How Many Days A Week Do You Need To Do HIIT Workouts To Lose Weight?

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a workout that involves alternating between short intervals of high-intensity exercise and rest periods. According to Women's Health Magazine, this is a great way to build muscle, burn fat, and potentially lose weight. Since HIIT is such a broad category, it can be applied to most cardio exercises, including running, cycling, and swimming. However, if you're just starting out, it's better to pick an exercise that is already familiar to you and adapt it from a steady-state cardio workout to a HIIT workout.

For example, if you're used to running on the treadmill at an even pace for 30 to 60 minutes at a time, you can easily incorporate HIIT into your workout by alternating between 30-second sprints and 30 seconds of rest. Regardless of your exact workout routine, however, the goal of HIIT is to work out intensely enough to elevate your heart rate. "You have to really push to your max during the intense intervals," Adam Rosante, a certified personal trainer and author of "The 30-Second Body," told Women's Health Magazine. "Half-hearted efforts won't produce the same results as giving it your all."

Since HIIT workouts can help you burn fat at a faster rate, there's no need to do them daily (via Greatist). In fact, doing so could be taxing on your body. That's why experts recommend taking one to two days of rest in between workouts to allow your body to have time to heal and recover before your next workout session. As a result, you only have to do HIIT workouts two to three times a week to lose weight. 

"The most efficient way to get results is to do some form of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) for a total-body workout and to focus on strength training certain body parts (upper body, lower body, core) on different days of the week," ACE-certified fitness trainer John Kersbergen told PopSugar. "The whole workout including warmup doesn't need to be more than 45 minutes to be effective."