​Among the myriads of training modalities that don’t live up to the hype, the HIIT workout surely does as it challenges both your aerobic and anaerobic systems to help you shed some pounds in a shorter period of time. So in this article, we are going to delve into the ways on how you can easily combine HIIT workouts with other exercises to maximize fat burn and improve your overall heart health.

HIIT with weights can be a very challenging exercise and it can take some time to work up to, but it is one of the most effective ways to push yourself out of your comfort zone and improve your health. The goal of HIIT workouts is to elevate your heart rate by performing short bursts of high-intensity activities, whereas strength training targets your muscles. But if you want to get maximal health benefits, you can merge these exercise styles by incorporating high intensity workouts into your routine.

With HIIT, your heart rate stays up for the entire exercise and you also burn more calories after the killer session, as compared with a steady-state run on a treadmill. Additionally, most HIIT workouts involve different groups of muscles in one session–for example, HIIT cardio workouts that involve burpees, planks, and squats target and build many muscle groups. Combining weights with a high intensity workout is the success secret for weight loss. While your body may hate you for it, the results are worth it.

In order to do this, you can either split your time and focus on HIIT exercise first and then proceed on the weight training or you can include weighted exercises and mix in bodyweight moves for a more intense session for the best results that matter. Another option is to perform HIIT cardio exercises on a separate day from weight training to minimize the overall interference effect if your goal is to build muscle size.

A general recommendation from an article published by BetterHumans suggests doing cardio sessions 1-3 times per week to avoid fatigue issues. While you may see athletes train intensely every single day, the same routine is not applicable to everyone. A sample program that combines both HIIT and weight training would have cardio workouts on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, rest and recovery for Thursday, and follow-up with strength training on Tuesday and Friday.

Nonetheless, it is also important to avoid long, taxing workout sessions as your body will start breaking down muscle tissue for energy and it increases the risk of injury. A common rule of thumb is to do 30 minutes of moderate physical activities each day and work your way up as your body adapts and as long as you’re not pushing yourself too hard.