Every type of workout has a host of shared physical and mental health benefits as well as some unique benefits specific to the particular mode of exercise or training style.
So, which is better, running or HIIT workouts? What are the benefits of HIIT vs running? Which is better for weight loss?
In this article, we will compare and contrast the primary differences between HIIT vs running and discuss the benefits of each to help you decide whether it is better to do HIIT or running for weight loss, fitness, performance, or whatever your health and fitness goals may be.
What Is HIIT and How Does HIIT Compare to Running?
Before we can have a meaningful discussion about the pros and cons of running vs HIIT and whether it is better to do HIIT vs running or vice versa, we need to cover the basics of what HIIT and running workouts entail.
HIIT
So, what is HIIT?
HIIT stands for high-intensity interval training.
HIIT isn’t a type of exercise per se but rather a style of workout that involves alternating between bursts of vigorous exercise and easy recovery periods.
The recovery periods allow you to push your body harder and elevate your heart rate to near-maximal levels during the intense intervals more than is possible during steady-state exercise.
The target heart rate range for most moderate-intensity steady-state cardio workouts, such as running, is 70-85% of your maximum heart rate. With HIIT, the goal should be to increase your heart rate to at least 85% of your maximum heart rate during the “on” intervals.1Weston, K. S., Wisløff, U., & Coombes, J. S. (2013). High-intensity interval training in patients with lifestyle-induced cardiometabolic disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 48(16), 1227–1234. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2013-092576
Because the recovery bouts between the high-intensity intervals are a short amount of time, your heart rate stays elevated throughout a HIIT workout, even though your pace and intensity will change.
This allows you to burn a lot of calories and improve both your anaerobic and aerobic fitness levels.
It’s important to wear a heart rate monitor during HIIT workouts because studies have found that people habitually underestimate their exertion level during moderate- and vigorous-intensity exercise.2Canning, K. L., Brown, R. E., Jamnik, V. K., Salmon, A., Ardern, C. I., & Kuk, J. L. (2014). Individuals Underestimate Moderate and Vigorous Intensity Physical Activity. PLoS ONE, 9(5), e97927. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0097927
If you are not getting your heart rate up to at least 85% of your age-predicted maximum heart rate, then you will not be capitalizing on the effectiveness of HIIT workouts.
Running
We all know what running is, but for the sake of the discussion surrounding running vs HIIT, we will make the distinction that when we are discussing running workouts, we are primarily talking about endurance-based, steady-state running vs interval workouts.
That is to say, steady-state cardio exercise in the form of running can certainly overlap with HIIT training because you can do running workouts that incorporate bouts of high-intensity running, such as hill repeats or sprint intervals followed by recovery jogs.
However, for the sake of comparing HIIT vs running benefits, we will mainly discuss regular long-distance running at a moderate-intensity steady pace.
Which Is Better for Improving Fitness: HIIT vs Running?
Although both running and HIIT can improve your aerobic fitness and aerobic capacity, If you are trying to compare which type of workout will get you fit faster, you will likely be best served to focus mostly on HIIT rather than running at a slower, steady pace.
For example, one study looked at the improvements in physiological markers of fitness in untrained individuals with just six sessions of HIIT over two weeks (three HIIT workouts per week) using an exercise bike.3Jacobs, R. A., Flück, D., Bonne, T. C., Bürgi, S., Christensen, P. M., Toigo, M., & Lundby, C. (2013). Improvements in exercise performance with high-intensity interval training coincide with an increase in skeletal muscle mitochondrial content and function. Journal of Applied Physiology, 115(6), 785–793. https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00445.2013
Results showed that the aerobic capacity of skeletal muscles increased due to a roughly 20% increase in mitochondria in type I (slow-twitch) muscle fibers.
These improvements allowed for greater respiratory capacity and oxygen extraction—and thus better aerobic endurance and exercise capacity—with just two weeks of HIIT workouts.
