In this episode of the Eric Roberts Fitness Podcast I cover the differences between fast vs slow weight loss. I give you a parallel to my own life in terms outside of fitness.
I cover
which is better, fast or slow
how to think about fast and slow weight loss
when rapid fat loss protocols can be used
& more.
As always if you enjoy the podcast, feel free to leave a 5 star rating and review on iTunes. Thank you for those of you who have done that so far.
If you have any questions or concerns for me, don’t hesitate to reach out and let me know 🙂
No but really, is hiit or weights better for weight loss?
Well, luckily you have clicked on the right article to find the answer to that.
When talking about losing weight and exercise, the general consensus is that the more calories you burn per session the more you weight you are going to lose.
This would mean that since hiit is going to burn more calories, it will make it the superior weight loss exercise.
At least, that is what we think, right? We can stop the article now and go start jumping around like kangaroos?
Hold on now.
Weight lifting builds lean muscle mass which allows your metabolism to be higher. This makes it so you are burning more calories all day long and for the duration of your life, not just in your 30 minute hiit session.
It looks like we are in a pickle, huh?
Don’t worry, by the time you get done reading this article you will know the answer to is hiit or weights better for weight loss.
Just make sure you don’t skip a beat here. Follow along. Got it?
Let’s dive in.
Is Hiit or Weights Better For Weight Loss?
Consider This When Comparing If Hiit Or Weights Is Better For Weight Loss….
I mentioned above that hiit cardio burns more calories short term, but weight lifting burns more calories long term by increasing your metabolism.
Therefore essentially they can both be used as a tool to help you in your weight loss journey.
Yet I want to take this a step further and go beyond just a “weight loss” journey.
Whenever I get someone onboarded to my online coaching program whenever their goal is weight loss I ask them this one question.
“So, would you say you won’t be happy until you see the scale read x number, or is it more about looking a certain way?”.
Every single time the response “Well, I want to look a certain way “.
Therefore I am not going to just talk about weight loss in this article when comparing hiit or weights, I am going to take the stance of what is going to be the most optimal to allow you to look and perform the best possibly can.
Aka, look great naked and be strong.
I mean come on, that’s what it really is about right?
Let’s first cover how we lose body fat, then we will cover how you change the way your body looks.
Yes, those are two different things.
First, Weight Loss
When talking about losing weight let me make one thing very clear.
Losing weight is primarily done through making nutritional changes, not through exercising.
I am sure someone you know, or maybe even yourself, works out all the time consistently week after week but simply cannot get the scale to budge.
This is because you can never out train a bad diet.
The only way to lose weight is by creating something called a calorie deficit.
This is when you are intaking less calories than your body is burning. This process is the process that burns body fat off of your body.
Calories are simply a source of energy for our bodies. When you are intaking less energy than your body is burning, your body will need to find something to go to for energy.
When you have stored body fat on your body, this is what your body goes to in order to make up the difference. It burns your stored fat for energy, thus resulting in you losing body fat.
Again, this is mainly done through controlling your calorie intake rather than worrying about how many calories you burn, for a few reasons.
Number one it is much easier to track how many calories you eat and not so easy to track how many calories your body burns.
Those apple watches, fit bits, or treadmills at the gym do not accurately depict how many calories you are burning.
I know that may blow your mind but I did an entire podcast on this topic more in depth, which I will link HERE
Therefore you can’t be truly certain how many calories you are burning.
On the other hand, you can know how many calories you are eating.
Not only can you know how many you are eating, you can know how many you need to eat to lose weight.
If you want to know exactly how many calories to eat to lose weight, head to my free calculator HERE .
Last but not least, the math will just never work itself out.
It takes you 50 minutes to burn 500 calories, it takes you 5 minutes to eat 500 calories.
Unless you are planning on multiple hours everyday of cardio, ain’t gonna work.
This is why weight loss is primarily done through making nutritional changes. I encourage you to check out my calorie calculator above and start counting your calories.
