How We Program LISS and HIIT

We believe that everyone should include LISS in some capacity. “Low intensity” is a relative term that varies between individuals. An Olympic marathon runner may do “low intensity” running at a 6:00min/mile pace. A post-op geriatric may reach this threshold by going on a slow walk. For most of us, it is optimal to find a rhythmic modality such as walking, jogging, or cycling to settle into the desired pace. We like to specify that when we say LISS we are generally referring to true Zone 2 training. Zone 2 is the highest aerobic output without relying on anaerobic pathways.

For our in-person clients, we like to prescribe 3-5x per week for 30-45 minutes. A good starting place would be that on days that athletes are not in the studio, they are doing a brisk walk or cycling for 30-45 minutes.
The best time to do LISS is in the morning before breakfast, the middle of the day to keep you awake and alert, or after a large meal to regulate blood sugar (blood sugar goes into muscles during exercise).

We generally hesitate to throw people into a HIIT workout before we run a thorough personal analysis, including their health history. While HIIT has many benefits, it is highly stressful and most trained people can’t perform it correctly (not to mention recover from it properly). We generally develop an aerobic and strength base for at least a month before the first HIIT session, which is normally rather short. We start athletes on an exercise modality that they are very comfortable with. Athletes who are new to HIIT should allow at least 72 hours of recovery between hard exercise sessions. You can and should include LISS between HIIT sessions to improve recovery.