If you’re just getting back to the gym after an extended time away or decided to make a commitment to regular exercise for the first time, a McMaster University study published in the journal PLOS ONE suggests choosing High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) over moderate intensity steady-state effort.

Researchers had young inactive subjects take on an exercise program consisting of HIIT or moderate intensity steady state effort. The enjoyment for both groups was about the same when the programs started. After subjects gained strength and increased their level of fitness, the enjoyment of HIIT workouts increased while the experience of subjects doing the lower intensity routine ranged from unchanged to less enjoyable.