The amount of exercise you need or want to do each week will depend on your fitness goals. But it makes sense to consider whether you can hit your weight loss goals with fewer workouts, especially if you're short on time.
To start, we need to explore how HIIT works. According to Amanda Place, personal trainer and founder of Sculptrition, "HIIT is an effective exercise for weight loss as you can burn lots of calories during the exercise itself while also increasing your resting metabolic rate. This means that the body will continue to burn calories after the workout has finished."
Place states that three sessions of HIIT training per week is enough to lose weight. Under her recommendation, the sessions should ideally be up to 30 minutes and consist of 10-20 second intervals for eight reps with just one minute's rest in between.
But Place also notes that individual needs may vary. "Your exercise plan needs to accommodate those preferences to be successful. Committing to three HIIT sessions per week is pointless if you don't like doing it. If you must force yourself to do it, there is a high probability that you will not stick with it and give up exercising altogether."
"The main rule is to begin with where you are," Place recommends. "Take note of your fitness level and your goals, then increase and improve slowly. There really is no quick fix, at least no quick fix that will give you lasting long-term results."