HIIT workouts for weight loss offer a practical and time-saving solution for those who want to lose excess fat and improve overall fitness. Recently, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) has emerged as an effective exercise modality for promoting CV health and reducing CVD risk 7,8,9. Although maintaining a high intensity exercise workout for a longer duration could be preferred, high-intensity exercise can be realistically tolerated by people with sedentary lifestyle, obesity, old age, or cardiac disease only in the form of interval training. One 2015 study (of healthy men) that compared calorie burn after 30 minutes of HIIT to other forms of steady-state exercise noted that HIIT burned 25 to 30 percent more calories.We've got 5 reasons to start including it in your workout split.In any case, and no matter what the excuse is, this post is here to get you ready for HIIT training.Paulina Kairys presents 18 fat-burning HIIT exercises for beginners.The aerobic 10 × 1 min HIIT protocol has also been developed by Gibala’s group for broader targets including people with obesity and a sedentary lifestyle by decreasing the intensity from all-out performance to approximately VO2max and by increasing each workout duration from 30 s to 60 s29,50.Additionally, HIIT stimulates better blood vessel function and improves oxygen consumption, contributing to enhanced cardiovascular fitness.Consistent with the previous literature, our study found that HIIT had positive effects across CV health indicators, including enhanced CRF (increased VO2max), vascular function (improved FMD), reduced blood pressure, and improved blood lipid profiles.Most of the intervention studies included in this review collected BLa at the end of an exhaustive running protocol,33, 34, 38, 39 with some of these studies reporting no adaptations after HIIT intervention,34, 39 so it seems that improved short-term performance can occur without changes in some of the key H+ transport proteins. These works will also open up new avenues to help translate these types of exercise models into physical activity recommendations for the general population. Therefore, further works are needed to investigate the feasibility and safety of SIT based on clinical characteristics and fitness level. Instead, HIIT with low glycogen stores may elicit higher perturbation in steady-state and higher increase in mitochondrial volume , when compared to HIIT with normal glycogen stores, resulting in higher training adaptation and endurance performance. Some researchers have investigated the physiological effects of the twice-a-day approach on mitochondrial adaptations, measuring mitochondrial biogenesis and mitochondrial efficiency 93,158. Most studies that existed in the literature consist of HIIT protocols that were performed once daily, every other day 44,47,75,98,100,125. To clarify, every time you read HIIT in this article, it refers to high-intensity interval training. Incorporate high-intensity interval training (HIIT) to target stubborn belly fat more effectively. Cardio is great for burning calories, improving heart health, and boosting endurance, she explains, while weight training can increase muscle mass, which boosts metabolism and burns more calories at rest. In fact, HIIT ranked among the top 10 worldwide fitness trends as recently as 2023, according to the American College of Sports Medicine. She was recently elected a co-chair of the fitness and medicine group in the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. She earned her master's in exercise and nutrition science at Lipscomb University. Her experience includes corporate wellness, teaching for the American College of Sports Medicine, sports nutrition, weight management, integrative medicine, oncology support, and dialysis. Because the duration of the workout is longer and there are no rest intervals, the overall intensity is also lower. HIIT workouts are extremely challenging due to the long duration of the high-intensity intervals. Future studies should investigate muscle size and quality in an overweight population in longer duration HIIT interventions and in protocols varying the work to rest ratio. Specifically, Cadore et al.9 found an increase in muscle quality in healthy, college-age individuals following six weeks of resistance training, and Radaelli et al.18 reported a significant increase in muscle quality following both low- and high-volume resistance training interventions at 6, 13, and 20 weeks of training in older women. The current study aimed to evaluate the effects of a short duration HIIT intervention on muscle size and composition in overweight individuals. The type II muscle fibers used for anaerobic glycolysis are also the ones responsible for increasing muscle hypertrophy. Anaerobic glycolysis helps muscle cells become more efficient at metabolizing carbohydrates and helps reduce the risk of developing onset diabetes. Additionally, these benefits will highlight why you should use it in the programs that you design for your clients and group workout participants. This is most likely because exercise elicits a smaller energy deficit than that achieved with a modest change in eating behaviour. In light of these acute adaptations, patients should be recommend not to have more than two exercise-free days, in accordance with guidelines . Insulin-dependent glucose disposal increases for several hours to a few days following exercise 29, 30. Consult your doctor before starting a HIIT program, especially if you have any health conditions. For example, you may not need to jog as fast or use as much resistance to raise your heart rate as the person next to you at the gym. The structure of HIIT makes it highly efficient, helping you gain maximum benefits in minimal time. During recovery periods, your heart rate dips from that peak, but still stays elevated relative to your baseline. Jump Squats (15 seconds, 30 seconds rest) Other results of the present study demonstrated that HIIT protocol with and without spirulina supplementation can significantly increase serum levels of omentin-1 in overweight and obese women. However, effect of exercise on nesfatin-1 has not widely been investigated and there is no available information about the increase of levels of nesfatin-1 after spirulina consumption. In the present study, despite significant decrease of BMI, there were no significant changes on levels of nesfatin-1. If there were varying units or large differences among the included studies, the standardized mean difference (SMD) would be used. “Any additional exercise to what an individual is currently doing will be beneficial,” she said. “Prior to our study the overall effect on these outcomes was unclear.” This means that you’ll be