Second, Changing The Way Your Body Looks
When it comes to the question of is hiit or weights better for weight loss we just talked about how nutrition is going to be the main driver of fat loss.
I mentioned losing body fat and changing the way your body looks are two different things and here is why.
You could lose all of the body fat you want. The issue here is, that won’t make you get that toned, lean, defined look you are going for.
Ever seen those people who are skinny fat?
They aren’t really overweight but they don’t look incredibly lean or aesthetic?
This is because they have not dove into they have not built the proper amount of lean muscle mass to allow them to look that way.
The only way to get that look you are searching for is through proper strength training and building lean muscle mass.
I know some people will say “ but I don’t want to get big and bulky like a bodybuilder!”.
Listen, you drive a car to and from work everyday don’t you?
Does that make you a Nascar driver? No? Alrighty then same scenario here.
Just because you lift weights does not mean you will turn into Arnold.
Trust me when I say I wish it was that easy because I would’ve been there and done that by now.
Proper Progressive Overload
We just learned that proper strength training and building lean muscle mass is the only way to get that toned and defined look.
Yet there is something that has to happen within that strength training program and that is called progressive overload.
In the terms of Wikipedia Progressive overload is a method of strength training that advocates for the gradual increase of the stress placed upon the musculoskeletal and nervous system.
This simply just means that over time you are doing more than you are right now.
If you are lifting 10 lbs for 10 reps and in 3 months you are lifting 15 lbs for 12 reps, that is progressive overload.
You are continuously putting a new stress on your body that your body has to adapt to.
Why is this important?
This is the only way you will see change in your body.
If you do not put a stress great enough on your body that your body has to adapt to, it is not going to change. It will now grow stronger more defined muscles because it has no reason to.
When you lift more weight, do more reps, do more sets, whichever, your body says “well crap, this is more weight than we lifted last time. I am going to have to make sure I can handle this. Let me grow these stronger more defined muscles in order to combat this stress and keep us alive”.
It is a flight or fight response.
On the other hand you do not put a stress great enough on your body to adapt, it is going to stay the same because your body wants to stay at homeostasis.
It will not need to grow stronger more defined muscles because there is no reason to. You are not providing a stress great enough to it to have to adapt therefore it will stay status quo.
Therefore this principle of progressive overload is not only paramount, but in reality the only way possible to change the way your body looks.
So, when it comes to the question of is hiit or weights better for weight loss?
I would reframe that to which form of exercise is the best to achieve progressive overload?
Let’s talk about that now.
Is Hiit Or Weights Better For Weight Loss?
Which Is Better For Progressive Overload?
I want to break down 3 different crucial components of exercise.
Intensity, technique of exercises, and progression within progressive overload.
Let’s break down each one and talk about whether hiit or strength training is better for each.
Intensity
First off let’s define intensity.
Intensity is often confused as how “hardcore” the workout is, how much you sweat, or how out of breath you are.
That is an emotional, non objective, and unproductive way of thinking about it.
Intensity will be referred to as the amount of weight lifted closest to your one rep max.
So for example, if on a deadlift your 1 rep max is 100lbs, lifting 80lbs woulds be 80% of your 1 rep max, leading to an 8/10 or 80% intensity.
In regards to building muscle and achieving this progressive overload we talked about, having a high intensity is necessary to see progress and change.
If your intensity is not high enough, then you will not be putting enough stress on your body for your body to adapt to it.
Comparing hiit vs strength training, one thing stands out the most.
When you are doing a hiit workout, you are constantly moving non stop.
You are normally moving from one exercise to the next, getting 10-30 second breaks, and keeping your heart rate up as much as possible.
Prior to reading what was just above, you may have thought this was super “intense”!
If you were sweating buckets and out of breath crawling on the ground that was intense!
The only problem is when you look at actual and objective intensity, those workouts are normally not that intense at all.
Why?
For the simple fact that you are not able to reach a high enough intensity with your weights to see results.
You are not able to lift close enough to your proximity of failure.
When you are having 10, 15, 20 second breaks, you are not able to lift close to your maximum amount of load.
