How to Choose Between HIIT and Sustained Cardio Workouts
High Intensity Interval Training puts a heavy workout in a short amount of time, so it seems like it should be an effective and best way to train. But HIIT doesn’t have as many benefits as we think , and often steady-state cardio is the best option. Let’s take a look at a few factors to consider when choosing a workout.
Do you need to be fresh tomorrow?
One interesting feature of low-intensity steady-state cardio (LISS) training is that it has little or no recovery cost. You can do this as a warm-up before a weight-lifting workout, as one of two workouts on a specific day, or as a “recovery” workout on an active day. If you then refuel by consuming carbohydrates to replenish the used muscle glycogen, your future workouts will not bring any noticeable loss at all.
On the other hand, HIIT makes us feel hurt. If you work hard enough during your HIIT session, you may be too exhausted later to start another good workout. Depending on the type of HIIT you have done, you may also have problems with muscle soreness in the beginning. It doesn’t have to be a total deal breaker, but they can tilt the balance in favor of LISS.
How much time do you have?
HIIT often saves time, but does not always meet expectations. The total amount of time you work hard can be small (only a few minutes in many cases), but keep in mind that the reason you can work so hard is because you have nice easy recoveries between sprints.
When you add warm up and recovery, many HIIT workouts take 20 minutes or more, which starts to sound like a short cardio workout without HIIT. And if you feel like collapsing in a puddle of sweat after a HIIT workout, that adds time too. (I ‘ve never jumped in or hit straight in the shower after any HIIT.)
Therefore, if you choose a workout based on the time you have, be sure to keep all commitments in mind. And if you want to do HIIT, because you have a steady cardio – exercise , try these undervalued cardio .
Are you trying to burn calories?
Again, the HIIT trade-off for brevity and efficiency is that it is intense. This may sound good, but remember that calorie burning depends on the total amount of work you do.
If you exercise to lose or control your weight, the guidelines recommend that you exercise for 50 to 60 minutes most days of the week. You won’t achieve this with HIIT alone, especially if you want to have energy for other exercises as well, like strength training two days a week, which are also recommended. However, a combination of HIIT and sustained cardio can help.
Do you play sports?
Whether you want to run 5K fast or get better on a basketball court or soccer field, stable cardio is great, but it’s not the only thing you do.
HIIT and other types of interval training will make you breathe hard and cause your muscles to receive massive amounts of oxygen as a result of these exhausting efforts. This type of workout directly affects your VO2max , a measure of cardio fitness. You will want to do intervals in addition to other types of cardio, but they are definitely too important to ignore.
Are you trying to control your blood sugar?
During intense exertion, your muscles scream for nutrients, particularly glucose. Because of this, exercise improves your body’s ability to metabolize blood sugar and decrease insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is one of the hallmarks of type 2 diabetes and prediabetes.
Thus, intervals, including HIIT, are a great tool for people who want to help their body learn to use glucose better. Paradoxically, it is sometimes easier to start with HIIT than with a constant workout because you have to work a little hard and then you can rest. Again, this is the case when you still want to do steady state cardio (yes, counting walking ), but HIIT is a great addition.