breathing harder and your heart rate will be elevated for the entire workout much more intense. HIIT is an excellent way to lose weight because it helps you burn more calories in a shorter amount of time. This type of training is much more efficient than steady-state cardio, meaning you can get more benefits from it in less time. This new report by Harvard Medical School breaks down interval training. Interval training is the perfect workout for adults who want a faster, more effective way to stay fit and healthy. Everyone did approximately 30-minute workouts three days a week for about six months, for a total of 72 sessions. In the study, researchers enrolled 151 healthy adults, ages 65 to 86, in a six-month exercise program. Regularly assessing RPE can help tailor workouts to current fitness levels and provide insights into progression. To simplify this, we will be classifying the level of intensity on a scale of 1-10 using the modified relative perceived exertion (RPE) scale. They would asses things like the percentage of maximum heart rate (HRmax) or percentage of maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max). To do this, researchers would use testing equipment to consistently track specific metrics that equal to a desired level of intensity. All three cardio regimens, SIT, HIIT, and MICT differ in their duration and intensity. Representative HIIT protocols They more easily adhere to low-volume and more time-efficient high-intensity intermittent training. A body of evidence has demonstrated comparable or superior improvements in cardiometabolic fitness using HIIT in comparison to moderate endurance training 10-19. Endurance exercise training demonstrated significant improvement in lipid profile in normal-weight active and sedentary and in obese individuals 3, 7, 9. Nine overweight/obese and nine normal-weight men (control group) aged 17 to 20 years underwent a HIIT programme three times per week for eight weeks. They maximize calorie burn and muscle engagement, enhancing both fat loss and metabolic rate. In other words, you burn more calories and more body fat while you’re sitting around doing nothing. This is in sharp contrast to the typical steady-state cardio most people do at a moderate intensity, such as walking on a treadmill at 60 to 70 percent of their max heart rate. When it comes to cardio, HIIT is definitely the best way to strip off body fat, to the extent that there’s literally no reason to hop on a treadmill and run at a steady pace for 30 or more minutes unless you’re an endurance athlete. If we had a dollar for every well-intentioned person who’s centered his or her fat-burning efforts around low- to moderate-intensity cardio sessions, we could make Fort Knox our summer retreat. Drew McIntyre had his own take on time and reps in while training in London. Moreover, we excluded studies with lack of information about the experimental program or lack of information about nutrition or supplementation strategies. We excluded studies that included sedentary female population, professional athletes, or clinical population (e.g., diabetes mellitus type 2, cancer, renal insufficiency, myocardial infarction). Two authors (A.L. and D.S.) independently assessed the eligibility criteria of the selected studies. Despite extensive research on HIIT in clinical populations and professional athletes, the effects of HIIT on recreationally active females across different age groups remain insufficiently explored. Talk to a health care professional if you have any medical conditions or you're not sure how hard you should exercise. Your answer will help decide the right level of exercise intensity for you. Do you want to improve your fitness, lose weight, train for a competition or do a combination of these? For weight loss, the more intense or longer your activity, the more calories you burn. Your exercise intensity must generally be at a moderate or vigorous level for the most benefit. Further, an elegant follow-up study by the same group was conducted to ascertain how different training volumes would affect mitochondrial respiration and markers of mitochondrial biogenesis . Unlike previously published data, PPO improved in the HIIT and SIT groups, while the time trial performance only improved in sub-lactate threshold continuous training and HIIT groups, remaining unchanged after SIT . On the other hand, until a study by Little et al. , the majority of HIIT studies applied “all out” protocol that is not practical and is poorly tolerated by certain individuals; thus, there was a necessity to design a more practical and attainable protocol capable of inducing similar adaptations as classic HIIT models for the general population. Muscle Evo Joo evaluated moderately trained individuals used to often performing high-intensity exercises.Secondary aims were to determine which combination method has a better effect on adults with overweight and obesity.These findings are consistent with previous research53,54 conducted in overweight and obese populations, which highlights the necessity of a multicomponent exercise approach for optimizing cardiometabolic health outcomes, including improvements in body composition.One study in adults with obesity found that 12 weeks of HIIT and moderate-intensity aerobic exercise led to similar improvements in insulin sensitivity (up to 20 percent greater) the day after exercise.It involves alternating between high-intensity exercises—like sprinting, jumping, or other plyometric movements—and periods of rest or low-intensity activity.An attractive feature was that the time spent on HIIT programs was 40% less than with MICT.All you need is you and a clock to get this full body burn in. Use our location finder to find your nearest studio and book your free first class today! With over 1,300 Orangetheory Fitness studios across the US, there's likely one near you with coaches ready to help you crush your fitness goals. Liposuction for cosmetic fat removal doesn't reach inside the abdominal wall. Mastering the Basics of HIIT: A Beginner’s Guide No one can keep up a sprinter’s pace for very long periods of time, but intermittent bouts of recovery allow you to sprint multiple times in a given workout. Recovery between intervals can vary but should be shortened as you become more acclimated to the demands of sprinting, to keep your body guessing (and leaning out). Keeping your sprints eight to 30 seconds long is adequate for stimulating fat loss. Nevertheless, no changes in body composition were observed herein; therefore, it can only be surmised that introducing HIIT training may have increased muscle mass with a concomitant reduction in body fat, which could not be observed by body mass measurements alone.If you’re serious about