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Want to run further, lift heavier or nail your first pull-up? Each month, we put your questions to our team of the finest fitness brains to give you the tools you need to make good on your goals
Q Ihate HIIT – can LISS get me the same results?
Amanda Ngonyama says: First things first – let’s define what we mean by the two.
HIIT stands for high-intensity interval training and involves several periods of intense exercise, usually around 30 seconds, broken up by short recovery intervals. A HIIT workout will typically last 10 to 20 minutes. LISS, on the other hand, stands for low-intensity steady state, where you’ll maintain the same level of exertion for the entire workout, at a lower intensity but for a longer period of time. Whether you can achieve results with either depends on your aim.
If it’s maintaining or improving cardiovascular fitness, HIIT boosts oxygen consumption. The body requires more oxygen to restore muscle glycogen and rebuild muscle proteins damaged during intense exercise, which means the heart is forced to pump more oxygenated blood around the body, and gets better at it as time goes on.
LISS also offers benefits when it comes to blood flow and respiratory health. Your body is required to work under constant pressure during LISS, because there’s no set recovery period, so your heart has to continue to pump at a strong and steady pace the entire time to ensure enough oxygen reaches the muscles to keep them working.
In the market for shedding excess fat? Due to its high intensity, HIIT initially burns through your glucose stores for fuel, but also creates an oxygen debt within your body and puts your muscles through the ringer – in a good way – creating more natural tears in them. The upshot is that after your session, when you’re in recovery mode, your body has to continue to work hard to repair the muscle tears and burn fat to generate the energy needed to restore a normal level of oxygenatio
