Long workouts are for the birds. If you don't have to spend two hours in the gym, why would you? HIIT workouts are a good way to break out of a mental or physical rut in training. No matter your gym goal, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) will give you an explosive heart rate and a challenging workout.
When planning your HIIT workouts, start by setting a specific goal, and then plan the rest of the workout around that goal. This means that you can include all of your favorite — or most-dreaded — exercises in your HIIT workout, depending on what your goals are, whether you’re after more strength, better body composition, or tightened conditioning.
What Are HIIT Workouts?
HIIT workouts are made up of short bursts of intense exercise followed by brief, structured rest periods. The goal is to get your heart rate up as high as possible, similar to a sprint interval, with a set amount of time to rest in between each one.
The recommended rest periods should take into account the energy systems that power lifting, so that you can work hard without getting tired too quickly. Based on how you set up your exercises and rest periods, your HIIT workouts will usually only last 10-20 minutes.
Best HIIT Workout For Strength
What aspects of training have the greatest impact on force production? The force production continuum is the spectrum of human strength and power, with strength at the lower end and power at the upper end. Hitting the gym hard with a HIIT workout but struggling to mix in some absolute strength exercises? Don't worry, power exercises are definitely doable and will help improve your force production rate.
The Workout
A HIIT workout that is designed properly should feel like you are sprinting, with high intensity effort followed by a short rest period. If you want to get stronger, you should vary the exercise you're doing, such as a squat. From there, you can do a series of progressively more explosive exercises to help keep your heart rate high and challenge your speed of force production.
Do this circuit five times, resting for 2-3 minutes between rounds.
- Goblet Squat: 1×6
- Front-Rack Kettlebell Thruster: 1×8
- Jump Squat: 1×5
Note: Choose your loads according to your repetition count. A squat with a heavy goblet followed by moderate Kettlebell Thruster and bodyweight jump squat.
Best HIIT Workout For Muscle Growth
To grow muscles, you need to do more repetitions with less rest in between sets. The current need for HIIT formats provides an opportunity to integrate a muscle-building workout. A good way to achieve this would be to select exercises that work different muscle groups and start with big movements, then progress to smaller movements as you get tired.
The Workout
Doing a HIIT workout that combines leg and shoulder exercises is a good way to keep the exercises (and your heart rate) going without stopping. Do the leg exercises first, so that you'll be well-rested for the other exercises. After that, work on your shoulders with dumbbell exercises that transition easily and hit them from all angles.
Do each circuit four times, with a one minute rest in between.
- Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift: 1×10
- Dumbbell Walking Lunge: 1×12 per leg
- Dumbbell Glute Bridge: 1×15
- Dumbbell Z-Press: 1×12
- Dumbbell Lateral Raise: 1×15
- Dumbbell Upright Row: 1×15
Before starting the workout, arrange the dumbbells so that they are the appropriate weight for both leg and shoulder exercises.
Best HIIT Workout For Endurance
There is no other experience quite like high intensity interval training. This means that you will be working out at a higher intensity for a longer period of time with less rest in between sets. Working out with little rest in between will train your body to recover faster, both while you're working out and after you're done.
The Workout
Suitable exercises for an endurance HIIT workout would be those that work the whole body and can be carried out with higher repetitions, combined with shorter periods of rest. Spike exercises are those that elevate the heart rate and keep it high during the entirety of the workout.
Do this circuit five times, with a 30-45 second rest in between each round.
- Burpee: 1×10
- Rack Position Kettlebell Reverse Lunge: 1×12 per leg
- Mountain Climber: 1×20 strides
- Push-Ups: 1×15
- Kettlebell Swing: 1×15
The amount of weight you lift during each exercise should be based on your current cardiovascular fitness level.
Best HIIT Workout For Conditioning
A well-designed workout will help you achieve both HIIT and conditioning goals, but a poorly designed workout can overload your energy systems, leading to fatigue. Exercising at the right time with special exercises can help improve your condition by not allowing your energy system to fully recover before the next challenge.
The Workout
A prowler push is a great workout because it uses a lot of different muscle groups and gets your heart rate up. This one is not for the faint of heart. You can make each of these exercises more or less challenging, depending on what you need. Breathe deep and try to keep your lunch down.
Do this circuit five times, resting two minutes between each round.