This is for many reasons. First being you are completely gassed and your body has not had adequate time to recover. If you are not fully recovered before going into the next set, you will not be able to lift anywhere near close to your maximum intensity.
I like to tell my clients think of it like going underwater and holding your breath for as long as you can.
Let’s say you hold it for a minute.
You come back up, take a 15 second break, barely catch your breath, then have to hold your breath for as long as you can again.
The second time because you are not fully recovered you will only be able to hold it for say 30 seconds this time.
Come back up, another 15 second break, then time to go again!
This time you hold it for 20 seconds.
You are not pushing towards your maximum limits each time due to the rest constraints.
This is the same thing when you are lifting weights.
You are taking such short rest times that you are simply not able to lift with enough intensity to elicit change in your body.
Compared to strength training, where you can take anywhere between 60-180 second rests, push your intensity during the set, let your body and central nervous system rest, and then get back to it again.
You will be able to actually push intensity more with longer rest times when you actually define what intensity truly is from an objective perspective, which will lead to better change in your body.
Which, over time, will allow you to apply the progressive overload principle and change the way your body looks.
Therefore when it comes to the question of is hiit or weights better for weight loss, for this scenario weights would take the crown.
Technique Of Exercises
Next let’s look into the second factor which is technique of exercises.
I am sure you have thought to yourself “by god I hope I am doing this right so I don’t get injured”.
It is a concern of all of us. Keeping proper technique is paramount when it comes to decreasing risk of injury.
Let’s look at which is better for maximizing your technique on your exercises.
First we can talk about hiit.
Again we bring up the rest time. In a lot of hiit, circuit style workouts the rest times are shorter to ensure your heart rate stays up higher for longer for the extra calorie burn.
The issue with this once again is you are completely gassed, so your form starts to deteriorate.
If you are always huffing and puffing for air and not allowing your boy to properly recover in between sets there is going to be some drop off in technique on exercises.
The more fatigued you get the more form drops off.
During typical hiit style workouts, this is an apparent downside, leading to a higher risk of injury.
Which let’s face it, if you are injured, you are not working out at all. Therefore you are burning no calories and seeing no results.
Beyond the increased risk of injury, often times that is not a big enough kicker for people to consider believe it or not.
That is why I will bring up this point, the better your form, the more maximum results.
Think about this.
If you are doing a bicep with 10 lbs, but you are using momentum to swing the weight up and down.
You are using your shoulders to jerk it up a bit and your hips to give you some momentum, are you really doing 10 lb bicep curls anymore?
Or are you doing like 5 lbs bicep curls, and 5 lbs weird hip thrusting momentum swings.
Therefore when it comes to actually developing stronger, more defined biceps and arms, wouldn’t it be fair to say that style of training is not the most optimal?
As opposed to if you took a proper rest period which allowed you to have proper form during the set, you would see better results from having proper form.
Yet again, on top of the fact you are having proper form, now you can apply the progressive overload principle once again leading to optimal changes in your body.
That means when it comes to technique of exercises and applying progressive overload, strength training takes the crown once more.
Progression Within Progressive Overload
When it comes to the question of is hiit or weights better for weight loss, I like to add this into the conversation.
Full disclosure this does not apply to every single hiit workout, but over my 4 years of coaching this is primarily what I have seen.
The normal hiit, circuit style training has an enormous amount of exercise variability.
Meaning that the exercises change incredibly frequently.
One week you are doing one workout, the next week you are doing a different, and the next week you are doing something different.
Let’s quickly think back to the principle of progressive overload.
You have to continuously provide a stress great enough on your body over a period of time that your body has to adapt to in order to see change in your body.
Therefore it would probably be a good idea to track that stress. Stress in this instance is the weight you lifted, sets you did, and reps you did for a particular exercise.
The issue with hiit workouts is if you are constantly changing workouts week to week, you cannot track to see if you are truly seeing progress or not.
For example let’s say one week in a workout you were doing goblet squats, next week you were doing barbell back squats, and the next week you were a reverse lunge.
