The most UNDERRATED exercise you should be doing
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The most underrated exercise you should be doing
Have you heard of low-intensity steady-state cardio, or LISS? It might not be as quick or as flashy as HIIT workouts or as hectic as a Crossfit session, but it still has plenty to offer. If you’re wondering why you should incorporate LISS into your workouts and how to get started, let’s take a closer look.
What is low-intensity steady-state cardio (LISS)?
LISS is a form of cardio that involves you going at a low-intensity pace for a set amount of time. Your pace is steady, meaning you don’t change it at all (for example, you don’t walk and then switch to a jog). Usually, LISS will have you at a heart rate of around 50-60% of your max heart rate.
LISS vs HIIT
Most people think that HIIT is the holy grail of cardio. HIIT is “high intensity interval training”. While HIIT does have a lot of benefits, it also has some downsides. For example, HIIT involves your heart rate reaching 80-95% of your maximum heart rate, which might not be ideal for beginners or those returning from illness and injury, or those who are suffering from a hormonal condition.
LISS is less intense, which means it can take longer to reap the same level of fitness benefits. But it’s also easier and less stressful on the body, which can be a good thing for many people.
My approach when working with clients is to try and incorporate both forms of exercise if that suits my clients. If HIIT isn’t a fit for you for any reason, for example, if you have PCOS, LISS could be a good middle ground between intense exercise and nothing at all!
Types of LISS cardio
What types of exercise can you incorporate to get your LISS in? There are plenty of options you can choose from, including:
Walking at a moderate pace (yes, this includes walking the dog!)
Jogging (if you’re a regular runner)
Hiking
Swimming
Cycling
Cardio equipment at the gym including elliptical, rower or treadmill (whatever you can do at a steady, moderate pace)
Lower intensity classes such as yoga and Pilates
The benefits of LISS
LISS might seem simple, but that’s exactly why it offers so many benefits to your health. Let’s take a look at a few key reasons why you want to incorporate it as part of your regular movement.
It’s great for your mental and physical health
Some of the known benefits of low-intensity exercise include:
Improved flexibility, balance and lower limb muscle strength
Reduced risk of chronic disease including type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease
Increased insulin sensitivity (lowering the risk of insulin resistance)
Retention of lean body mass (muscle)
If you’re looking to incorporate exercise to improve your wellbeing or reduce your risk of future health concerns, LISS is a great pillar to add to your plan.
It’s perfect for beginners
Haven’t exercised in years? Get overwhelmed whenever you walk into a gym? You don’t need to be a gym junkie or cardio bunny to do LISS exercise. If you can put one foot in front of the other, ride a bike, swim or walk along a hiking track, you can do LISS.
It’s also great if you’ve recently injured yourself or been sick. Instead of jumping back to where you were beforehand, LISS is a great way to test the waters and make sure you’re ready to return to exercise.
It’s easily accessible and free
This is a big one if you’ve experienced significant lockdowns recently! Many cities shut down gyms for weeks or even months at a time, which meant a lot of people stopped exercising regularly.
Although some machines at the gym can be used for LISS, you don’t need anything but a pair of runners to get started. There’s no need to sign up for a gym membership or buy equipment to use at home if you’re on a budget.
As long as you have somewhere safe (and ideally in nature) nearby to move your body, you can reap the benefits.
It fits in with other more intense training styles
What if your fitness level is moderate or high? You can still benefit from adding some LISS into your days. In fact, it makes for an ideal recovery session or ‘active recovery day’ movement.
For example, on my non-training days, I still walk my dogs. This allows me to move my body and keep the blood flowing to the muscles, which helps to speed up recovery and muscle growth.
It’s less stressful on the body
Intense exercise is great for some people, but not for everybody. In fact, if you’re someone with a chronic condition (think autoimmune disease, PCOS, chronic fatigue or anything that is triggered by stress), intense exercise is not a great idea.
Intense exercise can trigger the production of stress hormones and exacerbate symptoms for many chronic conditions. But of course, you still want to reap the benefits of exercise. The ideal solution is starting with LISS, and slowly building up your fitness to tolerate more intense forms of movement.
It’s easy to be consistent with
The biggest hurdle a lot of people face when starting a workout regime is consistency. You might go into a health kick with the intention of doing 5 HIIT classes a week – and then fall off as soon as you injure yourself or something comes up.
But because LISS is easy to do and can even be done with friends, many find it easier to stick with. You know that weekend ritual of grabbing a coffee and going for a walk along the bike track with a friend? That counts as LISS!
Because it doesn’t feel like exercise, you’re less likely to think of it as a chore. And that means that you’re more likely to stick to it and reap the health benefits long-term.
The biggest downside of LISS
When it comes to LISS, the one issue is that it does take more time – usually 30-60 minutes. So if you’re tight on time, you may want to stick to weekend LISS and opt for quicker workouts on work days.
Of course, you can do shorter bouts of low-intensity exercise as well – it just won’t fall under the umbrella of LISS and offer the same level of benefit.
Are you looking to improve your fitness and hit some health goals?
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Hey there, I’m Rachel!
NUTRITIONIST, PERSONAL TRAINER, WELLNESS COACH
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