Cardio or HIIT? Which one will help you burn more body fat? That is a really good question. Let’s first see what is the difference between both of them.
REGULAR CARDIO WORKOUT MODERATE-INTENSITY CONTINUOUS TRAINING (MICT)
Regular Cardio Workouts are really good, don’t get me wrong. You will help your cardiovascular health improve by practicing that type of physical activity. It consists of undergoing a moderate intensity training continuously. For example, running for 45 minutes to one hour outdoors or on a treadmill.
HIIT HIGH INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING
This type of workout is a very intense workout executed on a short period of time. The heart rate will go up to almost its full capacity, 90% to 95%, for a few seconds or minutes. Between those intenses periods of effort, lower intensity parts are included to bring down the heart rate. During the lower intensity parts of the workout, the heart rate will go down by half approximately. An HIIT session can last from 20 to 30 minutes (or more if you can).
WHICH TRAINING METHOD IS BEST?
A study published in 2014 by a team of Australian and Norwegian researchers has shown that the people that are practicing HIIT can double their cardiovascular health compared to when practicing regular moderate intensity cardio. They also found out that this type of physical activity can improve the VO2 max of the participants. The VO2 max is the capacity of our lungs and heart to provide the inhaled oxygen to the muscles efficiently. Therefore, by practicing HIIT, the body absorbs much more oxygen that by practicing regular moderate intensity cardio activities, such as jogging for an extended period of time.
Another benefit of practicing HIIT instead of MICT is that is a metabolic type of cardio. Metabolic cardio means that even after the cardio session, while the body is resting, it will still be burning calories by itself. Regular moderate intensity cardio is not a metabolic type of cardio. Meaning that the body will be burning calories only for the duration of the workout.
WHICH ONE SHOULD YOU PRACTICE?
The answer to this questions is: it’s really up to you. Both of the discussed options are good. Whether you go for HIIT or MICT, you will still be burning calories and getting a good cardiovascular challenge. If you prefer having long training sessions, you can definitely go for a moderate intensity cardio training a few times a week. The recommended cardio amount of time is 150 minutes per week minimum. As long as you are getting your heart rate up for this amount of time per week, either or is good. If you prefer short and intense training sessions more regularly, then maybe you should go for HIIT. Personally, what made me choose HIIT against MICT is that for years I have been practicing moderate intensity cardio and wasn’t seeing much results for the amount of effort I was putting in. I was spending 2 hours at the gym 3 to 4 times per week, and even then wouldn’t notice much change on my body. Since I wasn’t seeing much results, my motivation started to drop and I started going less and less often to the gym. Resulting in no results at all, or even the opposite results from what I was expecting. When I tried HIIT, right away I knew this was going to be the right solution for me. Why? Because it allowed me to train from home and to get my workout done in only 30 minutes to the max. Now, waking up every morning to train from the comfort of my home has become a real pleasure and motivation. I am happy to wake up and I am happy to know that I won’t have to worry all day about going to the gym after work. I am saving so much time by not having to drive 17 minutes to go to the gym and another 17 minutes to come back.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO TRY HIIT?
When I first heard about HIIT, I didn’t know where to start and find workout ideas. I was searching on internet, youtube, everywhere I could possibly search. One day, I finally found the solution to my problem!
CLICK HERE to see my HIIT training platform. You can even TRY IT FOR FREE