long-term changes, pair interval training with solid protein intake and strength work on non-running days.Our findings on body composition are consistent with previous research demonstrating the effectiveness of HIIT and its different modalities (HIFT, HIBWT, SIT) in reducing body fat percentage compared to other training modalities22,24,31,32,33,34,36,37.In the context of future research, it seems crucial to seek a greater standardization of training protocols to enable more explicit comparisons between HIIT and MICT across age groups.For example, there is no significant difference between high-intensity interval training and moderate-intensity continuous training for fat loss.This makes HIIT a great option for individuals with busy schedules looking to maximize their workout efficiency. An instructor leads the class through rotating between these stations (workouts vary depending upon the instructor). Lift weights at my gym Mon, Tues, Thu, and Fri and then do an intense calorie burning Orangetheory HIIT workout on Wednesdays. Since he was a track competitor, it makes sense he would want a fat burning workout aimed at increasing speed as well. This workout uses a 1-to-3 HIIT work-to-rest ratio, which is a combo of calorie burn while improving anaerobic performance. I have 2 different workouts outlined in that article, but here is a third. The first component of this two-part workout is a push-up, followed by a leap into the air.Designing your own HIIT workout routine involves selecting exercises that target multiple muscle groups.Among the modern forms of training used for people with obesity is high-intensity interval training (HIIT).Obesity has become one of the most serious global epidemics and is characterized by excessive fat accumulation (World Health Organization, 2021).Perform these exercises back-to-back without taking a break in between exercises.Typical HIIT exercises include burpees, sprints, jump squats, and cycling, although HIIT can be adapted to almost any exercise.In the study by Deminice et al. , all subjects were athletes and had been training regularly for more than five years, six days per week, about 2.5 h per day, as well as participating in national competitions and being familiar with the HIIT series in their training routine.To add intensity without jumping, rise onto your toes at the top of the squat. Higher intensity training is clearly advantageous for more athletic individuals who have a smaller adaptive response window (Billat, 2001; Gunnarsson and Bangsbo, 2012; Seiler et al., 2013; Stepto et al., 1999, Tschakert and Hofmann, 2013). The logic behind HIIT training models is that they may produce a large adaptive response by virtue of recruiting a broader population of muscle fibers (Gollnick et al., 1974) and by providing a larger cardiorespiratory signal to adapt (Buchheit and Laursen, 2013a; 2013b). Viewed from the perspective that the time efficiency of training must be evaluated based on the preparation + training + recovery time, the Tabata protocol (which we take as broadly representative of the currently popular HIIT training models) cannot be considered to be particularly time efficient. Considering only this time commitment the Tabata protocol is, indeed, more time efficient than the more conventional training models. But they would burn 340 calories during a 30-minute run at a 10-minute per mile pace, according to ACE.Many exercisers combine cardio and weight training to get the best of both worlds. The National Academy of Sports Medicine says that hypertrophy training is the best way to impact your metabolism with weightlifting, as it’s developed specifically to increase muscle mass. Then, on two or three non-cardio days, you could do a full-body weight-training routine. Cardio, on the other hand, prolongs muscle stress, which can increase the likelihood of muscle loss over time, Tang adds. "Cardio-style HIIT can help preserve muscle. The high intensity of these intervals recruits fast-twitch muscle fibres and triggers human growth hormone (HGH), which helps muscles stay strong", explains Tang. HIIT isn't the best method for building muscle because the goal is to go quickly to spike your heart rate, not move heavy weights. The effectiveness of HIIT for weight loss lies in its ability to elevate the body’s metabolic rate and maximize calorie burn both during and after exercise. In this comprehensive guide, we delve into the transformative power of HIIT for weight loss, exploring the science behind its effectiveness, its time efficiency, adaptability, and post-exercise calorie burn. In the ever-evolving landscape of fitness, High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) has emerged as a game-changer, offering a dynamic and efficient approach to weight loss and overall health enhancement. There will be an increase in the endocrine and defense hormone due to high-intensity workout. But during high intensity works your body will release a large amount of endorphins, growth hormone, and cortisol. On the other side, if you are running or doing any high strength workout then anaerobic metabolism activates in your body. Dimensions of HRQoL showed the largest positive effects when the programs were delivered as part of cancer treatment and included resistance training. While HIIT is great for improving cardiovascular health and burning calories, it may not be the ideal choice for every individual. One aspect to consider when incorporating HIIT into your fitness routine is how it fits into your overall fitness goals. Consistency, proper nutrition, and overall lifestyle choices contribute significantly to the success of any fitness program, including HIIT. Any increase in intensity should be gradual to prevent injury and ensure progress. Constructing a HIIT workout routine for beginners is crucial for a successful start. When it comes to body fat, location counts, and each year brings new evidence that the fat lying deep within the abdomen is more perilous than the fat you can pinch with your fingers. Opt for lower-intensity runs the day after resistance training. Race-Ready Strength, our new progressive 4-week training program, will get you in the best shape to reach your racing goals. However, skipping that strength workout is not the answer because you need both for better performance and better health and longevity. The PEDro scale is a valid and reliable way of evaluating the quality of studies. To determine the quality of all studies that passed the previous selection, the PEDro scale was applied. Finally, we excluded ineligible publication types (e.g., reviews, cross-sectional studies, case reports and editorials). Whereas Latorre-Román et al.41 and García-Pinillos et al.42 examined the impact induced by a single HIIT