Your mornings are busy, you hardly have time to work out for an hour, all you can do is grab a quick breakfast and make a dash for work! Well, if you are nodding your head in consent, then high-intensity interval training or HIIT is tailor made for you.Why
Why, you may ask? Well, it is simple really; you get the benefits of an effective workout within a space of fifteen to twenty minutes. For someone who is always starved for time, or for someone who detests long duration workouts, you should go for HIIT.
It is fast, it is effective, and it is fun. So what’s not to like about it? The results are also amazing as interval training help you to lose weight. If you have been exercising for long hours and still not getting the results you want, you need to change your exercise pattern and introduce yourself to the fast and exciting HIIT workouts.
Benefits of HIIT for Weight Loss
If you are you still harboring any doubts about its effectiveness, you will be amazed to know that there are other benefits of this workout which you simply cannot ignore. Check out the following and know the reasons why you absolutely must include HIIT in your workout regime.
High-intensity interval training is a workout which describes any workout that changes from intense bursts of fast-paced activity and a stipulated time of comparatively less-intense activity or minutes of complete rest, before jumping into the next set of workouts.
A fine example of a good starter workout will be running at a very fast pace according to your stamina for 1 minute and then slow down to a walk for 2 minutes. Repeating that 3-minute interval five times for 15-minute workout will help you shape your body like never before.
It is a compilation of cardio exercises to lose belly fat and also get rid of the fat accumulated in other parts of the body. It sounds way too simple to move or convince a purist who has followed the traditional way of exercising for ages, but it is a science backed method, so read and find out whether it suits you!
- A workout fashioned for super busy people- HIIT is the best workout for a super busy schedule. If you are time-strapped and have been unable to squeeze a workout in the morning, you can fit in a workout even during your lunch break or if you have an invitation knocking at your door and you need to get into shape, and fast at that, then HIIT can come in pretty useful.
Research has shown that if you can pack in as little as a 15 min workout, read interval training, then you can get more results than your hour long jog on the treadmill. It improves your aerobic capacity to the maximum.
If you find time to do interval training at least three times a week, you will get results you never dreamed possible. Even after you have finished your interval training, your body gets onto a fat burning overdrive and keeps burning fat and calories for 24 hours after an HIIT workout.
- It is heart-healthy workout- Interval training isn’t the easiest workout, as it tests your endurance and helps you reach the anaerobic zone. The anaerobic zone is the zone where you push to the extreme and become completely breathless, your heart hammering hard.
That’s not a very comfortable place to be in, and most people who exercise dread this, but it does fetch fast results and increases your endurance power and stamina several notches higher than would be otherwise possible.
- A no – equipment workout- Are you someone who is not exercising because you can’t join a gym? Well, don’t hide behind excuses, as you can do interval training at your home and what’s more, you can do the exercises without any equipment. Exercises like running, jogging, biking, rowing, using a jump rope are all wonderful options for HIIT, but the best part is that you can have an effective interval workout without any equipment.
High knees, plank jacks, mountain climbers’ fast feet or a plyometric workout like jumping lunges gets your heart rate up really fast. Also, if you do indeed use dumbbells, you might end up slowing down your workout and instead of pushing your heart rate up you tend to focus on your biceps more.
- Helps you lose fat, not muscles- If you are on a mission to lose fat and not muscles, then you must try interval training weight loss routines. If you are on a diet, you will know that it is very difficult to hold on to muscle mass and at the end of it, you end up losing both fat and muscle mass.
Slow cardio for a long duration aides muscle loss, whereas studies prove that both weight training and HIIT workouts help you lose fat but hold on to muscles, now isn’t that we all want? It is absolutely the best situation to be in.
- Stimulates Human Growth Hormone- In addition to increased fat burning and better preservation of muscles, HIIT activates the production of your human growth hormone (HGH) by as much as a whopping 450 percent even after the 24 hours you round off your workout. HGH has a number of benefits as it accelerates calorific burn and also stalls the aging process, making you feel young both inside and outside.
- Intense workout- HIIT is intense there is no doubt about it. You will be left huffing and puffing. You won’t be bored, you will be gasping for air and you will give it your all for those few minutes, you will be working out for. Short and intense; that’s how you would describe an HIIT workout.
Start with the Workouts
The best part of HIIT workouts is that you can do it anywhere; you don’t particularly need any equipment, just a mat, and a timer to keep a track of the time and you are pretty much good to go.
The intensity of the workouts can leave you breathless and the harder you go, the better the results. So have a go at the following workouts and see whether this cardio workout at home works for you.
Interval training #1
You’ll be doing 8 rounds, of 2 minutes each, for a total of 16 minutes. Each one of the 8 rounds include a 20 second of exercise and a ten-second break.
