HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) is a very popular training method when we seek to increase training effectiveness, improve cardiovascular shape and lose fat.
But How Long Does It Take to Get HIIT Results?
If you're looking to improve your cardiovascular health and your VO2max, HIIT can give you results in 6-8 weeks. If you want to lose weight with HIIT, the results are 100% dependent on your ability to put yourself in a calorie deficit, which HIIT can help, but is not the only factor in weight loss.
In other words, to get the most accurate estimate of how long it will take to see HIIT results, one must fully understand the mechanisms behind HIIT, improving cardiovascular fitness, and losing body fat.
3 Ways HIIT Can Get You Results
In the following paragraphs, we explain why cardio is not as important as people think during the fat loss phase, and how you can optimize fat loss through diet and resistance training methods so you can cut successfully without cardio.
- Improve Cardiovascular Fitness in Less Time
A number of studies have shown that HIIT is an effective method for improving cardiovascular fitness, VO2max and anaerobic threshold in the long term. It has also been shown to be a more effective way to reduce body fat than steady cardio.
This finding is based on the fact that the intensity of steady-state training was significantly higher than that of cardio, meaning that over the same time period, HIIT burned more calories than steady-state, or burned the same number of calories doing HIIT than doing steady condition, in shorter time.
- Improve Your Workout Fitness
HIIT is a very effective tool over time for improving cardiovascular and metabolic outcomes from exercise that would otherwise be a challenge for some people. One study found that HIIT is a highly effective tool for improving fitness and promoting cardiovascular health and wellness in less active individuals.
They concluded that participants' ability to exercise at higher intensities with longer recovery periods with low or no exercise intensity improved exercise adherence and was appropriate for both healthy and unhealthy populations.
- May Increase Weight Loss
By increasing the effectiveness of your exercise and improving your cardiovascular fitness, some researchers believe HIIT may be more effective at reducing body fat than more traditional forms of exercise. While the importance of this can depend on many factors such as exercise adherence, diet, and exercise intensity, it's likely that the benefits of HIIT may be related to greater weight loss for those who don't have the time and can't commit for longer workouts and/or individuals who have difficulty exercising for long periods of time.
It's important to note that training intensity should be much higher during a HIIT routine and weight loss at the end of the day is 100% dependent on whether you're low on calories, regardless of training method or diet.
What Not to Expect From HIIT
Here are two important HIIT limitations to keep in mind when considering HIIT as a finish to your weight loss and fitness program.
Shortcut to Your Destination
When we hear about HIIT training, some people mistakenly think it means they can train less and get more results. While this is partly true, your training should be intense. Even if your exercise is intense, it will not adjust your diet or lifestyle, which will contribute to your weight or lack of fitness. The bitter truth is that HIIT is simply a training method that has some benefits and some potentially harmful effects if overdone.
If you don't want to stick to your diet, and stick to an exercise program that includes strength training and realize that HIIT is best used in small doses rather than every workout. Expect your results to be limited.
Increase Muscle Mass & Strength
Studies show that HIIT can be a very effective and time-efficient method of improving cardiovascular fitness, but its ability to increase muscle hypertrophy is limited compared to more traditional strength training.
What Results Can You Expect in 7 Days of HIIT?
In terms of improving cardiovascular fitness and body composition, seven days is not enough time to see significant improvements in either. However, you will find that after some practice you start to feel better mentally, having developed a routine that I hope will motivate you to continue training towards your goals.
What Results Can You Expect in 30 Days of HIIT?
After 30 days of HIIT, you will see a difference in your exercise performance and physical potential if you are on a diet that allows you to be in a calorie deficit. You can lose between 2 and 4 pounds of fat per week for most people, or a little more for heavier people. Keep in mind that a weight loss of 0.5-1.0 pounds per week is recommended for most people. Anything faster than that and you can lose weight at the expense of maintaining muscle ie. You will lose muscle along with fat, making you look "skinny fat".
