Is HIIT the Best Way to Achieve Maximum Fat Loss in a Short Time?

Is HIIT the Best Way to Achieve Maximum Fat Loss in a Short Time?

Jul 15, 2024 mindpump

HIIT training has been popular for its efficient way at burning calories in the least amount of time. It also caters to a certain type of exercise individual that loves higher intensity exercise that leaves them sweating and tired. But is it the best way to achieve fat loss?

It’s Not All About Calories

Sure, when we want to lose weight, we need to expend calories. This can come from restricting our intake, or, in this case, by how much output we provide. The problem with all forms of cardio is it’s an uphill battle. Yes, you will absolutely burn a ton of calories doing HIIT. However, in a deficit, because you aren’t taking in enough calories, over time your body gets better at burning less and less calories each time. It’s built for survival. It wants to keep you alive, and fat stores provide energy and emergency fuel. If it notices you are losing too much of it, it would rather burn through muscle. This is the opposite result we want.

So, while we should use HIIT as a tool to expend some extra calories, we have to keep in mind the bigger picture. This is where lifting comes in.

Include 2-3 days of Resistance Training

In order to optimize our fat loss journey, let’s include at least 2 days of resistance training. This is the signal we want so that, in a deprived state, we are telling our body to keep that muscle rather than burn through it. Resistance training is superior to cardio for fat loss for 2 main reasons. The first one we already spoke about; preventing muscle loss. Resistance training is the only strong enough signal that can be provided to tell the body to burn fat over muscle. The second reason is the more muscle you have, the faster your metabolism is! This is the total opposite of what cardio does to the body. It is calorically expensive to have muscle on your body. It takes energy to maintain it. This is great because it allows us to get away with eating more calories day to day than we normally would without the muscle. This also allows us to diet on more calories since we are expending so much more naturally.

Variety

Ultimately, you should use a variety of HIIT and low-intensity steady-state (LISS) cardio to maximize your fat loss. You want to incorporate LISS to help prevent burning out and over training. It’s a much lower impact form of aerobic training that allows you to still burn calories without risking muscle loss. It’s also gentler on the joints, and allows you to break up doing too much HIIT throughout the week.

We also want to make sure you are following a program that’s sustainable. If you prefer HIIT over LISS, then your programming can favor that, just be mindful of your recovery. If you find you are too stressed, getting bad sleep, and struggling to get through your day, then I would recommend you slowly pull back one day of HIIT at a time, till you get out of that trap. It is a signal you are working at too high of an intensity for your body and need to turn it down a notch. You can try upping the LISS and including the resistance training to offset the days off, and then try adding a day of HIIT back in later. We want you to be able to find a lifestyle approach you can sustain versus just pushing hard for the sake of hitting a goal. Otherwise, you will find yourself regaining all the weight you lost.