New study reveals the secret behind successful HIIT workouts

Spoiler: it is all about the timing

New research published by Liverpool John Moores University has found the best time

combination between performance and rest time to make HIIT workouts the most

effective. 

High-intensity interval training, or HIIT, has become a real trend in the fitness world over the

last few years. It consists of intense and explosive cardio exercises – also known as

plyometrics – performed for a short period of time, between 20 to 90 seconds, with little

rest in between. HIIT workouts have gained popularity for its fat-torching powers but also

for being a time saviour.

Now, scientists have revealed that HIIT training will only improve fitness when performed at

60-second intervals with 60-seconds breaks. 30-second ones and 120-second rests have

been voted down. 

The experimenters asked 26 sedentary people to perform six weeks of either 60HIIT - 6-10

60-second intervals with 60 seconds rest, or 30HIIT - 4-8 30 seconds intervals with 120

seconds rest. 

“We found that resting for 120 seconds was too long and participants didn’t show any

improvement,” said Hannah Church, one of the researchers. “The heart rate needs to stay

high to get more effects, but it starts to fluctuate if rests are longer.” 

Personal trainer Stephanie Goodridge said: “HIIT workouts are the best options for those

who don’t have time to spend in the gym, but it is not entirely for beginners. If you are new

to fitness, make sure you are performing HIIT supervised by an expert.”

EMBED VIDEO OF HIIT WORKOUT HERE