FitnessU
High intensity interval training (HIIT)
The hiit parade
Routine Layout:
Mountain Climbers – 30 sec.
Rest – 30 sec.
Toe Touches – 1 min.
Rest – 30 sec.
Jump Squats – 30 sec.
Rest – 30 sec.
Hip Bridges – 1 min.
Rest – 30 sec.
Pushups – 30 sec.
Rest – 3 min.
Repeat 3x
Mountain Climbers: Start in a pushup-ready position with knees off the ground and hands below your shoulders. Make sure your hips are neutral, so that your back forms a straight line. Bring your right knee toward your chest, then return it to the starting position while bringing your left knee toward your chest. This should be a quick, alternating movement.
Alternative: Jumping Jacks. Stand with feet together and arms at your sides. Hop your feet apart and simultaneously swing your arms overhead. Hop your feet back together and swing your arms back to your sides.
Toe Touches: Lie flat on your back with knees bent and feet on the ground. Extend your knees to bring both feet into the air. Legs should be straight with feet above your hips. Bring your hands into the air above your head with arms straight. Try to avoid moving your legs and feet while performing a crunch by bending your torso, reaching your hands towards your feet, hence, the toe touch. Maintain the extended leg and arm position throughout the exercise.
Alternative: Standard crunches. Lie flat on your back with knees bent and feet on the ground. Cross your arms over your chest. Perform a crunch by bending your torso until your elbows touch mid-thigh. Try to keep your neck relaxed to avoid unwanted strain.
Jump Squats: Stand with feet no closer than shoulder-width apart. With arms in front of you, push your hips back before bending your knees and lowering to the ground. Let your arms come to your sides, then swing them up while you simultaneously extending your knees and “exploding” out of the squat into the air. Avoid bringing your knees together throughout the movement. Land carefully with slightly bent knees before the next repetition.
Alternative: Standard Squats. Perform the same movement, but avoid leaving the ground to maintain better control.
Hip Bridges: Lie flat on your back with knees bent and feet on the ground. Arms can lie at your sides. Push through your heels, so that your hips come into the air. This should create a straight line from your neck to your knees. Squeeze your gluteal muscles (buttocks) before returning to the ground.
Pushups: Arms are straight with hands below your shoulders. Legs are straight and hips are neutral, so that your backside forms a straight line. Only your hands and feet are touching the ground. Bend your arms and bring your chest towards the ground. Once your chest comes within a few inches off the floor, press with your arms to bring your body back to the starting position. Maintain a straight line with your backside throughout the movement.
Alternative: Knee pushups. Same technique, but with your knees on the ground instead of your feet for less resistance.
Hiit your fitness goals
Hot Feet:
Stand with your feet a little wider than hip width and arms relaxed by your sides. Begin to move your feet as fast as you can while lowering down a little into your legs and bringing your hands up by your chest, palms facing out. The quicker you can get your feet firing, the more you will burn. To modify this, you can slow your pace or you can run in place, relieving some of the tension off of your calves.
Star-Jump Burpees:
Begin with your feet hip width apart and your arms relaxed by your sides. Begin to bend your knees and lower your hands down to the ground. Then, hop your feet back to a plank-position, making sure your hips are low and your shoulders are in line with your wrists. Next, hop your feet back up towards your hands. Finally, get the power to jump up from this crouching position and have your arms and legs shoot out to the sides like a star. Repeat by jumping back down and hopping it back to plank. To modify, you can step, rather than hop, through all of these moves. Taking it slowly will also make it easier.
Front Kick/Lunge Back:
Begin with your feet hip width apart and your arms relaxed by your sides. Kick your right leg out by flexing your right foot, leaning back, and staying grounded in your left leg. It’s best to think of a kick as an quick ‘out-in’ motion. The moment you put your right foot back down, hop your left foot back for a low lunge, while reaching the floor with your left hand and staying low in your right leg. Your knee should be in line with your toes on your right leg. Then, in a pendulum type motion bring your left leg back to center as you kick your right leg out. To modify this, you can take it slowly and step the move. To advance, really power your kicks out (it isn’t about the height) and get into a low lunge when you go back. Do 20 seconds on one side, rest for 10 seconds, and then do 20 seconds on the left.
Jump Knee Taps:
Begin with your feet hip width apart and your arms relaxed by your sides. Start by bending your knees, engaging your core, and jumping up as your knees hit the palms of your hands. Then land back down and lift up again, tucking your knees and hitting them to the palms of your hands. To modify this move, you can step it rather than jump it and do one knee up towards the palm of your hand at a time.
Hiiting the gym
Here’s what you’ll need to perform this fast and efficient 15 minute protocol: a stationary bike that has adjustable resistance and a stopwatch/clock or some other way to keep time.
First, begin pedaling for 5 minutes with the resistance of the bike from 0-25%. This should be a fairly light resistance just to warm up. After five minutes of warming up, you are going to begin pedaling as fast as you can for 10 seconds. Once 10 seconds of pedaling as fast as you can passes, you are going to increase the resistance of the bike to its highest resistance and pedal for 20 seconds. After these 20 seconds are up, decrease the resistance back down to the first setting (between 0-25%) and pedal at an easy pace again for 90 seconds. Once the 90 seconds of light pedaling up, we are going to repeat the intense phase. So again, we will pedal as fast as we can at the same resistance for 10 seconds, we will then increase the resistance of the bike (while still pedaling) to its highest setting and pedal for 20 seconds, then decrease the resistance back down to the pre-intensity phase speed (0-25%). Repeat this cycle for 15 minutes and that’s all she wrote! But be warned, it will be a tough 15 minutes!
Now, if you are unable to pedal at the highest setting or if you find that you are simply too tired after 2 or 3 intensity phases, there are two ways you can scale back and build up your work capacity. First, you can only increase the intensity for the intensity phase to somewhere between 50-100%. You still have to pedal hard but it will not be as taxing with less resistance. The second way to scale the workout back is to take a longer rest phase. The rest phase is the period where you are pedaling slower for 90 seconds in between the intensity phases. So perhaps increase this to 120 seconds and then gradually progress to less and less time.
Exercise Order
- Pedal at an easy pace with a light resistance (0-25%) for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes are up, pedal as fast as you can at the same resistance for 10 seconds. This is the beginning of the intensity period.
- Increase the resistance to the highest possible level (or if you need to scale it back, to 50-75%) and continue pedaling as fast as you can for 20 seconds at the increased resistance.
- Decrease the resistance back to the previous light resistance and pedal for 90 seconds at an easy pace again. This is the active rest period.
- After 90 seconds, begin the intensity period again with 10 seconds of fast pedaling followed by 20 seconds of intense pedaling with the highest resistance. Continue repeating this protocol until 15 minutes are up.
