Is it safe to do HIIT 5-6 days a week?

I've been training since early November 07, usually doing about 4-5 days a week. Initial plan was 4 day split, with regular cardio everyday and sunday being day of total rest. However, I usually only landed up doing a two day split and about 20-30 mins cardio on the 2-3 other days.

Even tho I didnt workout quite as hard as I would liked to have, I managed to drop 36 lbs, going from 190 at the first week of November to about 156 this week. However, my weight seems to have been hovering around about the same weight for the past 6 weeks, going up or down 2-3 pounds.

Looking back at my diet sheet I can see my diet is the cause of this, with me eating too much on the weekends and effectively wiping out the good eating on the weekdays and bumping up my daily cal average too high. Anyway, its time to get serious and drop final 10 lbs I need to get to goal so I can then start focusing on building muscle.

Last week in an effort to get rid of the last few lbs I started training twice a day, doing 45 mins of low intensity cardio each morning (usually working at between 75-80% of my MHR, sometimes pushing up to 85%) and burining 500-600 cals a time. 2nd visit of the day was then resistance training 4 days (Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri) with a 2nd session of cardio in place of resistance on Wed and Saturday.

Had a good week last week and feel great for having added the extra workout in, but I have to say I find the 45 mins cardio BORING. So now I'm thinking of switching to HIIT training as its only about 20-25 mins. What I'm unsure of is whether its safe to do HIIT everyday (not on rest day of course). So is it safe to do say 20 mins of HIIT, 5-6 days a week??

To my way of thinking if you can do it for six days you aren't really pushing yourself. If you're pushing hard on the weight days that can easily be HIIT to.

Better to do HIIT hard and less often then to burn out and do it half assed.

I used to think that HIIT should be kept to around 3x a week but now I don't know. The coach I am working with right now has me doing HIIT 5 days a week and I feel fine. The difference is that he has me doing them in stair climber instead of running on treadmill. I say give it a try but make sure to do it on a cardio machine that's low impact.

I used to think that HIIT should be kept to around 3x a week but now I don't know. The coach I am working with right now has me doing HIIT 5 days a week and I feel fine. The difference is that he has me doing them in stair climber instead of running on treadmill. I say give it a try but make sure to do it on a cardio machine that's low impact.
Well I typically use the ellipital so thats low impact. Actually a question about HIIT itself, in terms of the minute (assuming I'm doing something like 1 mins full on, 2 mins recovery) that I'm working all out, should I aim for a specific MRH, say between 85-90% or should I not worry about MHR and just go at it as fast/intense as I can?

Well I typically use the ellipital so thats low impact. Actually a question about HIIT itself, in terms of the minute (assuming I'm doing something like 1 mins full on, 2 mins recovery) that I'm working all out, should I aim for a specific MRH, say between 85-90% or should I not worry about MHR and just go at it as fast/intense as I can?

This is my opinion but I think heart rate is just a generalization. For example, at my age, it says around 164 HRM is around 80% of my effort. Honestly, when my heart rate is around that range, I feel more like 70-75%. I think everyone's Max Heart Rate differs and the ones on the cardio machines are just general guidelines. I would go more with how you feel.

Is it safe to do HIIT 5-6 days a week?

Had a good week last week and feel great for having added the extra workout in, but I have to say I find the 45 mins cardio BORING. So now I'm thinking of switching to HIIT training as its only about 20-25 mins. What I'm unsure of is whether its safe to do HIIT everyday (not on rest day of course). So is it safe to do say 20 mins of HIIT, 5-6 days a week??

I would rather see 40 minutes of HIIT, three times a week, than 20 minutes of HIIT, six times a week. Don't underestimate the importance of rest.

And yeah, you can do 40 minutes of HIIT, just remember that there are lots and lots of flavors of HIIT. You might need to slightly lengthen the recovery intervals. Don't lower the intensity of the intense intervals though.

Cardio is definitely boring. Get some running shoes, running is hella fun (if you remember the days when you couldn't run a bit, it makes running even more satisfying). Jog or do sprinting intervals on a nice low traffic street or a track in your area.

Do watch out for other types of injuries with that much HIIT. Elliptical work at that intensity can lead to repetitive stress injuries, I've read.

