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Is High Intensity Training Good For You?

Author

Avery Gonzales

Updated on February 18, 2026

Is High Intensity Training Good For You?

Overall, HIIT produces many of the same health benefits as other forms of exercise in a shorter amount of time. These benefits include lower body fat, heart rate and blood pressure. HIIT may also help lower blood sugar and improve insulin sensitivity.

Hereof, is high intensity training bad for you?

Due to the intensity and high-impact nature of some of the exercises, HIIT places a lot of stress on your muscles, joints, tendons and ligaments and may increase your risk of injury or re-injury, Keating says.

Similarly, why are HIIT workouts so effective? The reason HIIT is so effective is that it produces excess post-oxygen consumption, or EPOC (yes, another industry acronym!). EPOC raises your resting metabolic rate for twenty-four hours or more after your training session. In other words, it turns your body into a fat-burning machine.

Secondly, is High Intensity Training good for weight loss?

The bottom line. Both moderate, continuous exercise and high-intensity interval exercise can reduce body fat and weight. However, interval training is more effective and efficient at promoting weight loss. Interval exercises can include running sprints alternating with light jogging or rest periods.

Is a 20 minute HIIT workout enough?

According to a popular NY Times article, there is research that supports the idea that all you need is 7 minutes. I've found that the sweet spot is somewhere in the 20-30 minute range. If your workout lasts any more than 30-minutes, you're probably not working hard enough to optimize the benefits of HIIT.

Is Hiit better than jogging?

When it comes to calorie burning during exercise, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) can burn more calories than longer, lower-intensity aerobic workouts. That same person, running at 8 miles per hour for 20 minutes, will burn 320 calories. The same principles apply to HIIT.

What are the disadvantages of HIIT training?

The drawbacks of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
  • Difficult To Maintain Good Form.
  • It Is Not As Effective At Developing Your Aerobic System.
  • It Is Not For Everyone.
  • It Is Hard To Sustain For A Long Time.
  • It Is Not As Effective As Low Intensity Cardio For Lowering Your Heart Rate.
  • Winds You Up Too Much.
  • High Occurrence Of Injury.
  • Final Word.

Can too much HIIT make you gain weight?

Overworking the body, through too many high intensity workouts could lead to repercussions, like injury and weight gain. PRO TIP: If you're noticing weight gain, it's recommended to do HIIT workouts only once or twice a week to avoid overtraining and keep hormone levels in check.

Is Hiit bad for the heart?

HIIT and the Heart Patient
While numerous studies have shown the benefits of exercise for adults with cardiovascular disease, much of the research has involved moderate-intensity activity. 4? Other research has shown HIIT to be safe in patients with chronic stroke and in sedentary older men.

Why am I gaining weight doing HIIT?

HIIT can make you gain weight in the long-run
“People are doing HIIT every single day and they don't realize it's draining on the nervous system,” Vertue says. And because your nervous system is what's regulating your metabolism, throwing that out of whack can result in more fat storage.

Can you damage your heart by exercising too hard?

Exercise is good for you, but some extreme athletes can push past healthy limits. This new analysis of existing studies found that chronic extreme exercise training and competing in endurance events can lead to heart damage and rhythm disorders. People with genetic risk factors are especially vulnerable.

How does HIIT change your body?

HIIT increases “the amount of calories your body burns during and after your exercise session,” she said. Plus, she added, “your metabolism tends to increase allowing you to use fat as fuel.” That means you burn more stored fat and may possibly lose weight or at least some body fat.

Is it OK to workout 7 days a week?

It's OK to work out as often as you like, as long as you don't work out the same muscles more than three times a week. So just do a variety of different things in your workouts, and you should be fine. In fact, it would be safe to work out 21 times a week (3 times per day), if you did it like this: Morning: cardio.

Is the 7 minute workout effective?

Fiction. The "seven-minute workout" is getting a lot of attention these days, and it sure sounds enticing. But experts say the express exercise routine is not as effective — or as short — as it sounds. The workout consists of 12 high-intensity exercises that use only body weight as resistance.

Is it OK to do HIIT everyday?

HIIT is a great, safe, and effective workout, but there's no need to do it every day. Keep it to three times per week. You'll still reap the benefits and give your body time to recover properly. Aaptiv has strength training and HIIT workouts you can do at any time.

Does Hiit help lose belly fat?

Second, when it comes to exercise, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts are a must — they're shown to target belly fat. Here's a basic 20-minute HIIT workout designed to help you lose belly fat by burning calories to decrease your overall body fat, revealing a slimmer, leaner tummy.

How many times a week should I do HIIT to lose fat?

To reap the benefits of HIIT, Rondel recommends doing HIIT workouts two to three days a week. You should also strength train to lose fat and build muscle - aim for two to three days of strength training a week, Rondel said.

