HIIT vs Weight Training: Which Is Better for Fat Loss?

Pro cheerleaders understand the importance of maintaining a regular cardiovascular exercise routine and weight training to lose unwanted belly fat and build up their endurance, which allows them to keep performing at a top level. These days, High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and weightlifting are the two most popular and effective workouts for staying in shape.

HIIT is a fitness trend that has been gaining popularity these past few years primarily due to its effectiveness in weight loss. Meanwhile, lifting weights may have been once reserved for bodybuilders, but not anymore because it has a unique weight loss advantage that makes it a great form of exercise.

Both are excellent workouts that can be beneficial to every athlete. But which one of them is better? Let’s find out in this article.

What is HIIT?

A HIIT workout is a form of cardio exercise done in short, intense bursts lasting anywhere from 10 to 60 seconds, alternated with low-intensity recovery periods. It involves working at around 80-90% of your maximum heart rate to maximize athletic performance under conditions where the muscles are deprived of oxygen.

HIIT offers numerous health benefits, including burning plenty of calories quickly, regulating your appetite and blood glucose levels, and increasing the amount of oxygen your body can absorb in a minute.

What is Weight Training?

Weight training is a type of strength training that uses weights against resistance to improve your muscular fitness. It involves moving parts of your body against the force of gravity in the form of dumbbells, weighted bars, resistance bands, or sandbags. The weights help you build lean, stronger muscles, strengthen your bones and joints, and burn more calories even when resting.

HIIT vs Weight Training

You might already know that cardio exercises are an effective way of burning calories. And since HIIT is an intensified cardio workout, it can be a more time-efficient weight loss method, providing 28.5% greater reductions in total fat mass (kg) while taking 40% less training time to achieve the same goal.

In addition, HIIT is also responsible for increasing the levels of excess post-oxygen consumption or EPOC. This EPOC allows your body to keep burning calories for hours after your exercise.

Meanwhile, weight training does support fat burning and cardiovascular health, but HIIT workouts do it better and are more efficient. Nevertheless, weight training is far better in muscle building than HIIT though. The energy used to build your muscles can help boost your resting metabolic rate (RMR), the rate at which your body burns calories while inactive.

What About Combining Both?

There’s no denying that HIIT and weight training are excellent exercises for fitness in their respective ways, but combining both workouts is the best approach to achieving fat loss. You don’t have to choose one or the other and just alternate between them a few times a week. Or better yet, combine them in compound workout sessions to make it even more efficient. Not only will this enable you to reach your desired weight goal faster, but you can also reap additional health benefits from the two workout routines.

Conclusion

While there’s nothing wrong with focusing on a single fitness program, you may receive fewer benefits than having a variety in your workouts. The key is to find the right balance between HIIT and weight training and take advantage of what these two workouts offer to reach your goals sooner than expected.

However, you must know your limits and try not to overdo them. It’s also worth noting that incorporating a health-based nutrition regimen is crucial for every fitness program, especially if you're aiming to lose weight.

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