 3 is effective. The info below is what I've accumulated from online research on HIIT and the experience I've had with it.

True HIIT workouts should be no longer than 10-20 minutes. If you're able to do that workout for 35 minutes, it is not true HIIT, and because of the very intense nature of HIIT, it can be dangerous to your heart to push it further. (At least that's what I've learned in my research.) You can check out general info on HIIT at http://www.hiitsource.com/getting-started/. Another good link is http://www.davedraper.com/hiit-cardio-trainin g.html.

I started doing HIIT last summer, when I started lifting weights, and it's really amazing what you'll get out of 2-3 10-15 minute HIIT sessions each week. I didn't want to believe it, either, that THAT little bit of exercise could be so effective, but believe me it'll kick yer butt AND burn fat fast. Newbies will probably be able to get through 3-5 minutes of intervals (20 seconds going balls-out as hard as you can push, until you want to fall off the machine, then 40-50 seconds at a very low intensity, repeated), but don't let that fool you, it's quite intense and it DOES work! If you do HIIT 2-3 times per week, and lift 3 times per week, you can just about cut out your other cardio completely - it's that effective. Unless, of course, you enjoy your other cardio or are training for some kind of endurance sport.

By the way, I have an interval timer and it makes my HIIT workouts MUCH easier. No more looking at the machine's timer to keep track, just switch when it beeps. You can get one for pretty cheap here: http://www.gymboss.com/, or on Ebay, but the price is about the same both places.

With this timer, can you hold it? Or is it only for the treadmill. I was thinking about getting a stop watch and trying hiit on a track, but I haven't gotten one yet. Would this timer work for something like that?

Original Post by najahs:

With this timer, can you hold it? Or is it only for the treadmill. I was thinking about getting a stop watch and trying hiit on a track, but I haven't gotten one yet. Would this timer work for something like that?

 If you're on a track, you can just mark out .. um... dangit. There's a particular length, then you sprint down and walk back.

shoot. I'll look for it and hopefully the person who posted that before will come along and see this and add the length. My memory is as long as my pecker.

If your on a track you could either sprint as hard as you can, and then walk back.  It will take you 2-3 times as long to walk back, and it's unlikely that if you are really going all out that you will be able to do it for more than 30-45 seconds.

Or, you could sprint the turns and walk the straightaways. 

You don't really need a timer.  But, I know that the longer I've spent getting fit, the more money I spend on it.    It's no one's fault but my own.  I just love all the geeky stuff. I want a new, better heart monitor, an interval timer, Wii EActive, assitance bands for doing pull-ups, --- just about everything I see is something I want. 

tatooed_kitty thanks for the info! I'm a little afraid of HIIT. I really want to try it, but I get migraine associated dizziness (at least that's what the specialists tell me). I have to be careful with all cardio, so I don't get a dizzy spell and fall off the machine. Surprisingly though, I've been doing Turbo Jam each week for about a month, and have done the cardio party a handful of times, and last weekend, was the first time I came to almost completing the entire 43 minute segment! I had the energy to complete it, but in the last 8 minutes, she was doing combination moves that I had never done before, and I was laughing so hard I stopped. I've been doing workout dvd's/vhs for years, and everytime I did step aerobics, or something high-impact, I had to do the low-impact equivalent, or had to quit after 20-25 minutes because I started getting light-headed, and my legs stopped working.

So, after completing that, and this week, I did the same workout, and went until I ran out of time (had to get ready for work), and still felt I had the energy to do more. I'm thinking because I've been doing this particular cardio workout, and trying to do the high-impact version to burn more calories, I may have actually built up the endurance to try HIIT.

So far, it appears my body hasn't adjusted to any workout routine because I try to mix it up pretty well, but it occurred to me that unless I add HIIT, or more weight-lifting days, steady cardio is going to eventually stop helping me shed the pounds.

Original Post by najahs:

With this timer, can you hold it? Or is it only for the treadmill. I was thinking about getting a stop watch and trying hiit on a track, but I haven't gotten one yet. Would this timer work for something like that?

The timer has a strong clip on it - I usually clip it to my tank top or sports bra strap, against my chest. It has vibrate, alarm, or combo options and you can set the intervals for as much time each interval as you like. For example, my intervals right now are set to 30:45 meaning I skip rope rapidly (well, as rapidly as I can without falling - not that good at it yet!) for 30 seconds, then rest for 45. I get through about 9 intervals now before my legs feel like jello. :-)

Lindinig, you're quite welcome!  I can't do much that's high-impact right now, either, because of my knee giving me problems. This is actually why I switched again from trail running to doing HIIT with a jump rope. When you use the rope, you barely come off the groung but it kicks your butt. If you decide to do it, just keep in mind that it's best to start out slow anyway, so try it for 4 cycles of 20:45 intervals and see how you feel. Good luck!