Running (and aerobic training) can absolutely improve endurance, but adaptations may take longer.4Holloszy, J. (1967). Biochemical Adaptations in Muscle EFFECTS OF EXERCISE ON MITOCHONDRIAL OXYGEN UPTAKE AND RESPIRATORY ENZYME ACTIVITY IN SKELETAL MUSCLE*. THE JOURNAL of BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY, 242(9), 2278–2282. https://www.jbc.org/article/S0021-9258(18)96046-1/pdf
Finally, studies have found that both aerobic exercise like running and HIIT can reduce cardiovascular disease risk, but HIIT may be even more beneficial for lowering your risk of heart disease and stroke because it involves high-intensity intervals.5Weston, K. S., Wisløff, U., & Coombes, J. S. (2013). High-intensity interval training in patients with lifestyle-induced cardiometabolic disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 48(16), 1227–1234. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2013-092576
Additionally, a review of 22 studies found that HIIT is equally effective as moderate-intensity continuous training like running at improving cardiovascular disease risk factors, such as high blood pressure, but in a more time-efficient way.6Su, L., Fu, J., Sun, S., Zhao, G., Cheng, W., Dou, C., & Quan, M. (2019). Effects of HIIT and MICT on cardiovascular risk factors in adults with overweight and/or obesity: A meta-analysis. PLOS ONE, 14(1), e0210644. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0210644 7Grace, F., Herbert, P., Elliott, A. D., Richards, J., Beaumont, A., & Sculthorpe, N. F. (2018). High intensity interval training (HIIT) improves resting blood pressure, metabolic (MET) capacity and heart rate reserve without compromising cardiac function in sedentary aging men. Experimental Gerontology, 109, 75–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exger.2017.05.010
Which Is Better For Your Specific Fitness Goals?
Ultimately, your primary fitness goals will have a major impact on whether it is better to focus on running or HIIT workouts.
Even within running itself, if you are trying to decide between steady-state distance runs or interval running workouts that use a HIIT-workout style format, there are pros and cons and different applications in which one type of workout may be better than the other.
This is where it is generally best to do both endurance training and interval training in your running routine so that you can give yourself the benefits of each type of training stimulus.
That said, here are some of the deciding factors for choosing HIIT vs running based on your goals:
Training for Longer Races
If you are training for a longer running race, such as a half marathon or marathon, the focus should be on long-distance endurance running vs HIIT.
This distinction becomes particularly relevant when you are considering the breadth of HIIT workouts.
In other words, you can do HIIT with any form of exercise, as it is a particular training format or style, not a type of exercise.
Doing a lot of HIIT indoor cycling workouts, for example, will help improve your overall fitness and may help you lose weight, but it will not necessarily translate well to helping you run a marathon without stopping in the way that running will.
Running long races, in particular, requires specificity of training; you have to run if your goal is to run well in a distance race.
This is also partly because running is a high-impact sport, and therefore marathon training involves slowly building strength and stability in the bones, joints, and muscles in your legs, which requires time spent running to do so.
Again, this does not mean you can’t or shouldn’t supplement with HIIT workouts.
Cross-training with HIIT workouts using different types of low-impact exercise can be a great way to enhance your aerobic and anaerobic fitness, strengthen different muscles, and improve your running.
Getting Into Fitness
For most beginners, it’s generally best to do HIIT vs running.
This may seem surprising because of the vigorous nature of HIIT vs running (which, theoretically, you could do at a low intensity by jogging very slowly).
Although lower-intensity intervals are probably smarter, safer, and more manageable than higher-intensity interval training, as is the case with HIIT, the nature of having “on“ intervals and rest periods is a good way to build up some fitness.
Running without stopping is very difficult for beginners or deconditioned individuals. Running is also a high-impact activity, so jumping into running every day will put too much impact stress on your musculoskeletal system.
You can do HIIT with a variety of types of high-intensity exercise such as swimming, elliptical machine some running, stair climbing, rowing, circuit training, etc., to prevent high-impact injuries as your body adjusts to exercising and you build up your cardiorespiratory fitness and muscular strength.
Weight Loss
If your goal is weight loss, it’s generally best to focus on HIIT vs running.
