Q: What is better for losing body fat faster and in a right way?Doing low intensity cardio for longer periods or some type of hiit?I have read many articles about this and almost noone agrees with someone else on this.Many state that the low intensity is better cause u can breath and through air fat is burned more easily.On the other hand hiit burns less calories at the time it is done but it burns more calories afterwards(is it anaerobic?)and prevents muscles loses but with proper nutrition of course.Other claim u should use a combination of both for better results or do what it suits ur time better.I ve heard so many things iam confused.Also how many times a week should u do hiit?(i ve heard 3.What happens if u do more?)Whats ur opinion on this?Thanks

A: Yes, people get very worked up about who has the exact perfect program :) My recommendation would be some sort of mix of moderate-to-brisk cardio and HIIT. HIIT is especially good in preserving muscle if you don't do any sort of weight training. If you do weight-train already then feel free to mix up HIIT and cardio as you like.

Slow cardio is appropriate in a lot of situations (elderly, rehabbing from injuries, want to relax while exercising), but in general if you are capable of more intense cardio, then do that. More intense cardio will develop your cardiovascular system better and train your muscles to fatigue less (allowing longer and/or more intense workouts).

On the other extreme, I don't recommend overdoing all-out cardio (such as HIIT) because it will lead to overtraining and injuries, especially if you're weight training and/or losing weight at the same time. So keep HIIT under control and don't go crazy during your non-HIIT cardio either.

How much HIIT to do? 2-3 sessions per week, 10-15 minutes per session (or less if you're just starting out) would be my recommendation. 10-15 minutes works out to 10-15 intense intervals alternated with 10-15 relaxed intervals (each interval is 30 seconds). You can do more if you don't do any weights (or if weight workouts are not very intense).