A LIIT workout will build your fitness game without breaking a sweat

Low-intensity interval training is about getting lean at half the pace. A little rest will do you good. 
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High velocity HIIT can be a compulsive hobby. Granted, it hurts at the time — your muscles quivering, sweat pooling in your eyelashes — but the endorphin rush is not a myth, and it keeps you coming back for more.

Exercise caution, though — too much HIIT can exhaust the nervous system and wring out your muscles. You must recover, ideally in a cavernous bath, but if you’re the restless sort who prefers active recovery, you could try alternating full-throttle HIIT with LIIT: low-intensity exercise training.

LIIT is the acronym PTs are whispering to their honed and hewn clients. While HIIT classes involve burpees, tuck-ups and mountain climbers in a gut-punching circuit with little recovery, LIIT means a circuit of similar primal movements but slowed down and with generous rest times — about two minutes — in between.

A LIIT circuit could include squats, hip thrusters and lateral raises, a round of single-arm rows and deadlifts — all performed slowly, steadily and with a focus on form. You’ll break a sweat but you shouldn’t be panting.

Low-intensity exercise is best for reducing stress on the body, all the while you're in the fat-burning zone

There’s method in the restraint. Research by fitness brand Les Mills, published last week, finds that working for any more than 30-40 minutes at above 90 per cent of your maximum heart rate per week can be counterintuitive to your fitness.

“LITT is a hugely important part of your routine for fat-burning as part of a full training programme,” agrees Rob McCabe, a coach at Equinox Kensington. “Training in this way helps to reduce cortisol levels, plus when you’re in a less intense state, that’s when you’re in the fat-burning zone.” McCabe calls it “elevated recovery”.

Those inured to high-velocity sessions might find the change in intensity disorienting but that’s the point. “If you work out regularly, a LIIT session should be a breeze, but that’s the idea,” says McCabe. “It keeps the body accustomed to the workout programme and movements, without taking a week off completely. When you get into the next week at full force, you won’t have the soreness or stiffness — you’re prepped, primed and ready to go.”

Reducing stress on the body while remaining active is important for work-hard, live-hard Londoners. “It’s especially important if you have a stressful job or lifestyle,” agrees McCabe. “You need to take some time to reduce stress load on the body.” Moreover, it’s easy to incorporate LIIT into your life unthinkingly. “Just walking to work — a period of low intensity — and then sitting at a desk, a period of rest, is actually a LIIT exercise.” There’s no excuse.

LIIT classes are appearing on schedules. Equinox runs Core Conditioning, which strengthens and conditions the body with small movements targeting the core and lower back. Core Collective has stretch, a mobility and recovery class, and Blok’s Blokstretch class uses resistance bands and foam rollers to untangle knots while working out. Slow down to gain more.

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