protocol, García-Pinillos et al.47 and Vuorimaa et al.23 compared the changes induced by different HIIT workouts, but none of these studies made a comparison with a CR protocol. When more than 1 variable is manipulated simultaneously, responses are more difficult to predict because the factors are inter-related, making it unclear which combination of work-interval duration and intensity, if any, is most effective in allowing an individual to spend prolonged time at vVO2max while “controlling” for the level of anaerobic engagement7 and/or neuromuscular load.8 Moreover, among the outcome measures, 1 study included some indexes of oxidative stress,32 whereas others included muscle proteins and enzymes33 or parameters related to muscle morphology.35 Blood analysis, in addition to BLa, was performed in 4 of these studies,33, 34, 35, 39 whereas all studies assessed the athletic performance of participants. Therefore, particularly when doing strength training HIIT exercises with weights, do not include exercises in your HIIT workout that you are still trying to master from a technical standpoint. In this way, a HIIT workout with weights combines cardio and strength training workouts, maximizing workout efficiency. Due to the high-intensity nature of HIIT workouts, studies1Wewege, M., van den Berg, R., Ward, R. E., & Keech, A. HIIT workouts involve alternating between bursts of vigorous, high-intensity exercise and easy recovery periods. This guide will discuss how to do a HIIT workout with weights and then share a challenging full body HIIT workout you can try out for your next training session. One of the most popular and time-efficient workouts among these is High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). In the world of fitness, there are hundreds of workout options to choose from if you’re looking to lose weight. HIIT is effective for fat loss due to its influence on the body’s metabolism. HIIT workouts are known for their efficiency, providing maximum benefits in a short amount of time. Traditional cardio typically requires longer periods of exercise at a moderate pace, while HIIT allows you to achieve similar or even better results in a fraction of the time. This method allows you to burn more calories in less time, making it ideal for those looking to maximize their workout efficiency. Unlike traditional moderate cardio, which is performed at a steady pace, HIIT pushes your body to exert maximum effort for a short duration, followed by a brief rest. High-Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT, is a workout technique that alternates between intense bursts of exercise and short recovery periods. In Tabata protocol, you follow the setup of 20 seconds of high-intensity workout and then relaxed for 10 seconds. Using weights like kettlebells and dumbbells provides the resistance needed to build lean muscle and improve joint stability. By rotating these demands, you can maximize your time while improving overall strength and cardiovascular health. This variety ensures that your body never stops adapting and your strength continues to grow week after week. Basecamp Fitness uses specialized interval styles to target different energy systems and muscle fibers. Whether you are a seasoned athlete or just starting to move again, these workouts are crafted to fit your unique needs. Interval running offers an incredibly effective approach to weight loss and improving overall health. Focus on maintaining proper form, staying consistent with your training, ensuring adequate rest between sessions, wearing appropriate running shoes, and following a well-designed running plan to lose weight effectively. You can see that fast efforts are short but longer than SHIIT training (typically ranging from 1-4 minutes), and rest intervals are much shorter than in SHIIT training (ranging from 1-4 minutes). HIIT stands for High-Intensity Interval Training, where you alternate between high-intensity exercises and brief periods of rest. Both are great cardio exercises, but is one considered better than the other? The right combination of exercise, choosing the right foods and cutting back on portions will help you lose those extra pounds. You can lose weight and keep it off, even if you've never done it before. Get tips on what and when to eat before and after exercise. Probabilistic magnitude-based inferences for meta-analysed effects were based on standardized thresholds for small, moderate and large changes (0.2, 0.6 and 1.2, respectively) derived from between-subject standard deviations (SDs) for baseline fitness.It is a well-liked workout among athletes due to its benefits, which enable them to twist and fast-shift directions.Moreover, the kind of intervention we chose in our study is not a long-term one.Intense training programs increase your lung capacity and total oxygen consumption.Increased fatty acid supply and/or utilization, impaired mitochondrial function and oxidative stress, and altered Ca2+ handling all contribute to pathological alterations in ATP synthesis and/or utilization in an obese heart.This workout uses a 1-to-3 HIIT work-to-rest ratio, which is a combo of calorie burn while improving anaerobic performance. Start a timer immediately before performing the first rep of the first exercise. This workout is done for time using an AMRAP approach which, in this case, stands for As Many Rounds As Possible. A critical element of HIIT workouts are those first two words. 3 Effects of HIIT and MICT on health outcomes In this comprehensive review, many protocols of HIIT and SIT for improving aerobic and metabolic capacity were evaluated for their effects in patients with sedentary lifestyle-related diseases with or without cardiac disease to determine appropriate protocol recommendations for different patient populations. Accumulated evidence suggests that aerobic capacity (VO2peak) is the strongest predictor of future health, all-cause mortality1-3, and cardiovascular risks4,5. Professionals in health-related fields, including primary physicians and cardiologists, may find it confusing when selecting an appropriate protocol for their patients. This review describes the classifications of aerobic HIIT and SIT, and their differences in terms of effects, target subjects, adaptability, working mechanisms, and safety. Grab a HIIT workout plan PDF and start your journey today! A closer review of their included studies suggests that the inclusion of trials comparing HIIT with MICT may have influenced their overall findings. This suggests that the study had a considerable influence on these outcomes. Specifically, studies with PEDro scores ≤4, RoB 2 ratings of “high,” or fewer than 10 participants per group were included (e.g., Shao and Fei, 2017; Liang and Hao, 