Well in all honesty, there are three things needed for fat loss.

1) Nutrintion. This is the most important. It won't matter how much HIIT or weight training you do, if you don't eat the right foods. You also have to make sure that you eat enough calories. For example, they say that a person who weighs 180-200 pounds should be getting at least 3000 calories per day if they exercise regularly. Protein, carbs from whole grains/vegetables, and healthy fats is the way to go. You want 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight, 1.5 grams of carbs per pound of bodyweight, and 30-60 grams of healthy fats. A lot of water too. One cheat day per week is alright if you do it in moderation. Your metabolism adapts just like your body does, so you need one day per week to give it some variety to offset it.

2) Weight Training. This is the second most important thing. You need to build muscle to lose bodyfat. It is that simple. The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism will be and the more calories you will burn while at rest. Lift at least three days per week with free weights to get the best results. Lift heavy too with weights you can only do 3-6 times.

3) HIIT Cardio. This goes hand in hand with weight training because it is the only cardio that spares muscle and speeds up metabolism like a weight training session would. It also gives you a superior cardio workout because it is more intense.

Ever since I started eating more calories of the right foods, along with hard weight training and HIIT, my bodyfat really started to drop. I can actually see my abs when I look in the mirror now.

Original Post by vyperman7:

Well in all honesty, there are three things needed for fat loss.

1) Nutrintion. This is the most important. It won't matter how much HIIT or weight training you do, if you don't eat the right foods. You also have to make sure that you eat enough calories. For example, they say that a person who weighs 180-200 pounds should be getting at least 3000 calories per day if they exercise regularly. Protein, carbs from whole grains/vegetables, and healthy fats is the way to go. You want 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight, 1.5 grams of carbs per pound of bodyweight, and 30-60 grams of healthy fats. A lot of water too. One cheat day per week is alright if you do it in moderation. Your metabolism adapts just like your body does, so you need one day per week to give it some variety to offset it.

2) Weight Training. This is the second most important thing. You need to build muscle to lose bodyfat. It is that simple. The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism will be and the more calories you will burn while at rest. Lift at least three days per week with free weights to get the best results. Lift heavy too with weights you can only do 3-6 times.

3) HIIT Cardio. This goes hand in hand with weight training because it is the only cardio that spares muscle and speeds up metabolism like a weight training session would. It also gives you a superior cardio workout because it is more intense.

Ever since I started eating more calories of the right foods, along with hard weight training and HIIT, my bodyfat really started to drop. I can actually see my abs when I look in the mirror now.

Do you retype this advice everytime you give it or is it copy and pasted from somewhere? 

Original Post by floggingsully:

Do you retype this advice everytime you give it or is it copy and pasted from somewhere? 

 Ha Ha!!

I know. I am seriously starting to sound like a broken record huh. It is just that there are so many threads where people ask the same questions. I copy and paste to save time.

hey i actually had big problems with this.......

both will decrease your body fat - but HITT in laymens terms makes you "skinnier".  when i was marathon training i got down to a bmi of about 17.5....i did a lot of HITT and i saw a lot of weight come off....i went to see my doctor and he said i was still healthy but should try to put on some weight.  SO now i'm a bmi of 18.4 but I have a lower body fat % (a percentage that is unhealhty for a woman and i need to increase) b/c i've started to weight lift.  so my doctor recommended that i start eating more fats heavy foods (i eat an extra 400 calories a day of fish, peanut butter, eggs).  so i guess if you are trying to lose fat do the opposite? hahahah.

I think HITT helps shed weight (obviously fat included) but weight lifting you can decrease you % of body fat while increasing OR decreasing your weight..

So, it seems both will do the trick, but I may benefit more from lifting heavy weights. I started NROL4W last week and so far, so good, though it's kicking my butt! I haven't incorporated HIIT into my routine yet, but I've reduced the cardio somewhat (I really have no idea what I'm doing, but the book says steady state cardio will burn muscle as well, and if I'm going to take the time to build muscle, I certainly don't want to lose it!).

I don't care what the scale says, as long as I lose the ring of fat around my middle

lindinig - NROLFW will add HIIT in Stage II, so you'll get it soon enough.