Week 1 you did 40lbs for 8 reps on goblet squat, week 2 you did 100 lbs for 10 reps on barbell back squats, and week 3 you did 20lbs in each hand for 8 reps on reverse lunge.
While that is great you were able to track your weight for each exercise, what does that tell us?
There is no consistency in the movements. You can’t tell if you are putting more stress on the body over a period of time because your variables are not constant.
Now let’s take an example of a structured strength training program.
Week 1 you did 40 lbs on goblet squat for 8 reps, week 2 you did 40 lbs for 10 reps, and week 3 you did 45 lbs for 8 reps.
Well now you can see a clear progression there. You went from lifting 40lbs for 8 reps, to 45lbs for 8 reps.
This means you got stronger. You put a stress great enough on your body that your body had to adapt to it and grow stronger.
That is progress. That is progressive overload.
Yet if you are constantly changing variables, you won’t ever know if you are providing a stress great enough for your body to respond to or not.
Once again when it comes to is hiit or weights better for weight loss, I will have to say weights take the crown for a 3rd time.
3 strikes and you’re out!
Is Hiit Or Weights Better For Weight Loss : The Reality
I want to make this clear because I just seemingly spent the last 15 minutes bashing hiit workouts.
First and foremost I think something is better than nothing. If you doing hiit workouts is more than what you were doing before hand while also enjoying it, amazing and keep at it.
As well as if you are happy with your hiit workouts as well as the results you are seeing, then who am I to tell you any different.
This article is more for people who either want to the most optimal results or are not currently seeing results.
Second, I actually do believe there are scenarios where hiit workouts can be very beneficial.
If you only have a 15 minute window to workout, a hiit workout could be a great option for you.
Or if you do want to burn a few extra calories before your big vacation coming up, throwing in some hiit workouts isn’t gonna hurt at all.
That being said, this is how I like to explain it to people.
Think of hiit as your one night stand. Quick, gets the job done in the short term, but probably not going to be what sustains you for the rest of your life.
Think of strength training as your spouse for life. Steady, reliable, and the backbone of your entire existence.
Hiit cardio can be supplemented in, yet a structured strength training program should be the primary focus of your exercise routine.
When you prioritize it like that, I promise you will see great success.
As far as how many days per week of each, I would follow something like
Strength Training : 3-5x a week
Hiit Cardio : 0-2x a week
I did an entire YouTube video on how to set up your own strength training program, so feel free to head here to my channel to check that out.
As well as if you want 52 free workouts, head to the bottom of my page to get some free workouts from me to you :).
Beyond that, thank you for reading.
I hope this article helped clear up some things for you as well as give you some insight as to why.
Any questions or concerns feel free to drop them below I would love to hear from you.
In this episode of the Eric Roberts Fitness Podcast I talk about a workout mistake I see a ton of people making and that is doing nothing but random exercises they see on instagram and tik tok.
I am sorry to announce to you that the influencer you see doing that random 1 leg side leg press for their glutes did not achieve their glutes by doing that exercise.
There is a reason the basics are the basics, they work.
You do not need a buffet of exercises to see progress, you are making it more complicated than it has to be.
Get a plan, follow it for 4-8 weeks, track progress, switch it up, and do it again.
Any questions or concerns email me at coacheric@ericrobertsfitness.com and I would be happy to help.
If you enjoyed the podcast feel free to leave a 5 star rating and review as it helps me out a ton.
The final question will remain, hiit or steady state cardio for weight loss?
People will line up to the death for each side debating which is better for weight loss.
The purpose of this article is not to fight, nor is it to make a point for which is better so I can sell you my cardio program to burn fat!
My sole purpose of writing this article is to simply lay out the facts when it comes to hiit or steady state cardio for weight loss.
No gimmicks. No selling. Just pure information.
Sound like something you can get down with?
I sure hope so because I am tired of the arguing back and forth.
Be sure to read the entire article in order to leave this knowing all of the facts.
Not only for yourself, but so you can be equipped with ammo if either side of the camp tends to come at you.
Let’s jump in.
