You may have heard of HIIT, or High Intensity Interval Training, but you’re not sure what it is, and whether it’s a fitness option for your workouts. Interestly enough, recent research at the Mayo Clinic has found that HIIT training is extremely effective effective at keeping adults healthy at a cellular level. They also found it’s not the best way to add muscle mass, but if staying healthy is more important than “bulking up” – the following 15-20 minute workout is a great way to stay healthy!
Your First HIIT Workout
For this workout, do 20 reps of each exercise. With HIIT training, you want to keep the intensity up – so you only want to break between each exercise for 10 seconds. During that 10 second break, take a couple of deep breaths to help pump oxygen back into your body. Then start the next exercise. Once you’ve finished this cycle of each exercise, then break, through the list of exercises below – repeadt this cycle 3 to 5 times. It should take about 15-20 minutes for this entire workout.
Exercise #1 – Push Ups – Place your hands on the ground, shoulder width apart, fingers pointing straight ahead. Keep your feet 12 inches apart. Your arms should be fully extended. Now, lower your body until your arms are bent at about 90 degrees. Return to a straight arm position. That’s one rep. Inhale as you lower your body, and exhale as you push back up.
Exercise #2 – Back Extensions – While laying on your stomach, stretch your arms out in front of you, palms facing down. Legs should be stretched straight back. For each rep, looking straight ahead, raise your arms and legs at the same time. Breathing in while doing this will force your body to adopt the proper posture.
Exercise #3 – Leg Raises – Lay on your back, with your hands underneath your butt, and your palms facing down. Lift your legs up until the are almost at a 90 degree angle to the ground and then lower them to the ground. Tighten your core muscles and breathe out while lifting your legs. Each leg lift and drop is one rep.
Exercise #4 – Hip Extension – Continue lying on your back, but put your heels on a chair in front of you. Keep your arms / palms on the ground, with your palms facing down. Raise your hips while exhaling – then drop your hips back down.
Exercise #5 – Squats – PLace your feet shoulder width apart, and your toes pointed out just slightly. Squat down by bending at your knees, pushing your butt out, and holding your arms in front of you parallel to the ground. Keep your knees over your feed. Push through your heels to return to a standing position. Breathe out while squatting down and inhale while standing.
Exercise #6 – Burpees – For this, you’ll start in the same position you were in when you started your squat, but as you descend into a squat, put your hands on the groiund in front of you and jump your feet behind you with your toes on the ground. You are now in a pushup position. Descend into one pushup, and complete it, then jump your feet forward – you’re now in at the bottom of your squat position. Jump straight up with your arms pointing upward. Inhale as you go down, exchale as you jump up.
Once you start to get used to this routine, you’ll want to either add reps, or start adding weight to your routines to make the exercises difficult. For example, holding a kettlebell or dumbbells while you do your squats can make them harder. Or, for comfort, a yoga mat or exercise pad may help make your routine easier. At Fitness 4 Home Superstore, we carry a wide variety of exercise equipment and accessories – stop into any of our 3 Phoenix locations!
