23/02/2026
“Is HIIT a good thing for me to do?”
This may be the most commonly asked question from clients and friends in the past 10-15 years.
First, what is it?
HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training. It’s short burst of hard work followed by relatively short rest periods.
Originally done as cardiovascular exercises like sprinting or cycling, it was adapted by many in the industry to blend with circuit training, doing short sharp bursts of a range of strength and bodyweight exercises. (There are some minor differences between the effects of these two but I’ll save that for another time. In principle, they share similar approaches and supposed benefits.)
Is it ‘good’ for you?
As you probably know about me by now, I’ll never talk in such oversimplified terms. It certainly can be beneficial as a way to:
- Increase fitness, both cardiovascular and strength & endurance.
- Burn fat. It’s intense so it uses up a decent amount of calories in a short space of time. Probably more importantly, it creates a fairly elevated afterburner, or EPOC as it’s technically known.
This is the Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consimption, or the amount of calories burned by the body after exercise as part of the recovery process. Steady low intensity exercise results in a fairly short EPOC, maybe a few hours, but high intensity work like this has been shown in some studies to raise metabolic rate for as much as 48-72 hours after training. This means potentially greater calorie consumption if done consistently and regularly.
- Alongside EPOC, there’s the muscle built by doing the exercises. This may play a major part in turning your engine from a 1.2-litre Fiat Cinquecento (do they still make those?) to a 4.9-litre Ferrari Testarossa.
Muscle is hungry. It needs a lot of energy. The current thinking is that a pound of muscle burns around 6 calories a day. Doesn’t sound like a lot, but say you add 10 pounds of muscle through a consistent strength programme. That’s 60 calories a day, 420 a week, and 21,840 calories a year. That’s probably equates to half a stone of body fat lost just by having the extra muscle, without even factoring in the calories used during the exercise. Cool huh?
- Then there’s the fact it’s fun, challenging (which some people like), and can easily be varied. It’s also time-efficient in a busy world.
So it’s good, yes?
It certainly can be.
But…
There are some potential drawbacks/risks to consider:
1. Suitability. Would I use this for clients with health conditions. Quite often not, or certainly not the sort of HIIT circuit you see below. HIIT can be used for some though, it’s simply about adapting the exercises to recognise what high intensity is for some folks. I’ll share another post on this soon with a HIIT for those a bit less fit workout.
Importantly though, if you have a health condition, it’s best to discuss this type of training with your medical practitioner before giving into it. It simply may not be right for you at this time because of your condition or the medications you take to manage it.
2. Injury risk. The intensity brings with it risk for injury. Many exercises used in HIIT use explosive movements or heavyish weights, and the small rest periods can lead to fatigue making technique hard to maintain.
3. Preferences. Hey, if you don’t like training hard, you absolutely don’t need to do this. Even if your goals are fat loss. It’s not magic, it’s just a tool. You can achieve shape change goals through dietary changes and walking the dog more if that’s the right way for you.
The most important factor for success is regularity, sticking to your lifestyle changes. And the most important thing I’ve found over the years for that is doing what you enjoy. If that’s not HIIT, that’s cool.
4. Fatigue. It’s hard work but many think they just have to keep slogging through it to get results.
You need to train smarter than that. If you’re going to do HIIT, it’s probably not a daily thing for most. A few times each week interspersed with lower level activities like walking, swimming, jogging, flexibility, and yoga is a good idea.
And secondly, everyone needs to vary exercise loads and types occasionally. It prevents overtraining and boredom. By all means do a 4-week block of HIIT 3 x per week, but then have a gentle week or two doing something easier before going again.
Injury, burnout, and lack of results happens when we just keep pushing through the same old thing. Listen to your body. Mix it up.
Hopefully that answers a few questions for you. Lastly, here’s my little HIIT-style circuit from the other week, a blend of cardio, strength, agility, and balance exercises.
30 seconds work per exercise with minimal recovery between exercises. I did it 3 times round.
You can change this by doing just one circuit, having longer rests between exercises, swapping out exercises you don’t feel comfy with, or simply doing less exercises.
• Speedskaters over a step
• Press-ups side to side (over a step)
• Run forwards/backwards with cone touch
• Olympic Bar landline core twists
• Box jumps
• Run side to side
• Lunges with band rows (both sides)
• 180-degree BOSU (wobbly blue thing) jump twists
Feel free to fire your HIIT questions at me and I’ll also be back soon with that HIIT for those a bit less fit workout. 😁😁😁
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