- Medicine Ball Slam: 1×10
- Prowler Push: 1×30 strides
- Kettlebell Reverse Lunge: 1×10 per leg
- Prowler Push: 1×30 strides
- Medicine Ball Slam: 1×10
Best HIIT Workout For Fat Loss
body composition can be improved by reducing body fat and increasing lean body mass at the same time. When incorporating HIIT training into a body composition goal, it is important to focus on exercises that will burn a lot of calories. The more muscles involved, the better.
The Workout
HIIT workouts are a great way to get in shape, and using dumbbells or kettlebells is an easy way to make your HIIT workout flow. Being able to sustain a high pace is key to getting your heart rate up and making your workout more time effective. A few well-chosen compound exercises in the correct order can help you stay active while taxing your entire body.
Do this circuit 5 times with 1-2 minutes of rest in between each round.
- Double Kettlebell Clean: 1×5
- Double Kettlebell Front Squat: 1×10
- Kettlebell Shoulder Press: 1×10
- Kettlebell Romanian Deadlift: 1×10
- Double Kettlebell Swing: 1×15
Benefits Of HIIT Workouts
High-intensity interval training workouts are extremely time efficient. In addition to being good for your heart, jumping jacks are also an excellent way to get your cardiovascular system going. You can use a variety of exercises and tools to create HIIT workouts that cater to different training goals.
Time Efficiency
HIIT workouts are very fast-paced because of the predetermined exercises, sets, and repetitions. The average time for this activity is only 10-20 minutes.
Although it may not be a lot of time, dedicating yourself to a workout with short bursts of high-intensity activity can still improve your cardiovascular system without having to do an hour-long session.
Cardiovascular Gains
HIIT workouts have been shown to be just as effective as steady-state styles of training when it comes to improving cardiovascular health benefits. The repeated increase and decrease in your heart rate appears to be quite effective at building up cardiovascular power and capacity. The short recovery times also help build endurance to a surprisingly comparable extent. (1)
HIIT training has been shown to be just as effective as moderate intensity cardiovascular training when it comes to improving body composition. (2)
Diversity
Conventional cardiovascular training often takes a long time. This often involves repetitive sessions on a piece of cardio equipment or running outdoors. You can tailor your workout session to any number of different exercises by using HIIT workouts.
You will see results as long as you make large movements with minimal rests in between.
Who Should Do HIIT Workouts
A HIIT workout that is designed well can be great for anyone. The style of HIIT training is based on making a lot of positive changes to your cardio in a short amount of time. You should be aware of a few things before starting a “high-intensity” workout in terms of safety and experience level.
Experience Level
When deciding whether or not to start HIIT workouts, it is important to think about your experience level. The longer you have been working out, the more exercises you can use for a HIIT workout. This allows you to work out more effectively, without hitting a plateau from using the same exercises over and over because you lack the technical skill to do the more difficult ones.
HIIT Workouts for Weight Loss
The main advantage of HIIT is that you can torch a lot of calories in a brief amount of time. This means that it saves you time compared to other forms of exercise.
According to research, a 20-minute HIIT workout consisting of four 30-second intervals on a bike with 4 minutes of rest in between can burn approximately 230 calories. This means that you will continue to burn calories even after you have finished your workout.
This means that HIIT requires significantly less time to burn the same number of calories as walking.
While HIIT does cause you to burn a lot of calories in a short time, it doesn't have any benefits that specifically help you to burn fat.
The study found that HIIT resulted in greater reductions in abdominal and visceral fat than steady-state cardio. A study published by a team of scientists at the University of Sydney found that HIIT resulted in greater reductions in abdominal and visceral fat than steady-state cardio. After analyzing the data, the researchers found that there was no difference between high-intensity interval training and steady-state cardio in terms of body fat reduction. In other words, both were equally effective over the long term.
So if HIIT is more effective than traditional cardio why not do it all the time?
You can continue to do cardio workouts even if you are only doing one or two per week. HIIT can be tough on your body and take a while to recover from.
If you workout too much, you can start to experience symptoms of overtraining which will impact your weightlifting workouts.
I recommend that people use a combination of light cardio exercises, like walking or easy cycling, and HIIT, so they can get the benefits of both.
HIIT Workout Tips
- Exercise close to your Vmax during most of your hard intervals. This is the point when your breathing becomes labored and you feel like you can’t bring in as much air as your body wants. It’s about 90% of your “all-out” effort.