Is HIIT or weights better for fat loss?

HIIT burns more calories than a traditional heavy weightlifting session. Heavy weightlifting is much more effective at helping you build muscle. The more muscle you have, the faster your metabolism will be. Faster metabolism = less body fat.

Is 30 mins of HIIT enough to lose weight?

HIIT Can Burn a Lot of Calories in a Short Amount of Time
One study compared the calories burned during 30 minutes each of HIIT, weight training, running and biking. Although each workout session was 30 minutes long in this study, it is common for HIIT workouts to be much shorter than traditional exercise sessions.

How long before I see results from working out?

For this person, it normally takes about two weeks for them to see results. For someone who hasn't worked out before, it may take up to two months — and this also, he noted, varies depending on how much muscle you're trying to put on.

How many calories does HIIT burn in 20 minutes?

In the full twenty minutes of this routine, a person could burn between 9-13 calories a minutes. During the actual HIIT part of the workout, a person likely burns more along the lines of 12-16 calories a minute.

Can HIIT burn belly fat?

Second, when it comes to exercise, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts are a must — they're shown to target belly fat. Here's a basic 20-minute HIIT workout designed to help you lose belly fat by burning calories to decrease your overall body fat, revealing a slimmer, leaner tummy.

Can HIIT build muscle?

HIIT may not be the most effective workout routine to build lean muscle mass. HIIT, however, can help preserve or retain lean muscle mass, while MICT can potentially make you lose lean muscle mass if you're trying to lose fat mass at the same time.

Why HIIT is best for fat loss?

"HIIT increases and decreases the heart rate during the workout, helping you to maximize the number of calories you burn," she told POPSUGAR. The truly potent fat-burning strategy, though, is combining the two of them, according to Stan Dutton, NASM-certified personal trainer and head coach for fitness app Ladder.

Are 15 minute HIIT workouts effective?

The Benefits Of 15-Minute Workouts Will Blow Your Mind
  • Get Results Faster. You've heard about HIIT, or high-intensity interval training.
  • Burn More Calories. HIIT workouts, which usually lasts just four to 15 minutes, can also give you more bang for your buck in terms of calorie burn.
  • Live Longer. Just 15 minutes of exercise per day could actually increase your lifespan.

Can HIIT make you gain weight?

HIIT can make you gain weight in the long-run
High-intensity training is a short duration for a reason: It's incredibly tough on your body. And if you're replacing all of your steady-state workouts for HIIT, you might notice weight gain.

How many calories does 15 minutes of HIIT burn?

By incorporating high intensity interval training, or HIIT, into your fitness routine, you can cut down on the time you spend exercising while still getting a quality workout. Using this 15-minute circuit with the five exercises below, you can easily burn 150 calories or more.

Is it better to do HIIT in the morning or evening?

DON'T do HIIT on a empty stomach in the morning and right after waking up. Let your body wake up for 30 Minutes, and take a Proteinshake or a small breakfast an hour or an half hour before workout. At night: The cool down of your body AFTER the workout is the emost important thing for the results of your workout.

Can you lose weight with 20 mins exercise a day?

If you work out for 20 to 35 minutes every day, you'll meet the expert recommendations for weight loss. Exercising every day will also help you to build a regular and healthy habit for physical activity. Lastly, you can also vary workout intensity to burn enough calories to lose weight.

Is 25 minutes HIIT enough?

I've found that the sweet spot is somewhere in the 20-30 minute range. If your workout lasts any more than 30-minutes, you're probably not working hard enough to optimize the benefits of HIIT.

Do 10 minute workouts really work?

Quick workouts really do work — in a pinch
A 2016 study of sedentary men over 12 weeks examined whether sprint interval training (SIT), 1-minute bursts of intense exercise within a 10-minute routine, could improve insulin sensitivity (lowering your blood sugar) and cardiometabolic health as well as a 50-minute workout.

What is the best HIIT workout to burn fat?

Nothing burns fat like HIIT. HIIT or High-Intensity Interval Training is a form of cardio performed at high intensity for a short duration with an equally spaced resting phase.

Take no rest between the exercises.

  • Burpees.
  • High Knees.
  • Split Jumps/Lunge Jumps.
  • Up And Out Jumping Jacks.
  • Mountain Climbers.
  • Rope Jumping.
  • Push-ups.

How long should you do HIIT a day?

Timing matters. A typical HIIT session should last anywhere between 4 minutes (like Tabata) and 15 minutes. Overuse injuries can arise if workouts are too long; cap HIIT workouts at 30 minutes.

Should you do HIIT before or after workout?

It would be better to do it after weight training if your goal is muscle building and/or fat burning. If you are doing HIIT first and then doing weight training it will seriously affect your performance during your lifts. You can also be pretty tired from your HIIT cardio and might even mess up your lifting form.