SLOW BURNER

Since the turn of the century, the fitness world – this magazine included – has been fixated on fast and furious fat loss. HIIT is the neatly packaged, time-efficient alternative to hour-long cardio sessions. It’s quick, accessible and guaranteed to leave you sweaty and sore. Its popularity has boomed and it’s easy to understand why. But when things sound too good to be true, they usually are…

Because while high-intensity interval training, done right, is an essential tool in any elite athlete’s armoury, the ‘HIIT’ most of us are sold is watered down and ineffective. Sure, bashing out burpees until your red-faced and wheezing is going to burn a few calories, but if you want your sweat sessions to go beyond simple calorie-crunching – to make you fitter, stronger and better conditioned – there’s a smarter way to go.

HIIT OR MYTH?

“There are very good benefits to HIIT when it comes to improving aerobic performance,” says Jack Hanrahan, fitness professional and Instagram workout guru (@jackhanrahanfitness). “And it is critical for elite athletes to be doing high-intensity