This Underrated Workout Could Be Key to Making Gains

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This Underrated Workout Could Be Key to Making Gains originally appeared on Men’s Fitness.

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Total-body workouts that combine resistance training and cardio through high-intensity interval training (HIIT) are some of the most effective ways to build muscle, burn fat, and boost cardiovascular endurance.

And no, that’s not just “bro science”—it’s backed by legit research in exercise physiology. So why isn’t everyone doing it? Simple: it’s brutal.

In a HIIT workout, you’re pushing your body to the limit for a short burst, then backing off for a brief recovery (sometimes active, sometimes not). If you’re new to it, start by going hard for 60 seconds, then rest for 1 to 2 minutes, depending on the movement.

Once your body adapts, you can shift your work-to-rest ratio from 3:1 to 2:1, and eventually down to 1:1. During those intense intervals, aim to get your heart rate up to 85 percent of its max. On a scale of 1 to 10, you should be breathing at an 8 or 9—just shy of gasping.

In other words: it’s no joke. But the payoffs are huge—HIIT can fire up your metabolism, help you build and hold onto muscle, shred fat, and torch calories even after your workout’s over.

And if you’re training with aesthetics in mind, there’s even more to love. Here’s what you need to know to start making HIIT a staple in your routine:

1. It Increases Your Efficiency

HIIT gives you the same physiological results as long-duration cardio in a fraction of the time. That’s because HIIT taxes both aerobic and anaerobic fitness, while traditional steady-state cardio only addresses aerobic. Aerobic fitness increases your need for oxygen, and anaerobic training builds muscle; thus, HIIT workouts will increase your endurance and make you stronger at the same time.Studies indicate that as little as 27 minutes of HIIT three times per week produces the same anaerobic and aerobic improvement as 60 minutes of steady-state cardio five times per week, so you can have more time for everything else in your life.

2. It Promotes Higher Calorie Burn and More Fat Loss

Burning fat requires oxygen, and the more oxygen that gets inside your body the more fat your body can burn. A high-intensity workout increases your body’s need for oxygen during the effort and creates an oxygen shortage, causing your body to demand more oxygen during recovery. This “afterburn” effect is referred to as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, and is why intense exercise will help burn more fat and calories than regular aerobic and steady-state workouts.In other words, one of the awesome effects of all that hard work from HIIT is that it will kick your body’s repair cycle into hyperdrive. This means you will actually continue to burn fat for 24-48 hours after interval training, not just during your workout.

3. It Helps You Lose Fat, Not Muscle

High-intensity interval training gives a natural boost to human growth hormone production, which is essential for optimal health, strength, and vigor, and has been shown to significantly improve insulin sensitivity and boost fat loss, and increase muscle growth.

4. It Boosts Metabolism

Igniting EPOC (aka afterburn) translates into a metabolic boost for up to 48 hours after a completed HIIT routine. Since HIIT helps build muscle mass, and muscle cells burn more calories than fat cells, HIIT further contributes to increasing your metabolism. In addition, some research suggests that anaerobic exercise increases resting energy consumption. Scientifically speaking, anaerobic exercise increases your basal metabolic rate, which is the rate of energy expenditure by your body at rest and is measured in kJ (energy) per hour (time) per kg of body mass (muscle). Any time you have the opportunity to increase your metabolism, do it. It not only aids in weight loss, but it keeps your body healthy on the inside as well.

5. It Improves Stamina

Most people aren’t used to pushing their bodies into the anaerobic zone (that lovely place where you can’t breathe and you feel like your heart is trying to jump out of your chest), but working this hard is good for your heart. In a 2006 study, researchers found that after eight weeks of doing HIIT workouts, subjects could bicycle twice as long as they could before the study while maintaining the same pace.

HIIT taxes both your aerobic metabolic system and your anaerobic processes, which is what you need for optimal cardiovascular benefit. Traditional strength training and cardio exercises work primarily the aerobic process, which is why you may not see the results you desire even when you’re spending an hour on the treadmill several times a week. Interestingly enough, when it comes to high-intensity exercises, less really is more. You can get all the benefits you need in just a 20-minute session, start to finish.

6. It Helps With Versatility

Running, biking, jumping rope, and rowing all work great for HIIT, but you don’t need any equipment to get it done. High knees, fast feet, or anything plyometric—like jumping lunges—work just as well to get your heart rate up fast.In fact, sometimes equipment can make HIIT less effective because you want the focus to be on pushing your heart to its max, not just any one muscle group.

7. It Breaks Mental Barriers

Pushing your body and your brain beyond your comfort zone will develop mental resiliency and allow you to increasingly challenge yourself both during workouts and in your everyday life.Persevering through tough, high-intensity workouts will give you the confidence to tackle other challenges that come your way mentally and physically—not to mention the endorphin rush you’ll earn from such a taxing workout.

This Underrated Workout Could Be Key to Making Gains first appeared on Men’s Fitness on Jul 17, 2025

This story was originally reported by Men’s Fitness on Jul 17, 2025, where it first appeared.