When comparing HIIT to SIT, HIIT is about near maximal or submaximal efforts, where SIT insinuates maximal or all-out intervals. In this article we will not differentiate between HIIT and SIT. However, most of the time — as in this article — the specific type of HIIT becomes clear when talking about the workout itself.

This clip offers an overview of the key principles of interval training and gives you a taste of how to leverage it for fitness goals. Watch the brief video below:. If you found the quick explainer helpful and want to dive deeper into the science and physiology behind interval training, we have an extensive webinar for you.

It also thoroughly discusses the different aspects of interval training, such as intensity, duration of on and off phases, and how these factors influence the overall training outcome. According to a recent study, shorter intervals are better than long intervals. At least in elite cyclists. However, as a coach or athlete, you understand that this statement needs some nuance.

You first need to know the physical demands of your goal and your current metabolic profile , before you even know what to improve.

Only once you know what to work on, you can decide on the best training method to do so. To decide whether longer or shorter intervals will work best for you, here are a few steps to consider:. Whether you prefer a lab test with spirometry, a field test with lactate samples, a remote test based on power cycling or GPS running only, a self-made test or a combination of these tests, INSCYD can do it.

As a coach or lab, book a free consultation in your own language with our INSCYD Expert today. Tabat intervals are popular among many athletes, from runners to cyclists to strength athletes in the weightroom. Due to the popularity and the application in all kinds of sports, the exact training protocol has blurred over time.

The original Tabata workout — created by Dr. Izumi Tabata — takes less than 4 minutes. It consists of near all-out intervals of 20 seconds, with 10 seconds rest between each interval. Learn more about the practical application of Tabata intervals and their scientifically proven benefits in our Tabata article.

Recent scientific research showed that these short HIIT intervals induce superior training adaptations in elite cyclists, compared with long intervals lasting 5 minutes.

As a result, you need to decide on the intensities, number of intervals and sets yourself. VO2max intervals are designed to — drum roll — increase your VO2max aerobic power. Since there are all kinds of VO2max intervals that increase VO2max, it can be hard to choose which is best for you.

To answer this question, you should know what other training adaptations you would like to have too. For instance: would you like to increase or decrease your anaerobic energy contribution, besides increasing VO2max? Learn how to choose your personal, most effective VO2max interval intensity, regardless of the sport you are in.

Receive guide with a video that explains you how to determine the VO2max interval intensity. While VO2max is traditionally measured in a lab setting, there are ways to calculate and measure VO2max outside the lab.

Learn about the ideal interval duration for VO2max intervals, depending on your specific goal. Read our comprehensive guide about science, benefits and workout of VO2max intervals.

Over-under intervals are an alternative to steady threshold intervals. They alternate intervals above anaerobic threshold AT with intervals below AT, without recovery in between. Many beneficial training adaptations have been attributed to over-under HIIT intervals.

Think improvements in: lactate tolerance, lactate clearance, lactate shuttling, lactate buffering. Understanding how power is composed can be beneficial for your training. We have a comprehensive article on how power is composed , which can help you better understand the dynamics of power in endurance sports and how to leverage it in your training.

In our full guide about over-unders, we talk more about whether this is true. Last but not least, HIIT intervals that elite cyclists call their secret training. Peak and fade intervals start at a high intensity and gradually become more doable. They can range from Wingate-like second intervals to pre loaded intervals that can easily take more than 10 minutes.

As a result, the training adaptation can differ a lot between these HIIT workouts. In the full peak and fade article , we cover the benefits of different peak and fade intervals.

This is where INSCYD — platform for physiological performance analysis , can be a game-changer. HIIT workouts also generally do not require a large amount of space, making the format ideal for a home workout. HIIT workouts can be integrated into various exercise formats, such as running outdoors or on a treadmill , dancing, rowing machines, stationary bicycles, or stair climbers.

Other terms that are used interchangeably with HIIT are Tabata and circuit training. Tabata is a form of HIIT that was created by Professor Izumi Tabata in involving Olympic speedskaters. His exercise intervals were extremely high intensity, followed by very brief rest periods.

Fitness centers and gyms that offer Tabata classes are typically minutes and encourage participants to reach their highest intensity ability, but they can self-regulate their workouts.

Circuit training involves exercise stations that target different muscle groups. Participants rotate through each station, completing one exercise that lasts several minutes. HIIT can help to decrease body fat, increase strength and endurance, and improve health outcomes, but it is not necessarily better than other exercise formats.

Its main appeal is that it can achieve similar fitness and health benefits in a shorter duration, and that it includes periods of rest. People who are deconditioned, recovering from injury, elderly, have overweight, or have medical conditions should be followed and monitored closely by their physician and an exercise professional, because of the higher intensity achieved with HIIT.

It has been observed that for deconditioned individuals, the intensity of HIIT is comparable to what they may encounter during activities of daily living. The American College of Sports Medicine provides screening tools that can be used to identify risk factors using the HIIT format, to lower the risk of adverse events.

Research has generally found HIIT to be a safe and enjoyable exercise for a range of ages and medical conditions. HIIT is a well-researched exercise format, showing benefits for a range of medical conditions across a broad age range, from adolescents to older adults.

It can help to improve their physical functioning, exercise tolerance, and quality of life. Although the higher intensities reached with HIIT formats may appear too difficult for people with chronic diseases, research has shown that the intermittent rest intervals and overall shorter duration of the exercise make HIIT a potentially feasible and safe option for even more serious conditions like lung disease, heart disease, and chronic kidney disease under close supervision.

HIIT has also been found to improve depression more than MICT in people with major depression or bipolar disorders, without reported adverse events.

