HIIT After Lifting – Should You Do HIIT Before Or After Lifting Weights

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If you’ve never tried HIIT after lifting weights, then you’re missing out on a hell of a lot of benefits.

Because not only does HIIT turn your body into the ultimate fat-burning furnace. It’s also a surefire way to kick your metabolism into overdrive…

…Skyrocket your heart rate.

And leave you face down in a pool of your own sweat, a burnt-out shadow of your former self.

The question, however, is should you do HIIT after lifting weights?

…Before lifting weights?

Or should you skip it altogether and hope that you lifted enough iron to burn off that extra slice of pizza you had for breakfast.

Well, fret not my little padawan apprentice, because in today’s blog post, you’re about to find out…

Benefits Of HIIT Workouts

Now the benefits of HIIT go way beyond the fat-burning effect.

In fact, when done right, HIIT training is the ultimate way to increase your conditioning as well as your Vo2 max.

Just to give you a little insight, your Vo2 max is the maximum amount of oxygen you can take in during exercise. 

However, the problem is that because HIIT training is intense (or at least it should be if you’re doing it right). Your body has to play catch up by taking in huge amounts of oxygen after the workout is over. 

This is simply referred to as post-exercise oxygen consumption or ‘EPOC’ for short.

And this is essentially why your body is able to burn fat well after the workout is over, as well as help increase your Vo2 max.

It’s also why most people swear by this popular training method and are quick to strike down anyone who disagrees.

Benefits Of Lifting Weights

Now, lifting weights, on the other hand, also carries its fair share of benefits.

There’s the obvious benefit of increased muscle mass, strength, or a combination of the two.

But there’s also the benefit of increased bone density, better posture (when performed correctly), and the metabolic effects you get from carrying more muscle on your frame.

So again, lots of benefits, and lots of reasons to make this an integral part of your workout.

Combining HIIT With Lifting Weights

Now, when programmed correctly, there can be a degree of overlap between both HIIT and lifting.

And while I’m not suggesting you’ll look like a jacked gorilla performing nothing but HIIT.

There are occasions where HIIT training can have an impact on your muscle mass and strength.

For instance, training a muscle group to failure multiple times during an intense HIIT session (i.e., performing multiple sets of pushups to failure in quick succession) will always have some degree of carryover into muscle building potential.

Depending on how hard you train, that is.

On the flip side, a weighted circuit with moderate weight (10-25 reps per exercise) can be equally is good at skyrocketing your heart rate to make for a half-decent HIIT workout.

So Should I Do HIIT Before Or After Lifting Weights?

Honestly, it depends…

If you’re a serious lifter hell-bent on building muscle, then prioritizing your weight lifting workout should always come first.

I mean, if your goal is to build size or add strength, then an intense HIIT session beforehand is only going to hinder your progress.

On top of this, HIIT also makes for a great finisher to any lifting workout. 

And even though you won’t be at your peak after an intense lifting session, it’s a great way to empty the tank and leave you completely spent.

As for HIIT before lifting…

Well, speaking from personal experience, I’ve tried lifting after a quick hiit boxing workout, and to be honest, I could barely lift my arms afterward. Never mind the heavy set of dumbbell that lay before me.

Now, this isn’t to say that HIIT before lifting doesn’t have its benefits.

For instance, it’s a great way to teach your body to push past exhaustion, and it’s also great for testing your grit and metal.

So if you’re a combat athlete, boxer, MMA fighter, or you just like picking fights with old ladies and children. Then throwing in the odd lifting session after a HIIT workout is a great way to test your limits and push past the pain barrier.

But it has to serve a purpose, and it ultimately has to tie in with your training goals.

So what’s the final verdict?

Nine times out of ten, you’re probably gonna want to leave HIIT until after you lift. 

HIIT Vs Weight Lifting – Getting The Best Of Both

If you want to get the best of both HIIT and lifting, then there is a way you can have your cake and eat it too.

How?

Simply do them separately at different times of the day…

Or on different days altogether.

It might sound like a lot of extra work. But if you think about it, you’re still committing the same amount of time to your workout.

The only difference now is that you’ll have to throw on your gym shorts a few more times per week to add a quick HITT workout into your schedule when it suits.

Like anything else, this is all down to personal preference, and you’re only going to get out what you put into it.

So if there’s one piece of stellar advice I can give you, it’s work hard, be consistent, and in time, the results you want will follow.

The Best HIIT Workout To Do After Lifting

Now, there’s no real hard and fast rule to what type of hiit workout you should do after you lift. And this is ultimately going to come down to personal preference and what you enjoy doing.

But to give you a few ideas to bounce around the brain. Here’s a few of my do to favorites that’ll take you halfway to hell and back.

HIIT Cardio

• Hill sprints
• Bike sprints
• Punch out drills on the heavy bag
• Jump rope (sprints or double unders)

Muscular Endurance HIIT

• Tabata Squats
• Tabata Pushups
• HIIT Burpees

These are just a few of hundreds of potential HIIT workouts you could try.

Use them as a finisher or mix and match them to suit your goals but whatever you do, make sure you give it your all.

The Ultimate HIIT Workout To End Your Lifting Session

Hopefully, this has given you more than enough information on how to work HIIT into your weight lifting workout.

You need to remember that there’s no one size fits all approach to the whole thing, and what works for someone else might not work for you.

Now, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to HIIT training. And there are literally dozens of HIIT workouts you can impliment before or after your lifting session if you’re willing to think outside the box.

And if you want to skip the trial and error of figuring out how to structure a quick, effective HIIT workout, then here’s something that’s really going to benefit you.

It’s called Workout Finishers 2.0 by Mike Whitfield

And it’s a detailed guide with 51 guaranteed to get your shredded HIIT workouts that are perfect for adding to the end of your workout.

Better still, they’re relatively short, with the majority of them taking anywhere from 3-15 minutes to complete while torching a sh*t ton of unwanted fat from your oh-so-sexy frame.

Now, I’m not going to overhype or oversell this guide because, to be honest, it’s not for everyone.

But if you want something simple, that’s going to get the job done without the hassle and frustration of trying to figure out what works… 

…Then it’s well worth a look.

Anyway, here’s the link if you’re interested: Workout Finishers 2.0 by Mike Whitfield

That about wraps things up for today’s blog post, but if you’ve got any questions or comments, then feel free to drop them in the comments section below…