What Results Can You Expect in 90 Days of HIIT?
At this stage you will notice an increase in resting heart rate, increased training efficiency, and increased cardiovascular health. Also, after 90 days (12 weeks) you can lose 8-12 pounds, hopefully most of it will be fat.
How often do you have to do HIIT to see results?
When looking for HIIT results, you must first determine what outcomes are associated with HIIT versus diet and calorie deficit. A general recommendation for improving cardiovascular fitness and reducing some risk factors for metabolic disease is to get a total of 2.5 hours or 150 minutes of cardiovascular training per week. For HIIT, the guidelines are less clear, but most suggest that three workouts per week for 30 to 60 minutes are sufficient for most if the intensity is high enough to reap the benefits of HIIT.
If you want to improve your shape and cardiovascular health, one study showed that HIIT (four sets of four-minute work intervals with three-minute rest intervals) three times a week in very small doses can be an effective way to increase cardiovascular fitness.
Other Factors To Consider
You can increase the likelihood of achieving your goals by overcoming some of the biggest limitations of HIIT-based training.
Below is a list of some of the key aspects of exercise, diet, and lifestyle changes that can be made to help you increase your chances of success.
Stick To a Balanced Diet
As mentioned above, your diet plays a key role in body fat loss and productivity. If you're doing HIIT to lose weight, it's important to understand that HIIT is not a substitute for dieting. In fact, cardio isn't even an essential part of weight loss and muscle maintenance.
Weight Training
Weight training is essential if you want to lose body fat and maintain as much muscle as possible. If your goal is to improve your cardiovascular health, regular weightlifting will also help you increase your strength, prevent injury, and keep your bone density and metabolism from being damaged by excessive impact.
Increase Your Physically Active
Increasing your physical activity, such as walks is a great way to increase your daily calories burn, reduce stress and increase blood flow to your body and brain. This form of gentle, low-intensity movement is also a great way to reduce the risk of metabolic disease and health problems such as high blood pressure, weight gain, and stress.
Monitor Your Sleep Cycle
Sleep is essential for recovery, brain function, stress reduction and hormone production. If you don't sleep, there's a good chance that your body hasn't recovered from a HIIT workout.
In addition, if you are in a calorie deficit during this period, your body is already under severe stress and sleep deprivation, which leads to the negative effects of overtraining.
Keep Tabs On Your Recovery Between Workouts
When you are on a diet, your performance may decline as your body is exposed to increased nutritional stress. Reducing your calorie intake often means your body has less fuel and energy available to train hard and recover properly.
While this is a common part of losing body fat, when you're focused on losing fat and improving your fitness, you want to make sure you're not running into too much of an energy deficit.
If you find that your performance decreases with each exercise and you feel more tired as the duration increases, you should increase your calorie intake and slow down weight loss, or reduce the amount of exercise or overall intensity.
This is one of the biggest problems with HIIT training, which is intense and can often cause people to overtrain if they don't feel their body properly and don't recover.
Final Thoughts
HIIT is a highly effective method of enhancing fitness and improving energy expenditure for those who are pressed for time and/or unable to exercise at high intensity for long periods of time. Studies have shown that HIIT is highly effective in enhancing cardiovascular health and is associated with increased exercise adherence in both healthy and at-risk individuals; making it a great choice for all levels. For people looking for HIIT to increase fat loss, research shows that the most important and only factor in reducing body fat is to decrease your calories intake.
In addition, research shows these results are 100% independent of training method, which means HIIT is not necessary for fat loss or is more effective than other means of balancing calories. If you're looking for a time-efficient exercise method that can help you burn as many calories as you would with longer sessions and improve your cardiovascular fitness, HIIT might be a good choice.
Are you looking for a high intensity training program to help you increase your fitness, burn fat, and maximize your success? Join my monthly fitness membership starting at 8.99$ today!
Comments