Hiit Or Steady State Cardio For Weight Loss
Why Are You Doing Cardio?
Before we get any farther, let’s first lay out some guidelines.
First off, why are you doing cardio? What is the purpose behind you spending your valuable time to do some cardio.
Well kind of like the article says, you are probably looking to lose weight.
Here is the only issue with that. You solely relying on cardio to lose weight is futile. It is never going to work.
I am sure even as you read this article you may be thinking “I am doing all of this cardio but can’t seem to drop any weight”.
This is because losing weight comes down to one thing and one thing only, being in a calorie deficit.
A calorie deficit simply just means you are intaking less calories than you are burning.
Emphasis on intaking less calories, aka eating eating less calories.
Remember this.
It takes you 50 minutes to burn 500 calories.
Yet it takes you 5 minutes to eat 500 calories.
Therefore unless you intend to do hours upon hours of cardio each and every day, it is going to be futile.
You can never out train a bad diet.
On top of that, the tracker you are using to track how many calories you burned during your cardio session is anywhere from 27-93% inaccurate.
Therefore worrying about how many calories you burn through exercise, when most devices are not accurate to begin with, is not the most strategic approach when it comes to weight loss.
For the scope of this article, I am going to keep things on topic of whether you should do hiit or steady state cardio for weight loss.
I will link my calorie deficit calculator HERE that tells you exactly how many calories you should eat to lose weight.
Also I will link another article I did HERE on the best tips I can give you for staying full and not being hungry on a calorie deficit.
Finally, I will link a podcast I did HERE breaking down exactly what a calorie deficit is and how to make sure you are in one so you can see weight loss progress.
Now, with all of that being said, cardio can absolutely be a tool to help in your weight loss journey.
Which is better though? Hiit or steady state?
Let’s first define what each one is.
Hiit Or Steady State Cardio For Weight Loss
Hiit Cardio
High Intensity Interval Training Cardio, refers to the type of cardio done with very short duration, but very high intensity.
An example of hiit cardio could be hopping on a stationary bike at the gym, peddling as fast as you can for 15 seconds, then resting for 60 seconds.
Another example could be sprinting for 10 seconds as hard as you can, then walking for 45 seconds.
In this style of training, your heart rate normally gets elevated quickly and exponentially, sometimes reaching 70-90% of your target heart rate.
Benefits Of Hiit
Higher Calorie Burn
One of the major benefits of hiit cardio people try to argue is that it leads to more body fat reduction.
Each study concludes that when it comes to hiit or steady state cardio for weight loss there is no real advantage one way or the other when it comes to body composition changes, aka body fat loss.
More Time Efficient
There is also some belief that hiit cardio can be more time efficient and give you more bang for your buck.
This means in a shorter amount of time you can get more done. I would then raise the question of what are you trying to accomplish?
Again, I will refer back to the reviews and analysis I mentioned above that proved there was no real advantage to hiit cardio vs steady state cardio in terms of being more time efficient for weight loss.
Actually, in this systematic review it was actually shown that it favored steady state cardio for lowering body fat with a lower time commitment.
In my opinion, I do believe it is a more time efficient way to burn calories.
Now, with that being said, you have to use it wisely.
When you implement a HIIT cardio routine, this is very taxing on your body and nervous system.
If used improperly, it can actually backfire and slow down results, especially if trying to mix with a proper strength training program.
Think about it.
If you are lifting weights for say 6-15 reps, that truly isn’t that long of a time period right?
Maybe 20-45 seconds, max.
During those 20-45 seconds you are pushing hard and using your max effort to lift that weight, then you rest, and do it again.
Well when you do hiit cardio, you are doing the same exact thing, using the same exact energy system.
Therefore when you are on your rest day from strength training and you still do hiit cardio, you aren’t actually really resting due to you using the same energy system as strength training.
This can lead to decreased recovery and decreased workout performance in the gym, which can lead to decreased results.
My two cents would be to implement hiit cardio on a day where the next day you are not scheduled to strength train.
I know that is always not possible due to conflicting schedules, but if possible, that would be most optimal.
