As we know, contest bodybuilders have been getting lean on boring ass steady state cardio for years.

In the ‘off season’, use HIIT every 5 – 7 days, no more. Use steady state cardio for the rest of you cardio sessions, but not so slow that you’re able to carry on a conversation as some suggest. That’s total crap, you’re not working hard enough. When you’re getting close to a time when you really want to get carved up, like summer, HIIT is on tap 2 – 3 days week for two weeks, then back off the intensity, less speed in your intervals or increase the duration of the work, but still lessen the intensity. This might not make sense to some, but it’s a standard in track and field, although the periods and work sessions are much longer than the 1 and 2 weeks I’m mentioning here. Middle distance runners aren’t worried about muscle mass, so we would have cycles 6 – 10 weeks long crammed with HIIT 3 – 5 days/ week over varied distances.

Anyway, after 1 week of lowered intensity, crank the HIIT back up full tilt for 2 weeks, followed by another week of lowered intensity. Your body fat will drop so much after 8 – 10 weeks you’ll be amazed. Yes, adjust your weight workouts accordingly. People will vary on their ability to handle HIIT, it takes time to find your sweet spot in terms of length of work vs rest. For me, ten 20 sec sprints up a steep hill (35 degree horse trail) with a 60 sec rest or 15 100 meter sprints in 15 sec with 60 sec rest are enough work to chop the body fat. You don’t have to kill yourself with 10 – 30 second rest intervals unless you’re getting ready to race etc.

Anyway, that’s my take on it. Let the rocks fly.