Question about Combining HIIT and Weight Lifting

[ACatigbe]

Hello T-Nation.

I have a question concerning the most effective way to lose body fat. Here is a bit of history.

I am a 22 year old Male
I am currently ~5'1 - 5'2
I currently weigh 230 pounds
I would like to weigh 130-150

This was my fat loss plan before consulting the members of T-Nation.

1) Eating a clean and nutritional diet while creating a caloric deficit
2) HIIT training (sprinting) 7 days a week for 60 minutes.

Considering my college schedule is pretty short and I'll have plenty of free time on my hands I do have time to do a little more than what I mentioned above. My question to the T-Nation members is what the best thing to add would be.

I was considering adding another session of HIIT or serious weight training. I hear however that there is an "interference effect" when trying to combine serious weight training and serious endurance training and that I would be better off doing one or the other exclusively.

So what do you all consider the best method for fat loss? Serious HIIT with serious weight training or serious HIIT until I lose the body fat and then serious weight lifting to build muscle (Cutting and Bulking phases)

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[ebomb5522]

Why on earth would you like to weigh 130-150?

[ACatigbe]

Is that a bad weight to be at? I'm only 5'1.

[lia67]

ebomb5522 wrote:
Why on earth would you like to weigh 130-150?

to be built n cut like BRAD PITT of course.
seriously OP,If you aint trained before start easy with walking and a basic weight training system like S/L 5x5 .

[ACatigbe]

I've trained before. This isn't the first time I've been overweight. I was at a similar weight back in 2004. Using HIIT and a good diet I was able to drop about 80-90 pounds. After I hit 135 I wasn't able to lose any more weight and just use HIIT as a tool for conditioning. I keep the weight off for about 4 years up until 2008 when I fell back into old habits. So no, I'm not completely new to training. I've just never trained with weights before.

[Nikki9591]

You have no idea how much you want to WEIGH, so you'd probably like to set your goals in terms of bodyfat. Like "I'd like to have 10% BF". If you're 190 pounds at 10% bodyfat, that'll look better than ANY bodyfat at 150 pounds.

And you really intend to SPRINT for 7 days a week for 60 minutes? Ha!
That's turning an anaerobic activity into endurance.
But power to you.

As to your question, weight training and HiiT, definetely. As a newbie, you'll be able to lose fat and build muscle easily, which is why you want to check progress by bodyfat, not pounds on a scale.

[ACatigbe]

So you're saying weight training and hiit would be better than hiit twice a day?

[Teddy057]

By increasing lean muscle mass, you would end up burning way more fat in the long run. I would suggest strength training, clean and well balanced diet, and 4-5x a week HIIT cardio at 30-45min.

You said you've done this before? Obviously you did some unrealistic dieting phases that you couldn't adapt to in the long run. Try and ease into the dieting and exercise so that you can follow it the rest of your life and not walk around weighing 230lbs. Make it fun for yourself, lifting to me is a huge stress reliever and next to school, the biggest priority in my life.

As for your diet, eat between 5-7 meals a day. Getting at least 1g of protein per body weight, 100-125g carbs, and roughly 50g fats. Make sure you're getting plenty of omega-3's (I buy the eggs with omega-3's, and supplement with fish oil). Also, don't neglect the omega-6's such as Extra virgin olive oil, or any natural oil, and also natural peanut butter (the oily kind).

I would consume carbs for breakfast (1 cup PLAIN oats = ~50g carbs). Also, pre- workout and that's it. Other 4-5 meals get the required fats, and slam down some FIBER (Green beans, Lettuce (not ice burg), Broccoli, etc.) Make sure you eat a ton of greens man, your body actually ends up burning more calories getting rid of the fiber than it does consuming them. Shoot for 2-3 cups a day of veggies.

[ACatigbe]

Thanks for the advice Teddy.

The reason I've gained the weight back is because I stopped working out and starting eating anything I wanted. When I dropped to 135 a lot of my friends and family told me I looked too skinny (Ironically, everyone I asked who had never seen me fat said I looked perfectly fine) So in an attempt to gain some weight I just ate anything I wanted too and for a long time I didn't gain anything. So I ate A TON and slowly started gaining weight, the only problem is that when I shot up to about 160 I never regulated my eating habits again and ended up gaining all the way up until now.

