I’ve seen a lot of talk lately about the benefits of high intensity interval training. I’ve seen comments by several adherents of HIIT, who describe it as the key to fast weight loss, the most efficient use of time in the gym, and the way to obtain the most rapid gains in fitness. Since I confine most of my workouts to my lunch break, with a goal of keeping them 40-minutes or less, I decided to explore high intensity interval training in greater detail.
To begin with, I’m not particularly a fan of most fast weight loss plans; for one simple reason. Most of the research shows people who lose weight fast are unable to maintain that loss for more than 12 months. Why? In many cases, people who lose weight quickly do so with “fad” diets, which are generally untenable over the long term. After all, who wants to be permanently banned from eating ice cream or bread?
Ultimately, weight loss is about consumption and usage of energy (calories). If your average daily calorie consumption remains constant, the only way to lose weight is to increase the average number of calories burned daily. This means either longer workouts, or workouts at higher intensity.
High intensity interval training is a workout methodology intended to provide the maximum benefit with minimal time investment. Sessions generally last 10-30 minutes, and are structured with a brief warm-up period, followed by altering between high intensity and moderate intensity exercise, then concluded by a brief cool-down.
The effect of a HIIT workout on trained athletes was studied in 1996 by Tabata, where participants exercised at 170% of their VO2 max. In this study, participants engaged in HIIT workouts 4 times/week. The control group used steady-state training 5 times/week at 70% of their VO2 max. Over the course of the study, both groups saw gains in their VO2 max, but only those who used the HIIT workout had improvements in their anaerobic capacity. It’s worth noting that exercising at such a high intensity level 4 times/week is a recipe for injury for the untrained athlete.
Subsequent studies have examined the effect of the HIIT workout when conducted at lower intensity levels. Overall, studies have shown a HIIT workout conducted in the range of 90% of VO2 max provides similar benefits. Curiously enough, a quick VO2 max conversion shows how this compares to a more easily measured heart rate. For me, I’m approaching 95% of my theoretical max heart rate. There’s no doubt that at that intensity level, I would be burning calories at the highest possible rate.
The Bottom Line
A HIIT workout is, structurally speaking, no different than classic interval training. Familiar to runners, the use of intervals to improve anaerobic capacity (and therefore speed) is a common training method. For runners, these techniques help runners break through training plateaus, increase the anaerobic threshhold, build speed, and improve the body’s ability to eliminate lactic acid. The principles will translate to any form of exercise, and if you’re trying for fast weight loss, a HIIT workout is certainly going to burn more calories per hour than a more conventional steady state workout.
Having said all that, there are two important caveats to consider. First, its commonly accepted that exercising at such high intensities puts you at greater risk of injury. The risk goes up dramatically for less well-trained athletes. Finally, its worth remembering that you can’t lose weight if your habits in kitchen aren’t up to snuff.
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