- Push-ups
- Squats
- Frog leaps
- Star Crunches
- That’s a total of 2 minutes. You need to repeat this round another 7 times, to complete your 16-minutes of exercise.
Interval Training #2
Use an interval timer to keep it 50 seconds on and 10 seconds off. This 12-minute interval training routine gives you the best option for an effective fat burning session.
- High knees
- Sumo squats
- Mountain climbers
- V-ups
- Squat jumps
- One-legged push-ups
- (Repeat twice through)
Interval training no #3
Start with warm up with some jumping jacks, bodyweight squats, butt kicks, and high knees for 3 to 5 minutes. Repeat each exercise for 12 times. Start increasing the number of repetitions to 20 mins.
- Explosive sumo squat
- Tap up your shoulder
- Power thrust
- Plank plié
- Laterals
- Single- Arm Iso Hold
- Tuck Jump
Get your Form Right
An HIIT workout is fast and furious; you sweat a lot and hardly have time to catch your breath. But some people sacrifice form in order to reach that heart-racing intensity. That is where you can go wrong. A bad form cannot give you the results you want. So know more about these exercises and how you can get your form right.
- Explosive Sumo Squats- Stand with feet wider than shoulder-width apart, toes turned outwards. Keep your torso straight and push knees out over toes to get down into a squat position. Jump up with force pointing through toes. Land softly and repeat the exercise. This is a great exercise to include in your interval training weight loss regime.
- Power Thrust- Start at the right at the top of the push-up position. Take 3 seconds to lower your chest to floor, and then push back up forcefully. At the top position of the move, tap gently the left shoulder with right fingertips. Return hand to the floor. Repeat the move, this time, tapping right shoulder with left fingertips. That’s 1 rep.
- Plank Plié’- Lower your body down and place hands on the floor below shoulders. Jump feet back to land in the top of a push-up position. Jump feet back to start and jump up with force, raising fingertips to the sky. Land softly and repeat.
- Laterals- Begin in a low plank position with elbows under shoulders and toes tucked. Raise hips and drive right knee forward in an attempt to reach the knees. Return hips and foot to plank position. Repeat with the other knee. That’s completing one rep.
- Single arm iso-hold- Lower into a half way squat and jump up with force and over to your right. Land softly and repeat to the left. That’s 1 rep.
- Truck jumps- Stand with heels shoulder-width apart, toes turned out slightly outwards, arms on top of one another in front of the chest. Squeeze hips back to lower into a squat. Go as low as you can but do not lose the natural curve of your lower back. Jump up as high as you can, tucking the knees to the chest. Land softly and repeat.
- High knees- Bring your left knee toward your chest and try to keep it as high as possible, then immediately bring it to the ground and replace it with your right knee. Try and keep your body as tight as possible and use your arms to pump and move you as fast as you can, almost like you were sprinting. Keep it intense and fast.
- Frog Leaps- For the frog jump exercise, stand straight with feet shoulder width apart. Move into a squat, as low as possible and then leap forward. You should jump at least one foot forward. You have to continue and do as many as you can.
- Star Crunches- This is an awesome exercise which targets your entire ab area! Start lying on your back with a medicine ball in hands; you can do the exercise without a medicine ball too. Keep your legs straight up and feet to the ceiling.
Try and lift your upper body up off the ground and crunch into your legs as you widen your legs into a wide star and bring the medicine ball between your legs. Release back and get back to starting position.
- Mountain Climbers- You start by getting into the plank position and, without letting your foot touch the ground, bring your knee up to your chest. Return it and repeat with the other knee. Do this over and over again as fast as you can in bursts of about 30 seconds or more. Don’t keep your hips high; rather keep them low like you do for a plank.
- V-Ups- Lie down on your back on a mat and then extend your arms behind your head. The back of your hands should touch the floor while your palms face the ceiling. Keep your feet together and your toes pointed toward the ceiling. To start the exercise, keep your legs firm and straight and lift them up, and at the same time raise your upper body off of the floor and reach for your toes with your hands.
Tighten your abdominal muscles as you reach for your toes, and then slowly lower yourself back down to the starting position to complete the first repetition.
- Squat Jumps- Start with your feet a bit wider than shoulder-width apart. Put your hands behind your head with your fingers interlocked. The direction of your jump will be high and vertical. Start by standing tall, then coming down into a squatting position with your thighs slightly higher than your knees. Quickly explode into the air for maximum height.
In mid-air, your body should be as straight as a stick, so keep your form correct. Land in the squat position and pause for a moment.
So if you are thinking of doing a cardio workout at home, interval training is the way to go. These exercises challenge you, help you achieve your dream body and amp your fitness in a very short time. So throw boring workouts out of the window and make them interesting, fun and sweaty by including HIIT and get prepared to ramp up your fitness levels, because interval training is here to stay and it is super effective!