No Gym Required / Bez Siłowni: Steady State Cardio or HIIT?

Ian King recently commented in one of his Q & A columns, “As to whether you respond best to higher intensity interval training (HIIT) or lower intensity steady state training will depend a lot on you. You should try both forms of cardio training and then decide which works best for you.

The best way to find out is to experiment. Many of the programs I create for my clients program are based on the latest scientific research.At the end of the day it is what produces the best results that matters.

Interval training for cardio is highly effective and it is extremely time efficient. During interval training you have to be both physically and mentally engaged. Traditional cardio training has been known to bore people to death! :-)

There has been lots of studies done comparing low intensity, long duration cardio to HIIT. The research clearly shows the benefits and superiority of HIIT. However, it is important to remember that the research was comparing steady state cardio with HIIT.

Conventional cardio training can also be highly effective if the participant is able to keep their heart rate at the upper end of THEIR maximal heart rate for the duration of the workout. This is my prefered way of training via conventional cardio. I normally try and maintain my heart rate at about 156-160 ( 85% - 90% of my max heart rate) when working out.

Regardless of whether we’re talking about interval training or conventional cardio, you want to burn as many calories as you can given the time you have. I definitely don’t believe in the idea that low intensity cardio burns more total fat. That myth has clearly been debunked by the research, even though it still persists.

Naturally, beginners and de-conditioned people need to build some kind of fitness base before doing the really high intensity stuff. HIIT can be risky for certain people. Simple conventional cardio like walking is fantastic for the elderly and overweight, although cardio shouldn’t take precedence over weight training in any population.

Each person has to master the fundamentals first. Once you have that down, you begin to personalize.

That’s where a really good fitness professional comes in – to evaluate an individual’s situation and make the optimal exercise prescription within that particular context. There is no single best training approach because everyone is so different.

To fully maximize your fat loss potential you have to combine a good strength training program with either a HIIT or HIC component. But at the end of the day strength training plays an extremely pivotal role in fat loss because...