Is it safe to play basketball 5-6 days a week? Soccer? Tennis?:confused:

Unless you are a competitive bodybuilder trying to hold on to every bit of muscle, or you need to be properly rested to perform a certain 1RM, as long as your body can handle it, nothing wrong with being active everyday. Whether it be running, playing a sport, or doing HIIT.

When we were kids, we ran and played everyday.

Well I typically use the ellipital so thats low impact. Actually a question about HIIT itself, in terms of the minute (assuming I'm doing something like 1 mins full on, 2 mins recovery) that I'm working all out, should I aim for a specific MRH, say between 85-90% or should I not worry about MHR and just go at it as fast/intense as I can?

What is your goals? to lose weight? Or to increase endurance and stamina? Or lose weight and maintain muscle.

If it is to lose weight and you burn only 600 calories a day a session. Why not cut calories instead. How many calories are you taking in a day. I would suggest you cut calories, increase weights in workout, cut rest between sets to less than 60 sec, set reps at 8-12 reps. This would increase metabolism and build lean body mass giving you shape and form. You could schedule cardio after weight workout giving you 4 workouts a week. This might cut down your time in gym that you can apply to your life.

Stop the overeating and keep diet clean. Get your rest. While you may get away with it, remember you could over-train and even lose muscle. It does happen.:gl:

What is your goals? to lose weight? Or to increase endurance and stamina? Or lose weight and maintain muscle.

If it is to lose weight and you burn only 600 calories a day a session. Why not cut calories instead. How many calories are you taking in a day. I would suggest you cut calories, increase weights in workout, cut rest between sets to less than 60 sec, set reps at 8-12 reps. This would increase metabolism and build lean body mass giving you shape and form. You could schedule cardio after weight workout giving you 4 workouts a week. This might cut down your time in gym that you can apply to your life.

Stop the overeating and keep diet clean. Get your rest. While you may get away with it, remember you could over-train and even lose muscle. It does happen.:gl:
Top goal at the moment is weight loss, however I want to start building more muscle too (have already gained some). Ultimate good is a nice defined, lean body. At the moment I still have quite a bit of fat around my belly so as far as I'm concerened thats the priority.

I've been trying to eat about 1800 cals, but I've had bad weekends almost every weekend for the past 6 weeks so instead of consuming an average of 1800 cals a day, I'm consumed closer too 2200-2400 a day (pretty bad weekends!), which is obviously why my weight is sort of up and down at the moment. I'm planning to rein in the weekend eating going forward and thought I'd maximise the weight loss by create a greater cal deficiet via excercise instead of just with calories.

As for the workout suggestion. I do add weights fairly reguarly and try and cut the rest time between sets, I tend to do my resistance training in my lunch hour (i'm 2 mins walk from the gym) so I don't have time for both cardio and resistance at the same visit. Quite happy to go twice a day tho and I've heard its great for cranking up the metabolism

BTW, here are some before and after pics. First one is from Nov 12th 2007, new ones are 15th March 2008! Still a way to go!

2200-2400 calories? OMG IT'S SOOO HIGH!!! I'm just kidding. It's not bad at all. When I have bad weekends, I can easily go over 3000 calories or even close to 4000.... Since you said your weight has been stuck, here's what I suggest you do.

Increase your calories to around 2200-2400 for an entire week. Keep the foods clean though. After the first week, drop the calories back down to 1800 and see what happens. I think you'll start to drop the weight again.

2200-2400 calories? OMG IT'S SOOO HIGH!!! I'm just kidding. It's not bad at all. When I have bad weekends, I can easily go over 3000 calories or even close to 4000.... Since you said your weight has been stuck, here's what I suggest you do.

Increase your calories to around 2200-2400 for an entire week. Keep the foods clean though. After the first week, drop the calories back down to 1800 and see what happens. I think you'll start to drop the weight again.

Well I have effectively been doing 2200-2400 these past few weeks, even tho it wasn't planned that way. My aim this week is to stick religiously with 1800. After several weeks of 2200+, I should hopefully (with the extra cardio too) have a good drop this week.

