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Does HIIT Burn Fat Better Than Steady State Cardio?
In the last two decades or so, few debates have gotten as heated as the argument over high intensity interval training (HIIT) cardio versus low intensity (steady state or continuous) cardio. There was one point years ago where the pendulum in the fitness industry swung so far and so hard to the HIIT side, that both trainers and practitioners would almost mock people for “wasting their time” doing steady state (continuous), long duration cardio.
On blog posts, (and today on social media), it was not usually to see A HIIT advocate share a photo of a skinny marathon runner next to a jacked sprinter. You would typically see a caption like, “This is what happens when you do HIIT cardio compared to steady state cardio! HIIT burns fat way better than slow, boring steady cardio, and builds more muscle too!”
Of course the truth is, that was a disingenuous argument, a unfair comparison, and according the newest research, just plain wrong. But many people bought into it.
HIIT is most often promoted as a time-efficient way of doing cardio. By working with more intensity rather than longer, you can achieve the same cardiovascular fitness and health benefits, or even better, in less time, compared to moderate intensity steady state training. (The latter is known as MISS, or in the latest research, they call it MICT, the acronym for medium intensity continuous training)… so many acronyms.
Cardio acronyms: HIIT, SIT, MICT, MISS, LISS Oh my!
Speaking of acronyms, it’s important to make distinctions between the different types of interval training and continuous training. There is also sprint interval training, which his now known as SIT. That would be like really short all-out (maximal) intensity sprints, which usually only last about 10 to 30 seconds (It’s pretty brutal), then there’s a longer recover interval.
There is also really low intensity steady state training which is easy continuous cardio like walking or doing a cardio machine like a bike or elliptical at a very slow pace or very low resistance level.
When people ask, is HIIT better for fat loss, advocates of of interval training often claim that HIIT is indeed superior. However, whether HIIT produces more total fat loss over time has not been confirmed in well-designed long-term studies that measure body composition.
To finally answer this question, and get to the bottom of this controversy and conflicting information, a group of exercise scientists recently conducted a meta-analysis of 54 studies. (A meta analysis is not a single intervention or trial or experiment, it’s like a study of studies).
This review (Steele et al) compared HIIT to MICT while measuring body composition over time. To meet the inclusion criteria, the studies had to include a minimum of one cardio workout per week and it had to be at least four weeks long.
What the research says about HIIT workouts for fat loss compared to steady state cardio
The results of this huge and very thorough analysis gave us strong scientific evidence that there is very little difference between MICT and HIIT for fat loss. Neither type of cardio workout was substantially more effective for burning body fat over time than the other.
In addition, changes in muscle (fat free mass) were also minimal. When posting those ridiculous marathoner versus sprinter memes, many HIIT advocates are trying to imply that if you do long duration cardio, you’ll lose all your muscle, or even that HIIT cardio can build muscle. But HIIT is not more effective for building muscle.
It’s possible that beginners and previously sedentary people might see a small increase in muscle when they start doing cardio. But the fact is, endurance-type exercise is not very effective for muscle growth. You have to lift weights for that. (Surprise, surprise, sprinters usually do a heck of a lot more – and heavier – lifting than long distance runners).
Without strict dietary control, adding small amounts of cardio alone is not very effective for fat loss
The researchers also made a rather disappointing finding. The amount of body fat lost was rather small, regardless of whether the exercise was HIIT or MICT. This suggests that the effect of moderate doses of either type of cardio on fat loss are minimal without the right dietary control.
Make no mistake, exercise does help with fat loss, but it takes a fairly large volume of cardio to move the fat loss needle and if you exercise and eat more, well, it doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to know that the extra tasty indulgence cancels out the fat loss benefit of the cardio.
The biggest legitimate benefit of HIIT
In favor of HIIT, the time commitment to achieve similar fat loss is lower. Time efficiency is a confirmed benefit of HIIT training, and this is yet another study that confirms it. There’s a trade off though. Much more effort (intensity) is required for HIIT. HIIT can be uncomfortable, painful, even puke-inducing for some people. To achieve the same fat loss, other people would simply prefer to exercise slower and longer.
8. Because there is little difference in fat loss over time, and because adherence is the key to results, your own personal preference should guide your choice of cardio.
9. These findings also suggest that dietary restriction (achieving calorie deficit) should be the first priority for fat loss. It’s easier to achieve a large calorie deficit with dietary restriction.
10. Exercise, both resistance and cardio training, is an important adjunct to diet. Exercise combined with proper diet can help weight loss and weight loss maintenance, it can help preserve lean body mass in a deficit, improve fitness, enhance performance and provide numerous health benefits.
Hiit workout for fat loss – my favorite
Now, with all this said, I want to make it clear I’m not knocking HIIT for fat loss (and fitness/health benefits). HIIT can be a great choice and as mentioned above, the biggest benefit and biggest place HIIT wins over steady, lower intensity cardio is with time-efficiency.
I like HIIT. Running hills and stairs is one of my favorite. On a cardio machine. my favorite HIIT fat loss workout by far is the 10 X 1 min protocol.
10 X 60 sec
hiit fat loss workout #2
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hiit fat loss workout #3
Norwegian
In conclusion, does HIIT burn fat?
Yes, HIIT burns fat. So does steady state continuous cardio. Does HIIT burn off more body over time than HIIT? Not according to the findings of 54 scientific studies. It’s more accurate to say that HIIT is simply more time-efficient.
It’s time to finally put the HIIT vs MISS (or MICT or LIIS) debate to an end. Any blogger or social media influencer who continues to post photos of the distance runner versus sprinter comparison today, when we have all this science available is now the one to be mocked.
The bottom line is, do your cardio. But choose whatever type of cardio you prefer, enjoy and can stick to. Of course if you want to run marathons, that’s awesome, but it’s true, that would not be the best way to gain or maintain muscle – That’s the extreme end of the long duration steady state training paradigm.
I’ll talk about the latest science behind combining of cardio and weights (aka “concurrent” training) in an upcoming blog post. Stay tuned!
Tom Venuto,
Author of Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle (BFFM) – The Bible Of Fat Loss
Author of The BFFM Guide To Flexible Meal Planning For Fat Loss
Founder, Burn the Fat Inner Circle
Tom Venuto is a natural bodybuilding and fat loss expert. He is also a recipe creator specializing in fat-burning, muscle-building cooking. Tom is a former competitive bodybuilder and today works as a full-time fitness coach, writer, blogger, and author. In his spare time, he is an avid outdoor enthusiast and backpacker. His book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle is an international bestseller, first as an ebook and now as a hardcover and audiobook. The Body Fat Solution, Tom’s book about emotional eating and long-term weight maintenance, was an Oprah Magazine and Men’s Fitness Magazine pick. Tom is also the founder of Burn The Fat Inner Circle – a fitness support community with over 55,000 members worldwide since 2006. Click here to learn more about Burn the fat Inner Circle
Scientific reference:
Steele et al, Slow and Steady, or Hard and Fast? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Studies Comparing Body Composition Changes between Interval Training and Moderate Intensity Continuous Training, Sports, 9, 155, 2021.
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