Benefits of HIIT: How Workouts Counter Heart Disease Risks
Medically reviewed by Amy Kwan, PTMedically reviewed by Amy Kwan, PTHigh-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a workout style involving periods of high-effort exercise intermixed with recovery periods of lower-effort exercise. It's known to have many benefits, including aerobic fitness, weight loss, and improved cardiovascular (heart) health. It's also practical since it takes less time than traditional continuous exercise.In this article, learn more about high-intensity interval training and how it can help you work toward your health goals, especially if you have cardiovascular disease risk factors, diabetes, or other health conditions.
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HIIT Workout Benefits to KnowHIIT has many benefits; one of its biggest draws is that it helps you achieve these benefits in shorter periods, leaving you with more time for the rest of your busy life. Compared to typical exercise, which can take up to an hour, an effective HIIT workout can be completed in as little as 20 minutes or less.Below are some of the main benefits of HIIT.Improves Cardiovascular HealthHIIT helps support cardiovascular health by improving endothelial cell function (the cells forming the inner lining of your blood vessels), making arterial blood vessels more elastic. Improved elasticity in the blood vessels reduces the risk of various cardiovascular diseases.Improves Aerobic and Anaerobic FitnessHIIT is known to improve aerobic and anaerobic fitness. Aerobic exercises, such as running or swimming, rely on large muscle groups and are typically rhythmic over longer periods. Anaerobic exercise, on the other hand, is characterized by short bursts of activity, such as weight lifting or sprinting.According to some research, HIIT is more effective at improving your VO2 max than comparable continuous exercise. VO2 max refers to the amount of oxygen your body can use at any one time, and it's the primary measure of aerobic capacity.Reduces Blood PressureAnother benefit of HIIT is lowering blood pressure. One study that compared HIIT cycling to continuous cycling among overweight men with high blood pressure found that HIIT was more effective at lowering blood pressure.Blood pressure measures the force of blood against blood vessel walls. High blood pressure is a risk factor for several cardiovascular diseases, including stroke, heart attack, and heart disease.Improves Insulin SensitivityHIIT can improve overall metabolic health by managing insulin sensitivity (your body's ability to respond to insulin properly). Your muscles use a lot of glucose as fuel during HIIT and must replenish it afterward, thus improving insulin sensitivity.Adequate insulin sensitivity has important implications for helping prevent or manage diabetes and pre-diabetes.Reduces CholesterolHIIT is effective at reducing your total cholesterol. This is important because high cholesterol puts you at risk of heart attack, heart disease, and stroke.According to one study, HIIT is comparable to other forms of aerobic exercise in managing overall cholesterol. However, it was more effective than other forms of exercise in raising HDL (the "good" cholesterol).Burns Fat and Builds MuscleHIIT helps with much more than just weight loss. It's known for reducing body weight—particularly abdominal fat—while helping you maintain muscle mass. Participating in regular HIIT workouts can result in a leaner body composition while making you stronger for functional movement in your everyday life.
Related: Circuit Training: Everything You Need to Know
How HIIT Compares to Other Exercise FormsHIIT gives you the same (if not more) benefits than other forms of exercise but takes less time to complete.According to one systematic review comparing HIIT to continuous moderate-intensity exercise, HIIT improved vascular health on cardiorespiratory fitness, cardiovascular risk factors, inflammation, insulin sensitivity, and oxidative stress.HIIT also tends to burn about 6-15% more calories than traditional steady exercise due to the use of more oxygen during the post-exercise recovery period. Who Is HIIT Right For?You should be able to consistently do three to five weekly sessions of 20-60 minutes of aerobic exercise for at least a few weeks before starting HIIT. If you haven't exercised for a while, start slowly with a more steady form of exercise or strength training before trying HIIT. Discuss HIIT with your healthcare provider if you have risk factors for coronary artery disease.
Best HIIT Workout Exercises While there is no universal definition for HIIT, a common rule of thumb is that during the high-intensity period, you're working at 80-95% of your maximum heart rate and 40-50% during the recovery period.You can calculate your maximum heart rate by subtracting your age from 220. A more subjective way to think of exercise intensity is:Intense interval: You could have a conversation while exercising, but with a lot of difficulty. It should feel like you're exercising hard to very hard.Recovery interval: It should be easy to hold a conversation, and the exercise should feel comfortable.The intervals can last up to 8 minutes, and the ratios can change. For example, a 1:1 HIIT workout may include 3 minutes of intense exercise followed by 3 minutes of recovery, but you could also do 4 minutes and 3 minutes or 8 minutes and 2 minutes.Types of HIIT ExerciseThere aren't limitations on what types of exercise you can do HIIT with, as long as they're aerobic and interspersed with recovery periods. Some examples include:Bodyweight exercisesCycling/bikingRunningSkiingStair climberSwimmingWalkingFor Weight LossHIIT is a general form of exercise, and all types of HIIT can have weight loss as a benefit. However, some may be preferable over others.One recent systematic review—the highest-regarded form of research—compared three types of HIIT (over-ground running, treadmill running, and cycling) to no exercise in terms of how they affected body composition.All forms of HIIT significantly reduced body fat percentage, compared to no exercise, but overground running had the most significant effect. Cycling, however, had the greatest overall impact on body composition by reducing body fat mass and percentage while increasing fat-free mass (the non-fat areas of the body such as muscles).The researchers recommended the following training protocol as being effective for weight loss:Eight weeks or more of trainingThree sessions per weekIntense interval of 60 seconds or less, with active recovery intervals of 90 seconds or lessFor Endurance and SpeedHIIT can also improve your endurance and speed. One recent systematic review of HIIT for racket players found that it was an effective training regimen, particularly long-term, for improving power, aerobic and anaerobic endurance, VO2 max, repetitive sprinting performance, and hitting speed.The researchers recommended the following training program:Three sessions per week30-40 minute session durationSix to eight weeksFor Muscle BuildingYour muscle power is the ability to exert a force quickly—think of tennis players hitting a ball or weightlifters lifting a heavy weight. HIIT is an effective form of muscle-building power.One study compared high-intensity power training (HIPT) to traditional resistance training. In HIPT, a form of HIIT, your goal is to complete your assigned exercise as fast as possible.In the study, both forms of exercise were effective at improving upper and lower limb explosive force. Still, HIPT was more effective at improving anaerobic power, which has implications for building muscle.Benefits of Taking HIIT Exercise Classes You can do HIIT workouts independently, but some people might prefer attending HIIT exercise classes. Your fitness instructor can guide you through the intervals and create the workout plan. This approach eliminates confusion and distraction so you can focus on the exercise.Exercising in a group can also benefit you by allowing you to socialize, meet other people in your community with shared values, and add motivation when the workouts get hard.Special ConsiderationsDiscuss HIIT with a healthcare provider if you have the following conditions that can put you at an increased coronary disease risk from high-intensity exercise:Abnormal cholesterol levelsDiabetes or pre-diabetesFamily history of coronary disease (clogged arteries)High blood pressure (hypertension)ObesitySmokingLike any exercise, overdoing it could cause more harm than benefits. You don't need to do HIIT workouts daily to experience their benefits. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends starting with one HIIT workout a week and working up slowly from there. You should also personalize the workouts to your fitness level and heart rate to prevent injury.SummaryHIIT workouts have many benefits, from improved cardiovascular health to leaner body composition and metabolic health. Practically, people also tend to appreciate them because they take less time than traditional workouts yet offer the same or even more significant benefits. There are many ways to enjoy a HIIT workout based on your preferred type of exercise. Read the original article on Verywell Health.
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