So now I'm wondering if I should just focus on losing weight via HIIT for say 6 months, then bulking with weights, or trying to do both at the same time =(

[Teddy057]

I wouldn't do just HIIT, you would end up being kind of "skinny fat". Start weight training with the 4-5x a week 45min cardio sessions. That with a balanced diet, you will be fine in no time.

[lia67]

Teddy057 wrote:
I wouldn't do just HIIT, you would end up being kind of "skinny fat". Start weight training with the 4-5x a week 45min cardio sessions. That with a balanced diet, you will be fine in no time.

^do this .it sounds like your well outa shape so train with weights to keep any muscle you got n maybe build somemore , walk alot n let the deficit take care of the fat loss .wait till your weight loss stalls then add in cardio then a bit later hiit .eat about 2000 cals a day to start and see how you go.

[lia67]

ACatigbe wrote:
So you're saying weight training and hiit would be better than hiit twice a day?

if you do hiit properly once you wouldn't evan think about doin it again later the same day.

[ACatigbe]

Alright cool so I'll do the hiit and the weight training.

Do you guys have any idea where I should start with weights?

[its_just_me]

ACatigbe wrote:
Alright cool so I'll do the hiit and the weight training.

Do you guys have any idea where I should start with weights?

Yeah like everyone else has said, get that muscle mass up - you'd look far better losing 30lbs of fat and gaining 30lbs of muscle compared to just losing 60lbs of fat.

Here's a good start for lifting:

http://tnation.T-Nation.com/free_online_forum/sports_body_training_performance_bodybuilding/the_bodybuilding_bible_free_of_charge

[riddle22]

Does anyone actually read what people post before responding?! This individual is 5'1"! At 230lbs, that makes him extremely obese. Instead of wondering why he wants to weigh 150lbs (which is a perfectly healthy weight for his height) and saying that he should gain 30lbs of muscle, we should probably be pointing out that he's in no shape to be doing HIIT, is posting in the wrong forum, and should probably be a lot more worried about his diet at this point.

To the OP, focus on getting your diet under control and just start going for walks. Gradually increase your exercise intensity from there and include weight training when the time comes. A bodybuilding forum is not the place to be seeking advice in your situation. If you want to focus on building muscle once you are no longer dangerously overweight, this is the place you will want to return to. For now, seek out advice from other sources.

[Nikki9591]

riddle22 wrote:
Does anyone actually read what people post before responding? This individual is [u]5'1"[/u]! At 230lbs, that makes him extremely obese. Instead of wondering why he want's to weigh 150lbs (which a perfectly healthy weight for his height), we should probably be pointing out that he's in no shape to be doing HIIT, is posting in the wrong forum, and should probably be a lot more worried about diet at this point.

Have you ever been 230 pounds at 5'1?
Because I've been over 200 pounds at 5'0 and I was able to do HiiT and lift weights.

[riddle22]

Nikki9591 wrote:
Have you ever been 230 pounds at 5'1?
Because I've been over 200 pounds at 5'0 and I was able to do HiiT and lift weights.

Good for you then. You're the exception to the rule. I heard about someone who went down Niagra falls in a barrel and survived, does that mean everyone should do it?

Seriously though, I commend you; but just because you were able to do sprints at that height and weight without injuring yourself doesn't mean someone else can and it is reckless to be giving people that kind of advice. I just think it is absolutely ridiculous that people on this forum (not you in particular) are telling a morbidly obese person that they need to worry about building muscle.

I wholeheartedly agree that weight training should be the cornerstone of any fat loss program. However, you must crawl before you can walk. A person doesn't get to be that obese in that short amount of time by just eating a little too much. That requires a sedentary lifestyle and/or massive amounts of overeating. It is best to build up work capacity gradually, aka going for a walk. Yes, there are plenty of examples of people who go from sedentary straight to balls to the wall training and experience success. These cases are the exceptions though, and for every person who finds success doing that there are 50 who fail.

[timmyo]

Doesn't mean they can't do it either.
I understand what you are saying though, but people are just getting soft and need to harden the fuck up.

[lia67]

surly if the op starts an easy basic program ( ie s/l 5x5 )with weights and includes walking for cardio this would be a good overall aproach to help him with his goals .

[timmyo]