Most research on HIIT and chronic disease is available for cardiovascular disease CVD. Studies show that HIIT can achieve greater reduction in CVD risk factors than MICT. Use of HIIT programs has shown improvements in cardiovascular health in patients who have had a heart attack, coronary artery bypass surgery, or congestive heart failure.

However, the HIIT sessions were almost 10 minutes shorter than the MICT sessions. A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials comparing the effect of HIIT versus MICT on blood lipids did not find a significant difference, as both formats improved lipid profiles.

One exception was HDL cholesterol, which appeared to improve more with HIIT than MICT. Regular physical exercise, particularly vigorous aerobic exercise, has been studied to control hypertension, or high blood pressure.

HIIT has been found as equally effective as MICT in improving aerobic endurance and reducing shortness of breath in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease COPD. Both HIIT and MICT workouts produced functional improvements of less breathing difficulties during activities of daily living, greater functional capacity, less fatigue, and improved quality of life.

Research on HIIT with other lung conditions such as asthma, cystic fibrosis, and lung cancer is limited or nonexistent. Although available studies in these populations suggest a functional benefit, they did not include control groups and participants were not randomized.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Sports Medicine recommend minutes weekly of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise for modest weight loss, and even longer durations for additional weight loss.

Therefore, shorter HIIT workouts have been considered a possible format to help individuals meet recommended fitness goals.

Research has found compliance rates to be as high and enjoyable with HIIT formats as with MICT. A meta-analysis of controlled trials following participants with overweight and obesity for an average of 10 weeks who exercised three times a week found that MICT and HIIT programs showed similar effectiveness in producing modest body composition improvements i.

The authors found that HIIT programs incorporating running were more likely to show fat mass losses than with cycling. Most also did not monitor changes in appetite or dietary habits, which could have affected the results.

It has been shown that HIIT may regulate appetite better than MICT, but more studies are needed in this area. HIIT should only be performed in people with diabetes who have well-controlled blood glucose levels, and should be avoided if one has diabetic retinopathy, which increases the risk of detachment of the retina.

Emi Wong's full-body HIIT workout will help you lose fat, tone up and increase your cardiovascular fitness — all from the comfort of your own home! Expect jumping jacks, side plank rotations, half- burpees and a good ol' forehead sheen to boot. Designed specifically for women, and in particular new mums, this minute HIIT workout is a life- and time--saver.

You'll be moving through eight exercises in circuits of 15 and 10 reps. Challenging, but doable. Duration: 15 minutes. She's the PT YouTube loves and she does not take any prisoners when it comes to home workouts. Heather Robertson's speedy HIIT session targets every major muscle group in the body to burn fat and tone lean muscle.

Make sure to give it everything you've got left in the tank! Thanks to Nourish Move Love, getting in a quick-HIIT workout at home has never been easier.

With a mix of bodyweight strength exercises and cardio exercises, you'll work hard while building strength. But beware, there's no rest between exercises, so go at your own pace. If you can't keep up, just slow down to a rhythm you can maintain.

A bonafide fitness superstar, PT Krissy Cela is ready to torch some serious cals in this short HIIT workout. You'll be working for one minute at a time with a short rest between intervals, so make sure to keep an eye on the bottom right-hand corner of the screen to see what's coming up next.

Duration: 20 minutes. If you need a HIIT workout that can be modified for different skill levels — perhaps you're working out with a housemate or family member — then this is for you.

Two instructors, one demonstrating the easier modification and one doing the more challenging modification, so you can scale based on your ability. Gotta love that inclusivity. Build strength and mobility top to toe with a full-body dumbbell workout designed to get you sweaty and strong.

The best. Melissa will take you through two rounds of two circuits which consist of three exercises each.

Make sure to stick around for the cool-down stretch at the end — WH's orders. Duration: 30 minutes. Equipment: Dumbbells. This HIIT workout will build strength throughout your whole body while pushing your heart rate up and burning fat. MarC is mega-strong, so don't be put off if you can't do all the moves and modify as you need to.

Equipment: Some weights needed. Getting into exercise and not sure where to start? Women's Health Collective trainer Alice Liveing 's HIIT workout for beginners is the perfect place.

The workout is made up of five movements that are performed for 30 seconds followed by 20 seconds rest. Eyes on Alice for perfect form tips and listen out to her verbal cues to know when to change move. You can do it!

Duration : 31 minutes. Get ready for an intense and varied HIIT workout with 28 different bodyweight exercises in 30 minutes. You'll be kept on your toes, FOR sure.

Krissy's got you covered with a sculpting circuit-based HIIT session. Each circuit is five minutes long and you'll have to complete as many rounds of the exercises as you can in that time. Short chunks of high exertion followed by rest, what more could you want? Probably some water, actually. Duration: 28 minutes.

Using weights to up the burn, follow Heather for a super-sweaty sculpting sesh. Equipment: 5lb, 10lb and 25lb set of weights. She's the Fiit trainer and former Love Island star you love and Gabby Allen has something slightly different than the usual HIIT session for you: A low impact session that's easy on your joints and downstairs neighbours.

Expect no jumping or explosive movements, but to still work hard. Low impact doesn't mean low intensity, after all Duration: 37 minutes. This session is a unique combination of dynamic mat Pilates and HIIT to improve your cardio fitness, build strength and definition, and improve posture in one super-challenging workout.

Duration : 47 minutes. Burn fat and build strength with tough love mega-trainer, Anna Victoria. Expect to see some of her signature booty-focused moves in this HIIT workout, designed to build lean muscle and increase anaerobic capacity.

If you'd like to switch up your regular HIIT with something more dance-y, get around this Jive HIIT workout with Strictly professional Dianne Buswell. She'll get you stepping and moving and sweating, obv! Duration : 45 minutes.

Most HIIT workout schedules are structured around sessions per week, depending on fitness level and desired result.