Hey everyone, another blog from your favourite gym, that’s right, you got it, its from your one and only Hammers Gym. Here at Hammers we really love seeing our members get the best of our facility, which is why we offer so many different programs and make sure that the best equipment is available to you all.
With there being a plethora of information out on the internet, we wanted to be able to provide you a one stop shop, where you can get all your training related information from. Often, we catch ourselves trying to figure out what works best for us or what we need to do in order to see the results which we envision for our ourselves.
Let’s talk cardio and two ways of how to use it to your benefit. Let us be honest, most people either love cardio or hate it. So today we want to explore two types of workouts for you and the overall specifics of it. Let’s take a deep dive into LISS vs HIIT training. LISS stands for Low intensity steady state and HIIT is High intensity interval training. LISS training often is longer in duration, periods upwards of 30 minutes, with lower intensity.
Whereas HIIT is shorter in duration and can range from 5-20 minutes but can also go upwards of 30 minutes based on how you train.
HIIT is also more effective in burning calories in comparison to LISS.
HIIT has become a very popular training method out there, for those who don’t want to spend too much time training or those who want to train but don’t have the time, HIIT training might be the perfect solution. You can do circuit training with weights/bodyweights or you can just go and do a quick 20 minutes of hill sprints to get the heart pumping.
LISS on the other hand, many of us may have already been doing, without being aware of it being LISS training, a nice long walk, or an hour of cycling your local neighbourhood, maybe you visit your local community swimming pool for a 40-minute session of freestyle and backstroke. Exercise where you are constantly active with minimal rest though not making your heart race and blood pump excessively.
Let us take a deeper dive into it
Low intensity steady state cardio is when you are performing exercise where you retain the same intensity and pace for a set amount of time, the time limit may vary based on your preference and training goals. The reason it is conducted in a steady pace is so that you can maintain your energy throughout the entire workout. Here at Hammers gym, the machines you could use for this sort of exercise would be the treadmill, stationary bike, elliptical trainer, rower, stair climber or any of the other cardio machines. When using these machines, its just about setting it to a set pace and incline which you can get through at the same rate through the entire workout. A great way to get through the workouts if you feel that it may be boring is to watch a show or listen to a podcast whilst completing these workouts. If you are not interested, you could also set yourself up near the ring and watch our other members train/spar whilst completing your session. It is a good distraction from the lengthy workout whilst getting through it without being bored.
High intensity interval training is another form of cardio training, but this one can incorporate the use of weights. In this form of exercise, you must work very hard for short bursts of time at high intensity levels, followed by small periods of recovery time where you rest or complete a low intensity exercise. These sessions can go for low amounts of time from 5 to 20 minutes but can also go for longer periods of time. A great program which we run at Hammers gym is our Hammer-Fit 45 or H-Fit 45. 45 minutes of high intensity interval training which is run by our amazing personal trainers. Though should you not be able to get into the scheduled times for the H-Fit 45 then we also offer Box-fit and spin classes throughout the week.
The overall 3 main differences between these two methods are the intensity of activity, duration of activity and the calories which are burnt. Research has shown that LISS placed the body in a state which uses fat as its main source of fuel for the workout, whereas HIIT, due to the level of intensity, will use glycogen or carbohydrates as its main source of fuel. LISS is designed to keep your heart rate at a sustainable rate whilst pushing your limits, being around 60-70 percent of your max heart rate. HIIT on the other hand is meant to push you to your limits of fatigue and exhaustion.
There is a popular argument between which form burns more calories, research shows that you can burn more calories performing HIIT session rather than spending the same amount of time performing LISS training. In order to understand this better let us compare an hour-long walk-in comparison to a 20 minute hill sprint session. The walk may yield you burning 400 calories and once you finish the walk, you stop burning calories, though for your 20 minute hill sprint, you may burn 250 calories during the session, but will continue to burn calories for the next 9-12 hours at lower rates of calorie being burnt per hour, which can yield up to 600-800 calories being burnt in total. This is due to the body needing to consume more oxygen to bring it back to resting state. This assists in replenishing the energy stores within the body so that hormones are regulated and aids muscle recovery.
Now both these workouts provide benefit, we at Hammers believe that both of these options will give you results, though it comes down to personal preference, overall objectives/goals and your lifestyle to see what fits in and suits you. Should you have more questions, come chat to any of the team so that we can see which may be the best option for you and we can point you in the right direction.
