Yet another question about HIIT vs. steady state cardio

Okay, I've read and read and read about this, but I'm still confused on one point.

60 minutes of moderate intensity on the elliptical (hill program), burning 650 calories.

30 minutes of HIIT on elliptical, burning 350 calories.

hiit is supposed to burn calories even after you are done. when constant cardio stops burning calories when you stop.

Yeah, HIIT gives you a A Burn of EPOC proportions that lasts for hours after you stop - the more intense, the longer the EPOC lasts...

As I understand the concept of HIIT vs. steady state cardio, HIIT involves changes from moderate to high intensity. This can occur with either a change in the speed or the difficulty level.

In your example, doing the hill program on the elliptical, you are, in a manner of speaking, doing interval training. I doubt you are doing the hills to the point of reaching high intensity, given the number of calories you are burning, but you do have some elements of interval training in your steady state example. My understanding of steady state cardio is exactly that....steady, in both intensity and speed.

What is it that you are confused about?

CC cut off half of my original post!

When I'm doing random hills on the elliptical, my HR is steady at about 160. I'm probably just used to the program. I've tried to do a steady program (not changing resistance or incline), but I get bored.

When I did a "real" interval program, I fluctuated between 145-190 for rest/intense 1 min/1 min.

Yes, I have an abnormally high MHR. 160 is "moderate" for me--I can still sing along to my iPod, believe it or not.

My original question was--which is better? Do you burn more calories and fat in the long run with HIIT? Or steady state better over time? I've been trying to mix it up, but I noticed that 30 min of HIIT kicks my butt way more than 60 min of SS.

I want to see RESULTS, so I'm trying to shake up my routine a little.

My opinion, if it is a question of 60 min. moderate intesity cardio or 30 minutes of HIIT, the 60  min. of moderate intesity cardo will burn more calories in spite of the EPOC of HIIT.   So if the results your looking for is a larger calorie deficit, the longer workout is better.  But if it is fitness you are after, you should do both plus some lower intesity recovery days.  2 non-consecutive days of HIIT per week is enough, do recovery the 2 days after HIIT, and longer moderate to high intesity the other 3 days.

Hey Feydruss..you may want to cross check your HR on the elliptical. They way over estimate your HR. I used the Polar HR monitor that shows a 20-30 point deficit from what my elliptical shows. For eg. if my elliptical shows my HR as 169, my polar would show 145 or so.

I've checked my HR on both the elliptical, Polar, and another monitor I have, as well as doing the old-fashioned finger on the neck and eyes on the clock trick. I really do have an abnormally high MHR, it seems.

The poor elliptical thinks I'm having a heart attack. After a 60 minute workout, it will tell me that I only spent something like 3 minutes in the right zone. :)

It sounds like I'm better off doing more SS than HIIT to get the deficit results I want. So I'm going to stick to SS most days, and HIIT maybe twice a week on non-consecutive days to mix things up.

I'd say read the stickied post at the top of the fitness forum on getting started at the bottom of the post are lots of links to compare HIIT w/ regular cardio.