HIIT (high intensity interval training) involves alternating bursts of higher vs lower intensity intervals to challenge the cardiovascular system. Studies show HIIT aids in fat loss by increasing your metabolism/calories burned over the following 24 hours, burns more calories overall than steady-state cardio, and depletes your carbohydrate stores, sending you into fat-burning mode. Additionally, because HIIT sessions are higher-intensity, they are performed for a shorter duration than steady-state cardio sessions, allowing you to safely maintain muscle.
I do believe steady-state cardio has its place in an overall balanced workout regime, as it is less-stressful to the neuromuscular system, and still burns calories/fat while improving the cardiovascular system. If you're looking to lose fat, I recommend performing HIIT 2-3x/wk and low-intensity steady-state cardio 3-4x/wk (in addition to your lifting routine).
I do believe steady-state cardio has its place in an overall balanced workout regime, as it is less-stressful to the neuromuscular system, and still burns calories/fat while improving the cardiovascular system. If you're looking to lose fat, I recommend performing HIIT 2-3x/wk and low-intensity steady-state cardio 3-4x/wk (in addition to your lifting routine).
#1: Immediate energy / atp-cp / utilize fast-twitch muscle fibers
If you are a sprinter, jumper, golfer, gymnast, Olympic-style weightlifter, or if you just want to perform like a power athlete, you will want to train your ATP-CP system. In doing so, you will increase the amount of ATP and CP stored in the muscles, which will support your athletic goals.
Your work periods are very short in length (6 seconds up to 30 seconds) at nearly maximum intensity (95 – 100% effort), and your rest periods are INACTIVE (not an active recovery bc you want to allow ATP & CP stores to be replenished in the muscles to prepare for the next interval!) The work to rest ratio should be 1:3 to 1:5 (closer to 1:3 is favorable to improve VO2 max). Don’t use your heart rate to determine your instensity. Perform 1-3 days/wk. | Examples: 1.) 10 seconds on, 30 – 50 seconds off 2.) 15 seconds on, 45 – 75 seconds off 3.) 20 seconds on, 60 – 100 seconds off |
#2: Short-term energy / Lactic acid / glycolysis
If you are a 100-meter swimmer, 800-meter runner, 1000-meter cycler, skier, hockey player, or an athlete needing to sustain intense efforts for 30 seconds – 2.5 minutes, you will want to train your anaerobic glycolytic system. The idea is to train your body to adapt to the fatigue and discomfort that come from a high concentration of lactic acid in the muscles and blood (so that you will be able to work harder with less pain/fatigue in the future!)
Your work periods should be 30 seconds – 2.5 minutes with intensity 90-100% HRR, and your recovery periods should be ACTIVE (to allow the concentration of lactic acid to decrease before your next interval!) The work to rest ratio should be 1:2 (will improve VO2 max), and you should perform 6-8 cycles. Rule of thumb for progressing: shorten your recovery period before increasing your intensity. | Examples: 1.) 30 seconds on, 1 min off 2.) 1 min on, 2 mins off 1.5 mins on, 3 mins off 3.) 2 mins on, 4 mins off 2.5 mins on, 5 mins off |
#3: Long term energy / oxidative / aerobic
If you are a long-distance runner, triathlete, or 1500-meter swimmer, or just want to train more like an endurance athlete, you want to stress your aerobic system. To do so, you will use longer work periods (at a somewhat lower intensity than if you were working one of the two aforementioned energy systems). This way, you will stress your aerobic (oxygen transport system) throughout the workout.
Work periods should be at least 2.5 minutes, work to rest ratio should be 1:1 or 1:1/2, recovery periods are ACTIVE, and you should perform 8-12 cycles (depending on the length of your work intervals). Rule of thumb for progressing: shorten your recovery period before increasing your intensity. | Examples: 1.) 3 mins on, 1.5 – 3 mins off 2.) 4 mins on, 2 – 4 mins off 3.) 5 mins on, 2.5 – 5 mins off 4.) 6 mins on, 3 – 6 mins off |
My four favorite HIIT (followed by steady-state) cardio workouts:
-First, perform a 3-5 minute warm-up
-Second, perform 1 of the 4 HIIT intervals below:
-Second, perform 1 of the 4 HIIT intervals below:
1.) 20 sec on, 10 sec off (inactive if possible): perform 8x (Tabata method).
Then, 60 sec on, 75 sec active recovery: perform 5x (Little method).
2.) 15 sec on, 45 sec off (inactive if possible): perform 15x (ATP-CP / fast twitch fibers)
3.) 30 sec on, 1 min active recovery: perform 10x (glycolysis / lactic acid adaptation)
4.) 1 min on, 2 min active recovery: perform 6x (glycolysis / lactic acid adaptation)
Then, 60 sec on, 75 sec active recovery: perform 5x (Little method).
2.) 15 sec on, 45 sec off (inactive if possible): perform 15x (ATP-CP / fast twitch fibers)
3.) 30 sec on, 1 min active recovery: perform 10x (glycolysis / lactic acid adaptation)
4.) 1 min on, 2 min active recovery: perform 6x (glycolysis / lactic acid adaptation)
-If you are truly working at 90-100% intensity during your work periods (which you should be!), then you will only be able to sustain it for a short period of time. **If your goal is to burn fat, I recommend performing 15-30 mins of low-intensity steady-state cardio immediately after the above HIIT session (bc you’ve depleted your carb stores and will now be burning fat. Yay!)**
-Finally, allow yourself at least 5 mins for cooling down and stretching.
-Finally, allow yourself at least 5 mins for cooling down and stretching.
**Side note: You should never perform HIIT on an empty stomach. I would recommend a small serving of carbs and protein to ensure you aren’t burning through muscle and to keep blood-sugar from plummeting.
Another side note, this time for runners: I’ve recently gotten into running half-marathons. In my research, I’ve found these interesting recommendations. To get faster, do a long run day (at least 6 miles), an interval day (utilizing glycolytic system as described above), and an easy day. It’s also good to try 30-90 second bursts (work:rest ratio of 1:5) of downhill running, uphill running, or bounding (with full recovery between bursts) every now and then to improve speed.
If you want to read more about how to incorporate effective interval training, click the above "button" for my page with more details :)