Girl’s Guide to High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

Time is not running out. There is no expiration date on choosing to live a healthy lifestyle. Your wellbeing is a cornerstone to how effectively you show up in every facet of your life. It is common to back burner our health because of perceived time constraints and lack of access.

What if you could get the best workout ever in less than 30 minutes? And only need to crush it 3-4 days a week? It can be hard to fit in a solid exercise routine when your days are busy. The answer to that conundrum is HIIT.

You Might Also Be Interested In:

• How to Stay Motivated with Your At Home Workouts
• Five Fitness Sites To Try
• Food for Thought: The Art of Fasting and 5 Common Mistakes to Avoid
• Make Fitness Fun With Friends

What is HIIT?

HIIT (high-intensity interval training) is an exercise strategy that alternates between varied bursts of intense movement and lower intensity periods of intentional recovery. HIIT style exercises take less time but effectively incinerate calories, burn fat, build muscle, increase cardiovascular health, improve agility, and push you beyond your limits. Every minute of a HIIT exercise routine is maximized to the fullest.

Benefits of a HIIT workout

There are several benefits to opting for high-intensity interval training. HIIT styles of movement can be easily accessed given that the primary piece of equipment is our own body weight. Anywhere you travel to can become your gym or playground for a quick workout! Your metabolism will increase because of the high intensity interval training. This bump will give your metabolic rate a boost that will last for up to 48 hours after completing the actual workout. This boost is referred to as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). EPOC is the result of intense workouts and why fat burning and caloric burning is increasingly effective compared to other styles of exercise.

Sample HIIT workout

Tight for time and want to get an effective yet shorter gym routine? Opt for this Tabata style of HIIT using a 60/20 interval in the comfort of your office or living room. For each 60 seconds burst with high intensity through each move, repeating at full speed with a 20 second pause each time:

Soccer Kicks

Stand tall, raise the instep of your foot towards the center of your body and jog, alternating between each foot. 

Squat Jumps

Standing tall with your feet hip distance apart, pull your belly button into your spine to engage your core. Squat down with your fingertips touching as close to the floor as you can reach. Keep your body weight in your heels and butt, breath in, and explode up as tall as you can reach, landing back down as low as you started. 

Jumping Jacks

Do as many as you can in 60 seconds!

Mountain Climbers

Get into a plank position. Pull your belly button into your spine to engage your core. Alternate pulling your knees in to the chest and back as quickly as you can.

Pushups

Do as many as you can in 60 seconds!

Ab Wall Crunches

Lay flat on your back and pull your knees up, hip distance apart so your heels are a hands distance away from your butt. With your shoulders on the floor, raise both hand straight into the air at chest level, without locking out the arms at the elbow. Place one hand over the other, inhale and reach towards the ceiling bring in the shoulders up off the floor each time, breathing out and away towards your hands as they reach towards the ceiling. 

Forearm Plank

Hold that plank for 60 seconds!

Now that you know you have the tools for a great workout, pick your place and begin the next adventures in living healthy. Implementing high-intensity interval trainings 3-4 times each week can improve your body and your brain at the same time. With HIIT, health and wellness goes everywhere you go!