BTW, did my first HIIT today. Yikes its hard work :eek:. Did 5 mins warm up, then 1 mins full on, 2 mins recovery, but then had to switch to 30 secs full on and then 2-3 mins recovery for the rest of the time. Did about 26 mins in total (until I'd burned 300 cals).

oo so what's the verdict? is it okay to do 5-6 HIIT sessions a week? if not how many times should it be done? cuz i've been weight lifting for an intense 30 min with ~30 sec breaks and then HIIT-ing for 20 min afterwards. how does one know if they're overworking themselves?? because personally i would be able workout everyday if i could...as in my body feels able to handle it (and i think i work out pretty hard with a hoodie and everything heh:tu:).

i'm trying to lose my gut and preserve muscle mass (although i don't have that as much muscle as i want) i weigh 176 and even though i only have an electronic bf% machine, it's consistent...it says im 23-25%.

any help would be greatly appreciated thanks. (sorry im not trying to hijack the thread i just had the same concerns as the OP)

. how does one know if they're overworking themselves?? because personally i would be able workout everyday if i could...as in my body feels able to handle it (and i think i work out pretty hard with a hoodie and everything heh:tu:).

i'm trying to lose my gut and preserve muscle mass (although i don't have that as much muscle as i want) i weigh 176 and even though i only have an electronic bf% machine, it's consistent...it says im 23-25%



Weight don't tell you much unless you have height to go along with it. 176 lbs on a 6'1" frame looks different then on a 5'6" frame. 3-4 days a week should be enough for cardio. When you overtrain, you fall apart because it attacks your central nervous system (CNS). You need to give your body time to recover. simple as that.

If you WORKout 5-6 days a week when are you allowing it to rebuild and recover? It don't hurt me what you do, but three days a week is what I would tell those I care about, even if there were gains to more training, it would be minimal. Of course, some people don't workout as intense as others.

Priority go like this in my mind, diet, weights, and cardio if you feel you have to. Get the first two in line first. Weights burn fat and build muscle. Cardio burns fat and builds little or no muscle. Cardio doesn't have any magic that finds its way to your abs for that six pack that people today worship. You can't spot reduce but you can spot build with resistance training.:gl:

oo im sorry...im 176 and 5'8. the start of my week: lift (~30min) and then run for endurance after for 20min 4x a week. on separate days (alternating with lifting), all i do is 2x HIIT sessions without prior lifting for 20min. i do the HIIT two days after i worked out my legs. (this schedule isn't consistent ALL the time since i usually don't go to the gym the day before a major test)

I'm trying to workout as much as i can most of the week because for some reason my metabolism is never going up. im 22 and i've gotten it checked w/ bf% etc.. at my gym as well as with what my Tanita scale says (if that means anything).

now, the scale may not be as accurate as possible that's for sure...but it's consistent as hell and it's kinda freakin me out. it says that i have a resting metabolic age of around a 45 year old. and then right after i work out, i figure it should be revved up a ton, i go to check it and the lowest it gets is to that of a 35 year old. i don't think it can be off by 12 years...it seems a bit much don't you think? i have tried inputting different settings/parameters and i get about the same thing. i just have a pouch on my belly + some lower backfat...nothing protrudes that much heh. i am far from ripped but if i worked out consistently for 4-6 months i know i could attain at least 10%bf, but im doing as much as i can in dental school. my diet is not perfect, but i think it's much better than most grad school students. i get my protein, veggies, fruits, fiber, take my multivitamins and whatnot. i don't sleep on carbs but i do on casein protein.

otherwise, everything you've said makes complete logical sense and i have tried that for months before. it's either my metabolism always being low or constant over training, that adds to my lack of energy throughout the day (i feel like i could go to sleep again right after about 3-4 hours of being up) i know i have a lot of stress due to it being first year of dental school but dang...this is nuts. i shouldn't be this tired.

any thoughts/suggestions anyone?? thanks a ton for reading my life story heh

oo im sorry...im 176 and 5'8. the start of my week: lift (~30min) and then run for endurance after for 20min 4x a week. on separate days (alternating with lifting), all i do is 2x HIIT sessions without prior lifting for 20min. i do the HIIT two days after i worked out my legs. (this schedule isn't consistent ALL the time since i usually don't go to the gym the day before a major test)

I'm trying to workout as much as i can most of the week because for some reason my metabolism is never going up. im 22

any thoughts/suggestions anyone?? thanks a ton for reading my life story heh
Drop your calories to 1900 calories. rest between sets 30-60 sec. Try to increase weights each workout. For the next week, don't do cardio just weights, add cardio back in slowly.

sounds good. i'll take your suggestion. thanks a lot:)