Steady State Cardio
Steady state cardio would be much like it states, a moderate intensity style of movement.
Something like going for a 20 minute walk, or a 30 minute bike ride.
In this style of training, your heart rate is usually at a more moderate level. I would say anywhere between 45-65% of your target heart rate, depending on the individual.
Benefits Of Steady State
More Enjoyable
While this is somewhat subjective, I will pull out some science to back this.
This study proved that steady state cardio was more enjoyable to relatively untrained healthy young adults as opposed to a hiit cardio, tabata style training.
Also, anecdotally speaking, a ton of the clients I coach on a day to day basis also tend to find more enjoyment out of steady state cardio.
I believe this is to be it is less intensive, less rigorous, and has more stress relieving qualities to it.
Imagine taking a walk through the park for 30 minutes as your cardio as opposed to hunched over and out of breath on a track sprinting.
The stress relieving factor is a huge benefit I see in a ton of my clients in which it make sense that the study also concluded so as well.
Easier To Adhere To
We all know life happens. You get busy and work calls in you early or keeps you late.
Maybe your son has a soccer game rescheduled which is going to cut into your gym time.
Whatever the case may be, if you are scheduled to do your hiit workout at the gym, sometimes it may not be an option to make it, or it may get cut short.
However with steady state cardio, normally anywhere you are you can get out and take a walk.
You are able to come home and hop on your bike and go for a quick ride.
Again, anecdotally speaking, steady state cardio seems to be easier to fit into your life leading to better adherence long term.
On top of the fact you must remember this is not just about a few weeks of training, this is a forever game.
As you continue to age, no matter how old or young you are now, you have to factor in the long term.
Which is more likely to adhere to as you get into your 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, steady state or hiit cardio?
I don’t want to put words into your mouth, but normally the answer is going to be steady state cardio.
So, What Is Better, Hiit Or Steady State Cardio For Weight Loss?
Very simply put, when it comes to hiit or steady state cardio for weight loss, it is all going to come down to which you enjoy more and can adhere to the best.
As you saw above multiple research studies, meta analysis, and systematic reviewed concluded time and time again there was no real difference in results when it comes to body fat loss between hiit or steady state cardio.
You won’t burn more fat by doing hiit, or you won’t burn more fat by doing steady state.
The way you will burn the most fat and see the best results, is something so incredibly shocking that is almost is hard to believe, is by following a style of cardio you enjoy the most.
If you enjoy doing hiit, awesome, do hiit.
If you enjoy doing steady state, perfect rock with that.
It truly won’t make a difference one way or the other. The most important aspect is that you adhere to and enjoy the style of training you are doing the most, rather than the actual style of training itself.
My Two Cents
If you want my opinion on the topic I will give it to you as well. If you don’t that is awesome too, don’t mind me wiping my tears off of my face.
My advice on whether hiit or steady state cardio for weight loss would be exactly what the research studies and data show above which is do something you enjoy and can adhere to.
In my personal opinion from working with clients for the past 4+ years now, I tend to lean more towards steady state cardio for most of the benefits I outlined earlier.
When I program exercise programs for my clients rarely ever do I include any direct cardio work other than pushing to get 8-12k steps a day.
Which, if you are getting 8-12k steps a day, you are normally falling under that steady state category.
You are getting outside and walking. This obviously helps with energy expenditure and being in a calorie deficit yet it goes beyond just that.
It helps with stress relief. If you are less stressed, you are normally going to stick to your diet better.
If you stick to your diet better you are going to see better weight loss progress, because weight loss is primarily done through diet as we stated earlier.
You are also simply going to lead a less stressful life which is a better quality of life all around, which is something I want and preach to my clients.
Wrapping Up
There you have it. Your question is answered.
When it comes to hiit or steady state cardio for weight loss, one is not better than the other.
Simply pick which one you like and be consistent as heck with it.
If you have any other questions feel free to leave me a comment below and I would love to help you out.
If you are interested in working with me, I am going to link my application for coaching HERE.
