What Cardio Is Best: HIIT MISS or LISS?
You always hear people mention the different cardio workouts they do and why they think it’s the best type of cardio. The short answer to this long-debated topic is… they are all the best! The right one for you simply depends on what your goals are and where you are in your journey. Let’s compare the most used cardio options to find what works best for you.
Cardio Types & What Each Cardio Does
The three main types of cardio are HIIT MISS & LISS and as you can see in the charts below the calorie burn is quite different as time goes by.
HIIT - High Intensity Interval Training
MISS - Moderate Intensity Steady State
LISS - Low Intensity Steady State
LISS cardio is great for recovery, stress relief, improving cardiovascular health and many other health conditions. When doing LISS, your maximum heart rate stays at about 50-65% for around 30+ minutes. This type of cardio relies more on aerobic energy production which uses more fat as a fuel during the workout but also burns fewer calories per minute.
LISS is great for all athletes who need recovery days and is especially useful for beginners who want to work up to MISS or HIIT cardio. Examples of low-intensity cardio would be going for a long slower paced walk, flow yoga, easy Zumba, or aqua fitness.
MISS cardio burns fat similar to LISS but also burns more calories because the pace is faster than LISS and it is for a longer period of time than HIIT cardio. This kind of workout is great for building endurance and losing weight faster. Your heart rate during MISS should be about 65-80% of max. You can start with 20-30 min and build up to 60 minutes.
A good way to practice MISS cardio is going for a jog, biking, some forms of circuit training, and sports like tennis or hiking. MISS cardio can be easy to confuse with LISS or with HIIT so be sure to monitor your heart rate to be sure you’re in the right heart rate zones.
Finally, HIIT cardio relies more on the anaerobic system for energy production than LISS and MISS. Because HIIT workouts are so intense, your body can't keep up with the process of combining oxygen and fat for energy so instead uses more carbs as a fuel source. The other thing about HITT is it triggers a metabolic response that burns up more calories and fat post workout to help your body recover.
This type of cardio is harder on your body so it can not be sustained for longer than 20-30 minutes. It can also trigger cortisol and stress which is the opposite of what LISS is known for doing. For high intensity cardio, your heart rate should be at around 80-95% of max for a majority of your workout. Examples of HIIT workouts are intense sprints, burpees, jump rope drills, intense rowing machine intervals, and kettlebell swings.
Ultimately ALL 3 Cardio Types Are Great But…
So ultimately the way to win and have a productive cardio routine is to choose the right cardio for your current goals and fitness journey. For many that means mixing it up equally between the 3 forms of cardio. For others it means relying more on the type of cardio that will address your current goals and later on mixing in other cardio types for variety or for evolving goals. Using all forms of cardio is really the best way to make your workouts more sustainable because you get the best results by training all your energy systems. You also avoid boredom, plateaus and injuries.