HIIT has been shown to be more efficient at burning calories, and the “afterburn,” also known as post-exercise oxygen consumption or excess post-oxygen consumption (EPOC), is higher after HIIT vs running or moderate-intensity continuous exercise.
This means that your metabolic rate increases for a longer period of time, and often more significantly, after HIIT vs running.
Additionally, HIIT workouts are especially beneficial for burning fat and losing weight and potentially boost your metabolic rate for up to 14 hours or more after your workout is over.8Viana, R. B., Naves, J. P. A., Coswig, V. S., de Lira, C. A. B., Steele, J., Fisher, J. P., & Gentil, P. (2019). Is interval training the magic bullet for fat loss? A systematic review and meta-analysis comparing moderate-intensity continuous training with high-intensity interval training (HIIT). British Journal of Sports Medicine, 53(10), bjsports-2018-099928. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2018-099928 9KNAB, A. M., SHANELY, R. A., CORBIN, K. D., JIN, F., SHA, W., & NIEMAN, D. C. (2011). A 45-Minute Vigorous Exercise Bout Increases Metabolic Rate for 14 Hours. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 43(9), 1643–1648. https://doi.org/10.1249/mss.0b013e3182118891
This means that it is generally easier to lose body fat and lose weight doing HIIT vs running or other moderate-intensity continuous exercises. Hence, research has found that HIIT exercise is a great way to improve body composition and lose weight.10Murawska-Cialowicz, E., Wolanski, P., Zuwala-Jagiello, J., Feito, Y., Petr, M., Kokstejn, J., Stastny, P., & Goliński, D. (2020). Effect of HIIT with Tabata Protocol on Serum Irisin, Physical Performance, and Body Composition in Men. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(10), 3589. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17103589
Particularly if your goal is to decrease belly fat (visceral fat), it may be more effective to focus on HIIT vs running.11Zhang, H., Tong, T. K., Qiu, W., Zhang, X., Zhou, S., Liu, Y., & He, Y. (2017). Comparable Effects of High-Intensity Interval Training and Prolonged Continuous Exercise Training on Abdominal Visceral Fat Reduction in Obese Young Women. Journal of Diabetes Research, 2017, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/5071740
Keep in mind that both HIIT and running can burn calories and help you reach a healthy body weight and composition.
Should I Do Running or High-Intensity Interval Training?
There is no single answer as to whether it is better to do HIIT or running because each type of exercise or workout style has its benefits, and not everyone will have the same fitness goals.
As a broad generalization, almost everyone can benefit from incorporating both high-intensity interval training and running into their workout routine.
If you’re interested in combining HIIT and running check out our guide to some of the best HIIT treadmill workouts:
Other FAQs
How Often Should I Do HIIT Compared To Traditional Running For Optimal Fitness?
There is no exact right answer as to how many workouts to do per week.
For those just starting out, three workouts a week may be the ideal amount. However, it is certainly possible to workout much more often than this as long as overtraining is avoided.
Is A 20-minute HIIT Workout Enough For The Day?
A 20-minute HIIT session including a 5-minute warm-up and cool-down can be effective if you have less time available, so long as you are training at the right high intensity.
However, greater fitness and health benefits will likely be reaped from longer high-intensity workouts.
In general, HIIT workouts are 20 to 45 minutes long.
Can HIIT Help Build Muscle Mass?
While HIIT may be effective in building some muscle mass, resistance training or strength training is the most effective way to build muscle.12Cristián Caparrós-Manosalva, Nicolás Garrido-Muñoz, Bastián Alvear-Constanzo, Sofía Sanzana-Laurié, Macarena Artigas-Arias, Alegría-Molina, A., Nicolás Vidal-Seguel, Espinoza-Araneda, J., Huard, N., Aline, J Sapunar, Salazar, L. A., & Gabriel Nasri Marzuca‐Nassr. (2023). Effects of high-intensity interval training on lean mass, strength, and power of the lower limbs in healthy old and young people. Frontiers in Physiology, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2023.1223069 13Krzysztofik, M., Wilk, M., Wojdała, G., & Gołaś, A. (2019). Maximizing Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review of Advanced Resistance Training Techniques and Methods. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(24), E4897. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16244897