2018; Lau et al., 2015; Salus et al., 2022a). Moreover, five outcomes in the comparison between HIIT and no training—including VO2max and HDL—were rated as having very low certainty, primarily due to the presence of both serious inconsistency and serious imprecision. The prediction interval was wide (−0.70, 0.60), indicating potential variations across different populations. Resistance training can provide a wide range of benefits, including increasing muscle mass, improving flexibility, and achieving better balance, especially as you age.While exercise helps you burn calories and build strength, your diet ensures your body has the tools it needs to perform and recover.Physical activity and health.Exercises like planks, leg raises, and Russian twists can tone your abdominal muscles.When structured properly, it becomes a flexible tool to improve cardiopulmonary fitness, strength, and movement quality at the same time.Successful weight loss depends largely on becoming more aware of your behaviors and starting to change them.This implies that even after exercise, your body continues to burn calories vigorously.The goal of this systematic review of control trials was to analyze the effects of high-intensity interval training on the body composition, muscle strength, and physical function of healthy elderly individuals. Perform this circuit five times, resting for 2-3 minutes between each round. From there, a series of progressively more explosive exercises to help keep the heart rate high and challenge your speed of force production can really round out the circuit. Where absolute strength exercises might not be the easiest to implement into a HIIT workout, power exercises, which can help improve the rate of force production, certainly are. In order to create a HIIT workout to compliment (or even directly improve) your strength, it helps to know what aspects of training have the greatest impact on force production. Future studies are needed to investigate which type of HIT is most suitable for the obese with regard to side effects, risk of injuries, but also with regard to long‐term adherence and effects. Depending on your level of fitness, you can alternate between sprinting and active recovery intervals of walking or jogging when performing this version on a treadmill. Aiming for 3-5 rounds with 1-2 minutes of rest in between will give you a fantastic HIIT workout. Ice skating training is a 2-in-1 functional training with a focus on strengthening and increasing heart rate. The advantages of this workout are well recognised, including the development of cardiac stamina and agility while concentrating on the complete body. Included participants with metabolic or chronic disorders affecting weight or cardiovascular function (e.g., diabetes, thyroid dysfunction, sarcopenic obesity). The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has identified BMI and WC as core indicators of adolescent weight status and metabolic risk, and recommends monitoring obesity-related changes in blood pressure (SE and Expert Committee, 2007). These indicators are widely recognized in expert consensus for evaluating exercise interventions in adolescent obesity. Focus on maintaining proper form and technique, even if it means reducing the intensity or weight. Start with lower-intensity exercises and progressively increase the intensity as you gain strength and endurance. Do you feel pain when a muscle is injured or hurt by exercise? HIIT training is a fast, mildly addicting, and effective workout that pushes you to your maximum effort. If you’ve spent any time in the fitness community, chances are you’ve heard of High Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT. Since peripheral metabolic adaptions are limited to the muscles undergoing forceful contractions during exercise , it is preferable to choose activities involving a large muscle mass. Conversely, the study by22 employed a three-times-a-week program for only six weeks, which might be insufficient to induce significant changes in a population with a well-developed cardiorespiratory fitness. When considering the influence of HIIT training on body composition, findings from eight studies indicated a decrease in body fat percentage24,28,30,31,35,37,41,42. A total of 12 studies22,24,28,29,31,32,33,34,36,37,38,41,42 examined the effects of HIIT on body composition and fitness-related parameters. Furthermore, a random-effects meta-regression was performed to examine whether the effects of HIIT on cardiorespiratory fitness and body composition were moderated by different intervention-related characteristics (i.e., age, duration (weeks)). The effect size of the standardized mean difference in cardiorespiratory fitness and body composition markers from pre- to post- intervention in each study was calculated and pooled using the random-effects model. In this article, we’re going to unpack the science that links HIIT with effective weight loss. Stay consistent, and your weight loss will follow. Getting results on a treadmill doesn’t have to mean grinding out long, boring workouts. Steady pace keeps it simple for fat loss. Unfortunately, due to the limited number of studies focusing on female participants, further conclusions could not be drawn. In other words, reductions in HDL and increases in LDL after exercise are not necessarily negative outcomes, as they may indicate underlying improvements in lipid turnover and overall metabolic function. Although these changes may seem unfavorable, they could indicate enhanced lipid metabolism following exercise (Goldberg and Elliot, 1987). A common feature of the analyzed articles is that they emphasize the importance of the duration of training to observe significant changes in body weight and body composition (C. Martins et al., 2016) . Unfortunately, the studies reviewed did not provide detailed data on the changes in body composition after the forms of training used, making an accurate analysis impossible. Moreover, considering other training methods and tailoring the training program to each individual’s needs and capabilities to ensure a safe and effective approach to fat reduction and improved health is important. For women over forty, it becomes a tool for maintaining muscle mass, regulating blood glucose, and preserving functional independence. For younger women, structured intensity supports athleticism, confidence, and metabolic resilience. These mechanical signals encourage bone remodelling, improving structural integrity over time. Healthy Aging Expert Reveals the No. 1 Nutrient He Prioritizes for Long-Term Health Additionally, duration and intensity of relief intervals during HIIT workouts are influencing factors. Five of these 14 studies focused on sprint interval training (SIT), with work periods at maximal intensities,10, 11, 12, 13, 14 whereas the other 9 considered different HIIT regimens at submaximal intensities. Because there is strong evidence that a greater training distance per week is a risk factor for lower extremity running injuries,27 HIIT also seems to be an “interesting option” for avoiding injuries (regarding the second aim mentioned at the beginning of this section, “to be healthy enough to keep training and achieving their aims”). Given that abdominal fat accumulation is closely linked to metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular diseases, future research should integrate these measures to provide a more comprehensive analysis of training effects on fat distribution and metabolic health. HIIT training can be an extremely effective and (relatively) enjoyable part of any training plan. HIIT Workouts can also be used to improve conditioning or endurance, as well as general cardiovascular health. Various types of exercise can contribute to increasing energy expenditure, but it’s much less than you think. Fat loss occurs when you create a calorie deficit by consistently burning more energy than you consume. Tang says this format allows athletes to go all-out during the high-intensity blocks while providing adequate time for rest. If you plan on doing, say, a 10-minute workout, it makes sense to stick to just one or two high-intensity moves and a recovery exercise or two. You should repeat this pattern of back-to-back work and recovery exercises until you've reached your desired total workout time. However, to make HIIT workouts scalable, she recommends thinking in terms of ratios rather than exact times. Six powerful intervals will deliver more fat-burning bang than twelve half-hearted ones. Combine 2–3 sessions a week with strength training and smart fueling, and your belly fat doesn’t stand a chance. The HIIT group lost ~6× more body fat—half the time, more results. Another study showed 15 minutes of intervals burned more daily calories than a 60-minute steady run, thanks to that extended post-workout burn. Marcangeli, V, Schaun, GZ, Simao, R, Ramis, TR, Pinto, RS, and Boullosa, D. Impact of high-intensity interval training with or without l-citrulline on physical performance, skeletal muscle, and adipose tissue in obese older adults. High-intensity resistance exercise training vs. high-intensity (endurance) interval training to fight cardiometabolic risk factors in overweight men 30–50 years old. High-intensity interval neuromuscular training promotes exercise behavioral regulation, adherence and weight loss in inactive obese women. All participants had no history of cardiovascular disease, endocrine disorders, or other contraindications to exercise. Data from these assessments were analyzed to determine the effectiveness of the training program. This study was conducted in compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the Ethics Committee of Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences, China. First, we expect improvements in the mental health indicators of depression and anxiety among participants engaged in the HIIT regimen. The clustering of additional cardiometabolic risk factors along with obesity, such as excess abdominal fat, hypertension, dyslipidemia or hyperglycemia (also referred to as the metabolic syndrome, MetS), further increases the risk of serious health conditions, including cardiovascular disease (CVD), various types of cancer and premature mortality3,4. All groups significantly reduced body weight (~ 3%) but only the exercise groups improved VO2max, MetS z-score and QoL. The eight-week HIIT programme improved aerobic and anaerobic performances, body composition and the plasma lipid profile in sedentary overweight/obese young men. Our study showed that an eight-week HIIT programme is effective to improve anaerobic performance in both normal-weight and overweight/obese subjects. Additionally, studies of Buchan et al. 10, 12 confirmed the impact of a 7-week HIIT programme on aerobic performance in normal weight subjects. Although the 4 × 4 min aerobic HIIT protocol has been used in many studies, it did not consistently yield good results. There was a large overlap in the intensity between the HIIT and MCT groups, and this could be a key factor explaining the lack of a difference in the increase of VO2peak between groups45,49. Leading researchers have reported the positive effects of HIIT on aerobic and metabolic capacity in single-center RCTs and meta-analyses. This trial adapted the 4 × 4 min method for patients with cardiac disease for the first time, using the same protocol as that used by the same group for young football players. Running training displayed large effects on whole-body fat mass for both HIIT and MICT (standardized mean difference -0.82 and -0.85, respectively), but cycling training did not induce fat loss. Energy-restricted diets of different meal frequencies have equal effects on body weight, total fat mass, and hepatic fat reduction . Berge et al. show that different intensity aerobic activity has similar effects on severe obesity in increasing energy expenditure and inducing moderate weight loss. Also an exponential relationship between aerobic exercise intensity and EPOC magnitude has been demonstrated . The postexercise oxygen uptake in excess of that required at rest has been termed excess postexercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). After hard, all-out HIIE exercise, complete phosphagen recovery may take 3-4 min but complete restoration of pH and lactate to pre-exercise levels may take hours . Authors suggest that the addition of one 10-second sprint after moderate intensity aerobic exercise can reduce hypoglycemia risk in physically active individuals who possess type 1 diabetes. Twenty minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise resulted in a significant fall in glycemia. HIIT helps you to lose weight without damage to your hard-earned muscles. For example dumbbells less the effectiveness of your training because it will push your biceps and not increase your heart rates as much you want. According to a study in 2006, a person will be able to bicycle double than before, after 6 to 8 weeks of HIIT. If you do HIIT then you may lose more fat and calories in a day than you lose with other steady-state exercises. HIIT is very beneficial to burn calories more than steady-state exercises and also helps to improve the repair cycle for your body. TABATA workouts typically last 4-10 minutes. It involves one full body exercise, done for 20 seconds at max effort, interspersed with a brief 10 seconds recovery. Read through them, that way you will understand how to do HIIT workouts. In fact, the concept and