Low-Intensity Steady-State Cardio Vs. High-Intensity Interval Training

Low-intensity steady-state cardiovascular training (L.I.S.S. cardio)

A popular aerobic fitness term important known is low-intensity steady-state cardiovascular training. Otherwise known and often referred to as L.I.S.S. cardio. If I ever mention L.I.S.S. cardio in the rest of this course, I refer to low-intensity steady-state cardiovascular training. L.I.S.S. cardio will help you maintain weight if you have a proper meal plan and exercise plan to go along when doing it.

Low-intensity steady-state cardiovascular training focuses on keeping you at a pace that keeps your heart rate between 50-65% of your maximum heart rate while exercising. It would be best if you did L.I.S.S.-focused exercises at least three times a week for a minimum of 30 minutes. When you are working with me, I will ask you to commit to doing some low-intensity steady-state cardiovascular training every day. 

There are many reasons why incorporating L.I.S.S. focused exercises every day is essential to your weight loss journey. My goal for asking you to do this is you will hopefully (I can’t guarantee anything)

• strengthen your lungs, muscles, and heart
• burn calories each day because it helps you keep energy balance more even with your calories in/out ratio
• sleep better at night
• prevent, alleviate, or in some cases abolish the challenges and chronic disease that may come with being overweight or obese
• improve the quality of your life
• enhance your mood
• keep you consistent

Doing L.I.S.S.-focused exercises each day does not have to be overthought. I enjoy walking my dog for anywhere from 30-45 minutes twice a day. I put on my headphones and listen to an audiobook as we go. My goal is to keep my heart spiked within the target training zone around 50-65% of my maximum heart rate by doing a combination of walking, fast-paced walking, and jogging. I may not know the exact heart rate at the time. But, I walk, walk briskly, and jog on the treadmill often, so I know what pace I need to be at least to hit that minimum heart rate per minute mark without exerting myself.

Below is a list of low-intensity steady-state cardiovascular exercises you can incorporate into your daily life.

Outdoor L.I.S.S. exercises

• going walking
• hiking in a group
• trail riding on a bike
• going kayaking 
• swimming
• walking stairs 

Gym L.I.S.S. exercises

• walking on a treadmill
• spinning on a spin bike
• rowing on a rowing machine
• climbing up the stair stepper
• using the elliptical
• swimming laps indoors

High-intensity interval training (H.I.I.T.)

Another popular aerobic fitness term is high-intensity interval training. Otherwise known and often referred to as H.I.I.T. If I ever mention H.I.I.T., I refer to high-intensity interval training. Including H.I.I.T in your weekly routine will help you burn fat that the L.I.S.S. does not burn when used, along with a meal plan and exercise plan. 

High-intensity interval training focuses on keeping you at a pace that keeps your heart rate between 65-85% of your maximum heart rate. H.I.I.T-focused exercises should be done at least once a week for a minimum of 20-60 minutes if you want to lose weight. 

To do H.I.I.T exercises, you will want to have interval-timed training patterns you will stick to while doing them. 

• Examples of what I mean by this is you can
• Twenty seconds are going at a pace where it keeps your heart between 65-85% of your maximum heart rate, slowing down for 10 seconds, and then repeat.
• Forty seconds are going at a pace where it keeps your heart between 65-85% of your maximum heart rate, then slowing down for 20 seconds, and then repeat.
• Ninety seconds going at a pace where it keeps your heart between 65-85% of your maximum heart rate and then slowing down for 45 seconds, and then repeat.
• One hundred twenty seconds going at a pace where it keeps your heart between 65-85% of your maximum heart rate and then slowing down for 60 seconds, and then repeat.

*Side note: You will most likely need to build up to the 90 and 120 seconds one. 

There are many reasons why doing H.I.I.T-focused cardio is essential to your weight loss journey. My goal for asking you to do this is you will hopefully (I can’t guarantee anything)

• lower your blood pressure
• decrease your body mass index
• decrease your waist circumference
• lessen your chances of health challenges and chronic diseases
• enhance your oxygen intake
• improve your cholesterol

Doing H.I.I.T.-focused exercises each day does not have to be overthought either. First, I warm up on an elliptical for five minutes at a pace around my target training zone of 50-65% of my maximum heart rate. After, I stretch my legs for up to five minutes, then hop back onto the elliptical. I usually go with the 45 seconds slow and then 90 seconds fast approach and do this around ten times, which equals 22.5 minutes. I then move on to the bike to do the same thing. Lastly, I move on to the treadmill, do a fast past walk on an incline, and do the same thing. 

Therefore, my exercise plan that day would be like the one below. Of course, you can do one per week if you would like. But if you plateau in your fat loss, you will want to do more. 

Examples:

Elliptical

22.5 minutes = 1350 seconds

45 seconds slow + 90 seconds fast = 135 seconds

1350 seconds / 135 seconds = 10 H.I.I.T cycles

Stationary Bike

22.5 minutes = 1350 seconds

45 seconds slow + 90 seconds fast = 135 seconds

1350 seconds / 135 seconds = 10 H.I.I.T cycles

Incline Treadmill

22.5 minutes = 1350 seconds

45 seconds slow + 90 seconds fast = 135 seconds

1350 seconds / 135 seconds = 10 H.I.I.T cycles 

It does not have to be at the gym, of course. I was giving you what works best for me. 

Outdoor H.I.I.T. exercises

• walk/jog combo
• riding on a bike outdoors slow/fast combo
• swimming slow/fast combo
• walking stairs slow/fast combo

Gym H.I.I.T. exercises

• treadmill doing a slow/fast combo
• stationary bike doing a slow/fast combo
• rowing on a rowing machine doing a slow/fast combo
• climbing up the stair stepper doing a slow/fast combo
• using the elliptical doing a slow/fast combo
• swimming laps indoors doing a slow/fast combo

Wrapping it up

The focus of this lesson was to have you understand low-intensity steady-state cardiovascular training versus high-intensity interval training and the difference between both. It was also to teach you the benefits of each one regarding your overall health and fitness. Lastly, I hope you learned how to implement it into your daily lives.

If you have any questions, please send me a message through the Contact Lesson Teacher button above.