Hiit Cardio vs Steady State for fat loss

[Jane P.]

I have read about the benefits of Hiit which I'm doing right now, but there's such a dread factor involved. I know it's good for cardio conditioning, but what about fat loss? That's what I want to concentrate on. Is Hiit really the best thing for fat loss? Anyone know?

[MoFirmer]

I asked Annie Lee about this on a FIRM trip when we were out to dinner once. She said HIIT is good but keep it to 20 mins and only about 2x a week. The other times of cardio should be steady state. That really worked for me when I started following some advice she gave me.

[bubbles76]

If you dread it you won't do it, and if you don't do it you won't see the benefits anyway . Life is too short to do workouts you hate. That being said, maybe there's some HIIT you'll enjoy that you haven't tried yet. Or maybe you'll enjoy it better if it's done to some great music. Find out what you don't like about the HIIT workouts you've been doing and if you can tweak or change it to make it more enjoyable. If not, do your steady state and enjoy your workout time!

[ChelePA]

I've also read about the importance of HIIT just 1-2x/week as we get older, but to keep it short. They actually said to avoid steady state cardio and focus on strength training in the few articles I looked at recently. My cardio workouts are more for my mental health and I am not ready to give them up just yet. I have added more strength to my calendar this past year...purely out of necessity due to recovery from a car accident. But I am slowly finding what works for me so there's more enjoyment versus dread when using weights. Maybe you can find a different type of HIIT routine that appeals to you more. The variety is endless.

[ellaenchanted]

I do HiiT only once per week max. As women get older, their estrogen decreases so we need more time to recover. plus, true HIIT shouldn't be more than 2x per week and it is short (20ish min max).

I do steady state most of the time because it keeps me in cardiovascular shae and it makes me happy. Of course I do strength training as well. I think they are equally important.

[prettyinpink]

I don’t know, but I listened to this recently which addressed some of your questions. It’s one informed person’s opinion, anyway.
https://legionathletics.com/muscle-f...ugh-interview/

[susan p]

The best thing for fat loss is burning the most calories. HIIT allows you to burn more calories in less time, if you are time-constrained. But if you burn, say, 300 calories in a 20 minute HIIT session, or 300 calories in a 40 minute LISS session, you aren't necessarily ahead for having done HIIT.

I've looked into this a lot because I CAN'T do HIIT, my pacemaker is only programmed for assist to 154 bpm, and my underlying heart failure/ejection fraction limits increase my perceived exertion a lot. And from what I've read, although HIIT is EFFICIENT, the main thing in the end is still how many calories do you burn and are you willing to spend the time to burn those calories?

I work full time so it would be GREAT if I could do HIIT, but I can't. Don't really want to risk dropping dead, thanks. So I do LISS and I'm honestly quite happy. Like you, I never enjoyed HIIT anyway.

It's all about why you're working out. Personally, I'd rather like my workouts than hate my workouts.... heart issues aside. Do, within reason, what sparks joy. IF laying on the couch eating chips sparks joy, maybe DON'T do that; but if LISS sparks joy and HIIT doesn't, don't waste your time with the HIIT!

[donnamp]

well said, Susan P!

I have been following this thread with interest b/c I'm not much for HIIT either. I love steady state workouts, they are very calming to me.

It is interesting to hear everyone's thoughts on this.

My non-expert opinion is that the dreaded "D" word - for Diet - plays into fat loss more than exercising. So, that is probably the best place to start.

Then, I agree w/ Susan about calorie burning - your body probably doesn't care how the calories are burned, so long as they are burned.

Then, I would say go for some strength training to help build muscle.

I think HIIT has its place, for instance for certain types of athletes, etc. but I think if you are exercising for general health then you can skip it if you truly hate it. Maybe you can incorporate some moderate intervals into your steady state cardio - like a walk/jog type program - where the "jogging" (or whatever the activity is) is a little harder than the steady state part, but not "all out". I think Jessica Smith does a decent job w/ these types of intervals in her walking routines.
Or like Leslie does w/ her jogging interval, for instance.

I also think that it is important to enjoy your workouts - there are so many things in life that we "have" to do - why add one more to the list. Also, you will probably end up skipping workouts if you are dreading them - or picking something else and then feeling badly about yourself for doing so.

From one HIIT hater to another,

Donna

[warriorprincess]

I have no experience with weight loss, but I like to do a lot of zone 2 cardio for all its other benefits. I do high intensity a couple of times a month to improve my vo2 max and bone density since it usually has a lot of plyo. But when I look at my heart rate during weight training, it looks like a lot of HIIT is going on there.

[kat999]

I do one HIIT workout a week, other days I alternate between using my rowing machine, doing pure steady state cardio, doing an AWT workout like FIRM, Jari Love, or a strength-focused Jessica, a fusion or Pilates workout (mostly Ellen Barrett), and yoga of various styles but usually flexibility-focused. For a while I was doing a HIIT rotation very seriously and actually lost a lot of weight, but I was also watching food at the time as well. This time around, I'm actively trying to lose a lot of weight but not only doing HIIT, and the variety is extremely helpful for reducing overuse injuries, boredom, and fatigue. As others have said, it's down mostly to d*et and the idea of calories in, calories out. People advocate a lot of things being the "best," but if you dread it, you won't do it. When I do HIIT now, I usually keep it to under 40 minutes and modify as much as necessary to get through the session.