workouts are simple. Usually, the regular 12 minute workout is plenty, but about once per month I’ll complete a full pyramid interval on the StepMill machine. Increase the speed each time you do the sprinting portion of the interval and keep the walking speed the same. Lifting weights in the gym is in some ways a form of HIIT with long rest periods. Hormonal responses and adaptations to resistance exercise and training To continue challenging yourself and avoid plateaus, gradually increase the intensity of the intervals or incorporate more complex exercises. Balance HIIT with other forms of exercise, like strength training, yoga, or steady-state cardio, to ensure comprehensive fitness development. As your fitness level improves, consider adding a second or third weekly session, but avoid doing HIIT on consecutive days to prevent overtraining. If you’re new to HIIT, begin with one session per week, allowing your body to adapt to the intensity. Before you start, grasp the core concept of HIIT—alternating between high-intensity exercises and brief rest periods. This means you can squeeze in a quick HIIT workout during your lunch break, before work, or even at home in the evening. This is due in part to the anaerobic nature of HIIT, which primarily targets fast-twitch muscle fibers and stimulates muscle growth and maintenance. The key is to push yourself to your maximum effort during the work intervals, then allow for adequate recovery before repeating the cycle. Join us as we uncover the secrets of HIIT and unlock the pathway to a leaner, stronger, and healthier you. (Want more video workouts like this? Try the full WH 28-Day Challenge.) Then rest for 20 seconds as you prepare for the next exercise. Once you've completed all rounds of one Tabata exercise, rest for one minute, then continue to the next move.Get The Workout If you're looking to emphasize the first I in HIIT (intensity!), consider this Tabata workout created by Chiheb Soumer, CPT. In addition, the usual practice of high-intensity CrossFit sessions could cause the high levels of LDH and CK (above normal reference values). In both studies, CK increased immediately and 24 h after the HIIT session 42,43. However, they reported differences between cycling protocols when evaluating other markers of muscle damage, such as the visual analog scale (VAS) and thigh circumference, in which VAS and thigh circumference changed only 24 h after the eccentric cycling protocol. Boullosa et al. , in their study of physically active men after an acute HIIT session involving eccentric and concentric cycling protocols, also observed a significant increase in CK immediately after the two protocols and its normalization 24 h later. The results showed that all three protocols were able to immediately increase the levels of muscle damage markers (CK, Mb, and LDH) in the blood. Although it has been argued that untrained individuals typically tend to avoid participating in strenuous exercise and thus, one would expect that HIIT could elicit negative psychological responses32, there is growing evidence that HIIT seems to be more enjoyable than MICT in overweight and obese individuals61,62. Importantly, our data indicate that the applied HIIT protocol was also well accepted by participants, as became evident by high ratings of exercise enjoyment and the fairly low number of dropouts (20%) when compared to other obesity interventions37. Previous research, which indicated altered substrate utilization during exercise in obese compared normal-weight individuals59,60, may hint into this direction. In contrast to previous low-volume HIIT-studies in individuals at increased cardiometabolic risk, reporting beneficial effects on fasting glucose28,29,30, HbA1c28,30,31, triglycerides28 and HDL27,28, we found no significant changes in blood markers of glucose and lipid metabolism. Effect of high-intensity intermittent exercise on subcutaneous and abdominal fat, body mass, waist circumference, V˙O2max , and insulin sensitivity. This review summarises results of research examining the effect of different forms of HIIE on fitness, insulin resistance, skeletal muscle, subcutaneous, and abdominal fat loss. Thus, one of the characteristics of HIIE is that it involves markedly lower training volume making it a time-efficient strategy to accrue adaptations and possible health benefits compared to traditional aerobic exercise programs. Thus, instead of 4 to 6 sprints per session, as used in Wingate protocol studies, subjects using the 8 s/12 s protocol sprint 60 times at a lower exercise intensity. To check the effectiveness of the training programs, all these studies included gas exchange analysis during an incremental running test. Most of these studies combined HIIT sessionswith CR sessions for intervention groups, with only 2 studies exclusively performing HIIT32, 34 (In both studies this included 3 sessions per week). All these studies lasted a minimum of 4 weeks, with 10 weeks being the longest intervention period,37 and included up to 2,35, 36, 37, 38 3,32, 34, 39 or 433 HIIT sessions per week. Concealment of allocation is not entirely relevant in studies of this nature; given the nature of endurance training and the sample selection methods used, it is difficult for researchers to keep themselves and participants unaware of the treatment and groups involved. Most studies used heart rate (HR) and blood lactate accumulation (BLa) to control the exhaustion level reached and to monitor the physiological and metabolic response to HIITs, whereas some of them also included hormone response,40 energy expenditure,43 lipids response,43 gas exchange analysis,20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 43, 44, 45, 46 and running economy (RE).45 Biomechanical variables were controlled in some of the aforementioned works,23, 45 whereas the impact of HIIT protocols at a neuromuscular level was assessed in 4 studies.23, 41, 42, 47 Exercise physiologists used to believe that “steady state” cardio was superior for fat loss because relatively more fat is used by the body as fuel at lower exercise intensities than at higher intensities. When combined with adequate protein intake, HIIT prevents muscle mass loss during caloric restriction phases and is highly effective at preserving lean muscle tissue during a fat loss phase. Working out 5 or more times a week at a moderate pace has been proven to be effective in improving a person’s health, not to mention losing weight and trimming inches off the waist. Studies have shown that doing an intense workout routine once a week, for 23 minutes, during an 8-week period can improve cardiovascular health and reduce the risk for heart diseases. But you can adjust the frequency of your workouts so your body will