High intensity interval training (HIIT) has been touted as a way to quickly burn calories. But does it help cardiovascular health?
HIIT leads to health health just as much as steady state cardio, or longer length, lower intensity bouts of exercise. The biggest difference is that HIIT does it more quickly. It’s important to think about your own situation when deciding whether to do HIIT or steady state cardio.
HIIT can be a big bang for your body’s buck but it could come at the risk of injury. And if all you do is high intensity, you are only working on one component of cardiovascular conditioning, ignoring endurance. Plus, doing nothing but high intensity could lead to burn out.
Your best bet for maximizing your cardiac health is to incorporate a mix of training. That might look like this: a longer run one day and short intervals or sprints another day, or 45 minutes of low intensity cycling versus high speed and resistance intervals.
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