The world of exercise and fitness has seen several new trends, including the High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). In fact, this has been extremely popular for many years. It’s a great form of exercise when you’re short of time.
You can either do this exercise just by itself or while concluding a weight training session. What stands out about this workout is that it’s fast and gives results. It doesn’t matter that you have only 15 minutes. This could be the one for you—the fat blaster that you’ve been looking for.
How to do HIIT
When doing HIIT exercises, give it all you have for short pulses of time and follow it up with less intense recovery periods. This kind of workout increases the body’s demand for oxygen during the recovery phase.
To get the most out of HIIT, ensure that your fitness goal gives you a heart rate that exceeds 85% of your maximum. Hold it for about 90 seconds. Recover that you reach approximately 70% of your max heart rate before you start up again to reach 85%.
Equipment required for HIIT Workout
All you need are a pair of trainers, moderate-heavy dumbbells, and a heart rate monitor to do HIIT.
How to keep time:
Every exercise should be done at high intensity for not more than 30 seconds. Follow this up with a rest period of 30 seconds. Do two rounds of each exercise. Here’s all that you should do every day:
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High Knees
Stand straight and place your feet apart at a hip-width distance. Your palms should face the floor and be a little above your navel. Heave your right knee towards your right hand. Return this leg to the ground immediately. Now, do the same with the left knee and left hand. Repeat for two minutes.
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Curtsey Lunges
Stand straight and cross your thighs by putting your left leg behind you and then to the right. Now, bend both knees as in a curtsey pose. Ensure that your front knee is in line with your front leg’s ankle when you do this.
Return to your initial standing posture. Switch sides so that you complete one rep and continue till your two minutes are up.
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Vertical Mountain Climbers
Do the conventional plank with your shoulders over your hands and rest your entire weight on your toes. Now, bring your right knee forward so that it’s just below your chest. Keep your toes slightly off the ground.
Continue to change legs and pick up momentum till it seems like you’re running in one spot but a plank position. Keep going for two minutes.
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Lunges with Dumbbells
Your chest should be upright as you stand straight with dumbbells in each hand, placed by each side. Take one step forward using your right leg and lower your body while remaining erect and maintaining good balance.
As you lower your body, inhale. Don’t let your knee go forward past your toes as you lower your body. With barely your heel, push your body up and return to the starting position. Switch sides, repeating the exercise. Keep switching sides till your two minutes are over.
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Skaters
Start this exercise by doing a tiny squat. Now, do a sideways jump to the left and land on the ground on your left foot. Place your right leg behind your left ankle without it touching the floor. Now, make a change by jumping to the right using your right leg. With this, you complete one rep. Keep changing sides till you exhaust your two minutes.
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Butt Kicks
Stand with your legs apart at a hip-width distance. Keep your arms by your side, slightly bent. Flex your right knee and propel your right heel upwards in the direction of your glutes. Now, bring your right foot down again. As your right leg returns to its original position, flex your left knee and push it upwards in the direction of your glutes. Keep going for two minutes.
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Bicycles
Lie on your back on the floor and press it to the ground. Place your hands behind your head and draw your right knee close to your chest. Simultaneously, lift your shoulder blades off the ground and ensure your left elbow meets your right knee.
Change sides rapidly, while repeating the exercise, once on each side till you complete two minutes.
Elliptical exercises
Surely, you must have been wondering about elliptical exercises. Why weren’t they added to this list of exercises? Well, a good workout on an elliptical machine in itself takes about 20 minutes. So, you’d neither be doing justice to yourself nor to the machine by squeezing it in with the rest of these exercises.
To workout on an elliptical, you need to use up all the 15-20 minutes for exercise. Perhaps it would be a good idea to alternate between the exercises mentioned above and the elliptical machine.
This will give you the flexibility and toning of muscles of the exercises mentioned here and the benefits of a cardio workout from the machine. Can you imagine the slim waist, the strong heart, and the longevity you’re soon going to experience from both of these?
If these are your exercise goals, go for both of them.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, if you enjoy the power and pace of these exercises, don’t stop yourself from working out every day. Believe in yourself and the power of exercise, and go for it full throttle.
Emily believes that people should always live their lives to the fullest every day. She loves her dog JiJi. Emily has graduated from the University of Michigan and is a passionate relationship blogger who is looking forward to her career as a relationship and dating coach. She is an avid book reader with a special liking for romance, horror, and sci-fi genre.