have enough period of rest for your body to recover. But low-impact HIIT training options include bicycling, elliptical trainer or water running activities to provide an aerobic exercise challenge without significant joint or impact load.It’s perfect if regular training programs seem to leave you with nagging aches and pains in your knees, shoulders, elbows or back.Perfect if how long should I run on treadmill to lose weight means under 30 minutes some days.Research shows that individuals with obesity exhibit a 54–57% decrease in flow-mediated dilation (FMD), indicating vascular dysfunction 3, 4.This “quick and nasty” five-minute routine utilizes plenty of plyometrics to get the body and mind moving.Every session can supplement your specific fitness aspirations.FM and FFM were calculated with equations derived from people of different ages and grades of obesity (fat-specific formulae) by using a two-compartment model.25 A trained operator measured blood pressure with a sphygmomanometer following current guidelines.26 Ease in smart, push hard where it counts, and you’ll torch fat without torching yourself. 20 min of sprint intervals (8s on, 12s easy) HIIT triggers a big adrenaline spike that taps into visceral fat (the deep stuff around your organs). Stack too many sessions and your cortisol spikes, your legs stay fried, and your “fat-burning machine” actually sputters. Reduces Body Fat BM, body mass; BMI, body mass index; FM, fat mass; PFM, percent fat mass; FFM, fat-free mass; WC, waist circumference; FPG, fasting plasma glucose; FPI, fasting plasma insulin; LCD, low-calorie diets. BM, body mass; BMI, body mass index; FM, fat mass; PFM, percent fat mass; FFM, fat-free mass; WC, waist circumference; FPG, fasting plasma glucose; FPI, fasting plasma insulin; RCT, randomized controlled trials. Secondary aims were to determine which combination method has a better effect on adults with overweight and obesity. Therefore, we aim to compare the impact of HIIT + fasting and other interventions (HIIT alone, fasting alone, or normal intervention) on body composition in the obese and overweight population by performing a meta-analysis. We would like to thank Alisia Gerl, Melanie Klaußner, Maike Tobschall and Kerstin Weidlich for supervising and instructing the exercise sessions. The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are not publicly available but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. Such efforts would be helpful to further elucidate the value of low-volume MIIT as an alternative exercise option in clinical settings. Buy-in to Intervals #1 Results from this meta-analysis demonstrate favorable body composition outcomes following HIIT (all modalities combined) with overall reductions in BF% and FM and improved FFM observed. Thirty-six RCTs lasting between 3 to 15 weeks were included in the current systematic review and meta-analysis. In the context of future research, it seems crucial to seek a greater standardization of training protocols to enable more explicit comparisons between HIIT and MICT across age groups. The lack of uniform methodologies in the studies reviewed makes direct comparisons difficult and may affect the interpretation of the results. However, incorporating elements of HIIT in a controlled manner may help counteract age-related declines in metabolic rate and muscle mass. Choose a high-intensity exercise that’s challenging but still doable. Studies have found that HIIT workouts can help you burn anywhere from five to 20 percent more calories after the workout than steady-state cardio (such as jogging or biking). It’s about making the most of every workout, respecting your body’s limits, and enjoying the journey. Once you’ve built up basic fitness levels or have fully recovered from an injury, you can start incorporating HIIT into your exercise regimen. So, just because you are a beginner to working out, you should still employ HIIT into your workout plan (2-3 times a week). You do the exercise(s) at max effort, then the rest is just enough so you recover to 65-75% of max heart rate, then you go at it again. For these kinds of workouts, you can do circuits of various HIIT exercises or just one exercise. So, you could do workouts that use 15 seconds work, 35 seconds rest or 20 seconds work, 40 seconds rest or 30 seconds work, 30 second rest. Later in the article, we will show you the best HIIT exercises for beginners and we will provide a few more HIIT workouts… This form of exercise involves short bursts of intense activity followed by brief recovery periods. In the world of fitness, one trend that has gained significant popularity is High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). Surprising health benefits of processed foods The underlying physiological mechanisms responsible for the deterioration of CRF after weight loss from caloric restriction are not yet fully understood but may be related to skeletal muscle atrophy, catabolic processes in the cardiovascular system85 and unfavorable changes in endocrine and haemotopoietic systems86. In line with this, fat free mass was maintained in both exercise groups, whereas in the CON group, fat free mass decreased significantly following weight loss. The greater reductions in waist circumference and fat mass in the HIIT group compared to the MIIT group are also consistent with recent meta-analyses, indicating that higher exercise intensity may be more effective in improving body composition15,18. However, we have previously observed significant reductions in LDL levels following 8 weeks of our low-volume HIIT protocol in normal-weight sedentary individuals34 and another study, applying brief “all-out” SIT (30 min time effort per week) in sedentary men, found improved glycaemic control after a 12-week intervention period58. However, it is important to emphasize that the time effort for our HIIT protocol (28 min/week) was ~ 45–65% lower than in the previous studies with weekly exercise volumes ranging from 51 to 113 min (including warm-up and cool-down phases)27,28,30,31. In conclusion, HIIT has been shown to reduce obesity-induced risks of cardiac remodeling, but the long-term effects of HIIT on obesity-induced cardiac injury and disease are presently unknown. You can do intervals during any type of exercise — walking, running, cycling, swimming, or even while doing calisthenics, such as jumping jacks, push-ups, or squats. Beginners can start with moderate intensity exercises like jumping jacks, then progress towards more intense and advanced HIIT exercises like burpees and mountain climbers. With a FITCOACH membership, you can get customised HIIT workout plans from our smart, AI-led fitness assistant. If you’re looking to start HIIT workouts, get the FITPASS app today.