Couldnt figure out how to get my responses above to not show up in part of the quote...answers to your questions are included in your post.

That's an important point, because I think a lot of guys get very frustrated in their progress of training because they simply have made the fatal mistake of setting up what I would call ' unrealistic expectations' for themselves.

But it works the other way around too. Guys like yourself who do just a super job of training day in day out 6X a week and are motivated, committed, disciplined to train often sell themselves short and 9 at times ) tend to grossly under appreciate what they've been able to do in their training so far and what's more - grossly underestimate what their body is capable of doing next if pushed properly.

In your case, completing a 10 k seems improbable. In amp89's case, doing a 1 minute work interval at11 mph is a stretch. Whether you guys can or can not do either - your minds' certainly seem 100% convinced you can't. It 's been my experience, your mind is usually the first source of feedback you embrace to tell you that you either you can't do something or that something is impossible during training long before your body tells you that you can't do something.

To me, successful training is 80% mental.

The only person who can really motivate you is you ( see my signature quote ) - so pat yourself on the backjokerswild and keep up the good work you've been doing so far.

Anyone who weight trains, does HIIT and long steady state cardio 6 days a week deserves to be admired IMO. Kudos !

BLAH... I did the 60 second intervals with 90-120 second recovery periods at 11 mph (the last two intervals were at 10.5 and 10.3 because I was scared I was going to fall off). It was so brutal, but I am so happy I did it. Thanks for that motivation Wrangell.

Well I took your suggestions and did HIIT after my full body workout tonight and bumped it up to 7 intervals from the 5 original. That truely kicked my ass. I noticed that right from the beginning I wasnt able to maintain the levels or RPMs that I did the night before and had to take it down to ranging between 5-8 in terms of the levels. I'm not sure whether that was due to it being after my FBW and my body and legs being pretty exhaused from weight training or it was from hitting HIIT 2 nights in a row. Tomorrow is my day off, so I will determine which one it was when I do HIIT after my FBW on Friday.

Hey, way to go amp89 !! Hate to say " I told you so ", but......

What can I say.......1 minute work intervals at 11 mph - nicely done !

As you say, it IS brutal ...but then again, that's the idea .You want to push yourself right to the edge during those work intervals ........and you did just that. Congrats.

Kudos amp89.....seems you can do more than your mind is giving your body credit for.........keep pushing the envelope.

Hey jokerswild......that's great news !!! Way to go !

Congrats on taking your HIIT up a notch ( i.e to 7 intervals ) Doing 7 ' hard ' intervals sets is really tough sledding at best IMO...well done !

I don't know about you, but I feel like a million bucks when I'm in the locker room after a " kick ass ' workout like that...especially when I previously thought I couldn't do that kind of workout.

Makes sense.

Play it by ear for awhile and do some trial and error till you find that interval set, intervals duration, interval intensity etc. that works best for you.

Tough call...probably a bit of both I suspect. But, if I had to bet on only one, the FBW may have had a more immediate adverse impact on your HIIT.

Good to hear.

And , this is just a suggestion mind you, but try and give that upright traditional stationary bike another chance. I know it's not your favorite type of bike, but if you can find one with toe traps and if you can try and slowly getting comfortable standing up in those traps during a work interval, I think you'll find you can eventually get a really ' kick ass ' workout on a traditional stationary bike.....just ask BSL about his experience in spinning classes.

Another thought is a rower.

I just love rowing both for steady state and HIIT workouts ( I have one at home ) . While rowing isn't a weight bearing cardio workout , it does engage your upper body so you get a full-body workout and it's one of the best calorie burning machines out there. You'll notice you don't see rowers being used very much at the gym. There's a good reason for that IMO. I think it's because rowing is hard.....and most people tend to avoid hard workouts. But, my philosophy is that there is more to life than just exercising endless hours in the gym, so you want to train to get the maximum results in the gym in the minimum amount of time. And to me, to get maximum results in the minimum amount of time, it means when you train, you train hard...as in " train hard or go home " !

the rower is an interesting idea...Im gonna have to try and incorporate that for HIIT maybe 1-2 times a week to switch it up.

So if my FBW is really wiping me out before I do HIIT, would you suggest keeping it to non weight training days? Or should I try and work through it?

Just my 2 cents.....but if you've never done any rowing before, a better idea might be to take a week or 2 and just get used to the rower and all the bio mechanics involved in a proper rowing stroke...maybe even have a trainer at the gym demonstrate the basic / proper rowing stroke for you. Maybe you could do a real easy 10 minute steady state row one day, and then maybe a longer easy 20 minute steady state row on some other day, a harder 10 - 15 minute row a few days later, a harder 20 - 30 minute row etc. etc. and THEN perhaps try some HIIT work on the rower. In other words, take your time getting used to rowing.

To be honest, there is no hard and fast rule when it comes to when it's ' best ' to do HIIT. In the end you have to do what seems to work best for you. And the best way to nail that down is to do some trial and error over a couple of weeks. In other words, try a few more sessions of HIIT after your FBW to see if your body adjusts and it becomes increasingly less difficult. If it still doesn't feel right to you after a few weeks or sessions, then you could just go back to the original 6 day schedule you posted at the outset of this thread.

All I would add however, is, don't go back to your original 6 day schedule just because you find it ' easier '. You want to train hard IMO. So, if you do revert back to your original 6 day schedule, just as we discussed earlier in the thread, if your primary purpose for cardio is to help you shred fat, make sure you do those steady state cardio runs ' hard ' and that your HIIT are ' hard ' as well. Where ' hard ' training embraces the notion of training to get the maximum results in the minimum amount of time.

Thanks Wrangell, I really do appreciate the advice. In terms of easier, I really mean it more in terms of maintaining a high intensity level. Im going to do some HIIT tomorrow after my workout and see how it goes. Today is my rest and recovery day so I will test the theory of whether its the consecutive days of HIIT or HIIT after my FBW which caused the lag in energy levels.

Sounds like a plan.

Let us know how it turns out.

I didnt get the opportunity to do HIIT after my workout on Friday due to running late for a night out with some friends. I was serving as the designated driver since I have cut out alcohol for the most part while working on losing weight. I did another 7 interval cycle on Saturday on the bike. Today I hit the track and did some running. Tuesday I will try the HIIT after the workout again.