Have you ever heard the term high intensity interval training before and wondered what it was? Or maybe you perform high intensity interval workouts but want some fresh ideas. If either of these sounds like you, you have come to the right place.
Why Should You Even Do Cardio?
I personally hate doing cardio about 90% of the time. Once and a while I will get a wild hair about wanting to go for a run. However, cardiovascular exercise is definitely necessary to keep your body running at its highest level. Not only does it help keep your heart and lungs strong, but it also strengthens your bones and definitely speeds up fat loss. There is no doubt that cardio also helps relieve stress and anxiety. Where I personally don’t enjoy most cardio exercises, I tend to use cardio mainly as a tool for fat loss. I also like to get my cardio done with quickly. Enter high intensity interval training.
Why High Intensity Interval Training?
High intensity interval training, or HIIT, is hands down my favorite way to do cardio because I can kill myself in roughly 10-15 minutes and I am done. HIIT cardio also allows you to continue burning calories even after your workout is over, just like weight lifting. I also enjoy HIIT cardio because I love the intensity of the workout. I finish a session feeling like I gave it my all. Sometimes my all isn’t necessarily my best, but I can always give it my all. HIIT cardio also allows you to maintain, even grow, your muscle mass while dropping body fat. Win win anyone? Another awesome aspect of HIIT cardio is that it allows you to do a range of movements with minimal equipment. I can get a 15 minute workout done in my bedroom, at the beach, or when I am traveling. So how do you do HIIT?
How Do You Perform HIIT?
One of the best parts about HIIT cardio is that you can customize it to your fitness level, how you feel that day, and use a variety of exercises. A typical HIIT workout consists of 10-15 rounds of intervals. I typically use 15 sec work/45 sec rest, 30 sec work/30 sec rest, or a 45 sec work/15 sec rest ratio. However, you could also use a pyramid style interval. I use the gym boss app on my phone, which is free, to keep track of my intervals. So what type of exercises do you do for a HIIT workout?
What Exercises are Best?
You can literally pick any exercises and equipment you want to do a HIIT workout. Treadmill, elliptical, bike, speed ladder, kettlebell, bodyweight, and so much more can be used to do a HIIT workout. Here is a list of my favorite exercises to do.
- Kettlebell Swings
- Burpees
- Jumping Jacks
- Sprints
- Jump Lunges
- Box Jumps
- Squat Jumps
- Dumbbell Snatch
- Dumbbell Step Ups
- Mountain Climbers
- Battle Ropes
- Jump Rope
- Long Jumps
- Tuck Jumps
- Agility Drills
This is by no means a comprehensive list. These are my go to exercises for HIIT workouts because I never get bored. Sometimes I will switch it up and do a different exercise for each interval. One of the most special parts about HIIT is how easily it can be customized! So how to I put all of these together into a workout?
Example Workout 1
Jog/Sprint for 15 seconds, rest for 45 seconds, repeat for a total of 10 rounds.
Example Workout 2
Work for 30 seconds, rest for 30 seconds. Do each exercise only once.
- Sprint
- Jump Rope
- Burpees
- Tuck Jumps
- Dumbbell Snatch
- Step Ups
- Jumping Jacks
- Jump Lunges
- Mountain Climbers
- Box Jumps
- Kettlebell Swings
- Sprint
Example Workout 3
15 seconds jump rope
15 seconds rest
30 seconds jump rope
30 seconds rest
45 seconds jump rope
45 seconds rest
60 seconds jump rope
60 seconds rest
45 seconds jump rope
45 seconds rest
30 seconds jump rope
30 seconds rest
15 seconds jump rope
15 seconds rest
Whew! That was definitely an article full of sweat! Do you perform HIIT? What are some of your favorite exercises? Drop them in the comments so that I can check them out!
