By performing quick bursts of high-intensity movements with all-out effort, followed by short periods of rest, you can torch calories and sculpt lean muscles in a relatively short amount of time. One of the big benefits of HIIT is the ability to maximise caloric output during a shorter workout.
It improves heart health and creates more of a post-exercise oxygen consumption or after burn effect, helping to burn more calories than moderate intensity exercise. HIIT workouts are still some of the most popular for one simple reason: they work!
And they’re just as effective as longer workouts or steady-state cardio. Depending on an individual’s fitness level these workouts have all shown to build strength, increase muscle mass and burn fat, too.
Try this 20-minute HIIT workout for a whole series of benefits and a serious calorie burn. It doesn’t require any equipment, so it can be done anywhere, by pretty much anyone!
Just a few things to keep in mind before you get going on this workout. Make sure to warm up and cool down. During your rest period, focus on breathing and shaking out your body to release the tension you build up during the exercise part.
Warm Up
- 3 minutes of dynamic stretching and/or cardio drills
Interval 1
Perform all four moves below for 30 seconds. Repeat the circuit for three rounds total, then rest for 60 to 90 seconds before the second interval.
Move 1: Reverse Lunge to Balance (Right Side)
How to:
- Step your right foot back, bend knees and lower into a lunge, keeping left knee stacked over left ankle, right hip stacked over right knee.
- Push through feet to stand back up and drive right knee toward chest, thigh parallel to the floor, foot flexed, opposite arm lifting at your side.
- Lower back down to reverse lunge.
Move 2: Jumping Jacks
How to:
- Jump your legs wide, clapping your hands to meet overhead.
- Jump your feet back together and bring your hands to your sides.
Move 3: Reverse Lunge to Balance (Left Side)
How to:
- Same as above, but step back with your left foot.
Move 4: Jumping Jacks
Interval 2
Perform a Tabata (20 seconds of work, followed by 10 seconds of rest) for both exercises. Repeat for a total of eight rounds, then rest for 60 to 80 seconds before the third interval.
Move 1: Body-Weight Plank Row
How to:
- Start in a high plank, hands under shoulders, core braced, legs extended behind you, balancing on balls of feet, body in a straight line from head to toes.
- Squeezing shoulder blades together, bend left elbow and lift left hand to chest.
- Lower hand back to floor and repeat with the right hand.
Move 2: Knee Tuck Crunch
How to:
- Sit on the floor.
- Lie back until head, shoulder blades and upper back are just slightly off the ground, legs extended out in front of you and slightly lifted off the ground a couple inches, arm extended toward toes.
- Bracing your core, sit up, bringing knees fully into chest, wrapping hands over them.
- Slowly lower back down and repeat.
Interval 3
Perform each exercise for 40 seconds, followed by 20 seconds of rest. Repeat for two rounds total.
Move 1: T Push-Up
How to:
- Start in a high plank, hands under shoulders, core braced, legs extended behind you, balancing on balls of feet, body in a straight line from head to toes.
- Keeping your body in straight line, elbows close to sides, brace through core and bend elbows to lower chest towards floor.
- Push back up.
- Lift left arm off the ground and stretch toward ceiling as you open your body to the left side.
- Come back to plank.
- Repeat on the right side.
Move 2: Fast Body-Weight Squat
How to:
- Stand with feet a little wider than hip width apart, toes pointed slightly outward.
- Pushing knees outward, bend knees to sit down and back into a squat, making sure that knees don’t track past ankles, heels stay flat on the floor.
- Push through heels to stand back up.
Move 3: Superman
How to:
- Lie flat on the floor on your stomach, arms extended out in front of you, legs stretched out behind you, forehead on the ground.
- Bracing through core, lift legs, arms, and chest slightly off the floor.
- Hold for 40 seconds.
Cool Down
- 5 minutes of stretching
