What is LISS?

From time to time, you may receive the nudge, ‘Now would be a good time for a LISS walk.’ But what does it mean?

LISS stands for Low-Intensity Steady-State. It refers to any exercise that’s low in intensity and which you can sustain for a reasonable length of time: a walk is ideal, but it can also mean just moving around, pottering, gardening - anything gently active.

Let’s look more closely at the two key aspects of LISS.

Low-Intensity refers to the type of movement. No sprinting or jumping and getting hot and bothered. It means moving around but keeping your heart rate at less than 130 beats per minute (bpm). As you’re wearing a Limbo heart rate monitor you can check on your phone whether you are working at the right level. Another good indicator is that you can continue your activity and still hold a conversation comfortably.

Steady-State simply means that once you’ve started moving, just keep going at that pace. How long you do it is up to you but aim for at least 20 minutes.

Feel like you want to go all out? If your goal is weight loss, then try to hold back. LISS has been shown to be better at reducing total body fat than its energetic cousin, HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training).