- Keep your active recovery intervals very easy. When using HIIT for weight loss, your goal is to burn as many calories as possible during your hard intervals. To do that, your active recovery intervals should be just hard enough to stay focused and keep your heart rate up, but no more.
- Warm-up for 5 to 10 minutes before every HIIT workout. The best way to warm up is to simply do whatever kind of cardio you’ll do during your HIIT workout at a lower intensity. This ensures you can give your full effort during your hard intervals.
10 HIIT Exercises for Weight Loss
Cycling (or Spinning)
One of the reasons cycling is so popular as a HIIT exercise is because it is low-impact and easy on the joints. Additionally, studies have demonstrated that biking can increase muscle mass when it is implemented with a Strength Training Program.
Biking is a great way to enjoy being outdoors and all the benefits that come with it, but it can be dangerous if you do HIIT on a busy road without a helmet. Hill sprints are a good way to work hard while moving at a slower pace.
Running
HIIT exercise that doesn't require any specialized equipment is very convenient, and running is one of the best examples. You can run inside on a treadmill even when it's cold or rainy outside.
Cardio activities that are lower impact, such as cycling, rowing, and skiing, cause less fatigue and muscle damage than running. Other forms of cardio interfere less with strength and muscle gain than HIIT workouts.
You can do HIIT by running, but make sure it doesn't make you weaker for strength training.
Elliptical, Rowing Machine, and Other Cardio Machines
Most gyms offer a variety of machines that are perfect for HIIT workouts, such as ellipticals, rowing machines, and other cardio machines.
Ellipticals are a low-impact form of exercise, meaning they are easy on your joints. The rowing workout involves both lower- and upper-body muscles, thanks to the handles. If you are not comfortable with the elliptical movement, choose a different exercise.
A rowing machine is a great choice for a HIIT workout because it uses your whole body and is low-impact. The ability to quickly change your pace is an advantage that some machines, like the StairMaster, don't have.
While cardio machines can be helpful in burning calories, it is important to be aware that most machines will overestimate the number of calories burned.
Battle Ropes
The battle ropes are made of thick and heavy ropes that you can swing with your arms. They’re popular because they train your upper body and they’re new and fun. There are many different exercises you can do with battle ropes to keep your training varied, such as alternating waves, jumping slams, and outside circles.
The resistance of the rope can be changed by adjusting the amount of slack. The more lenient the rope, the less challenging your HIIT workouts will be and vice versa. To make battle rope exercises more difficult, you can kneel (which will prevent you from using your lower body) or use a thicker, heavier rope.
Kettlebells
Why are kettlebells a great HIIT exercise? You can make your HIIT workouts more difficult by using heavier kettlebells.
There are two main disadvantages to using kettlebells for high-intensity interval training: they can be hard to handle when using heavy weights, and they take up a lot of space.
Burpees
Burpees don't require any equipment and are a great way to get your whole body involved and burn more calories. Although they are often associated with weightlifting, dumbbells can also be used for cardio exercises. However, it is important to maintain good form throughout the sets so that you do not get injured.
Jumping Rope
Jumping rope is a fun way to burn a lot of calories. You only need the rope, and you can make your workouts more challenging as you get better. For example, you can do double-jumps, crossovers, and other more complicated moves. You can also do simpler moves, like the ones listed above.
Before you use a jump rope for your HIIT workouts, make sure you take a few weeks to get your form down and practice the skill.
Jumping Jacks (or Star Jumps)
Jumping jacks are a classic HIIT exercise that engage your full body and can be easily incorporated into any of the HIIT workouts in this article. You can make the workout more difficult by wearing a weighted vest or doing more explosive variations like the star jump. To do a star jump, start in a squatting position and then jump up while extending your legs and arms out to form an “X” in the air.
Mountain Climbers
Mountain climbers are a HIIT exercise that works the entire body, performed in a plank position. To do this exercise, start by driving your knees toward your chest one at a time while keeping your upper body stable, as if you were at the top of a push-up. This exercise engages your whole body and is more challenging than it looks, but it is also low impact and easy to do anywhere.
Sled Push
Sled pushing can help improve your cardiovascular fitness and strength at the same time. Pushing a heavy sled quickly over a distance is the basis of this exercise. You can make the exercise more challenging by adding weight to the sled or pushing it further.
