Get off of That Treadmill... Unless You're Sprinting
Three HIIT Workouts to Get Bikini—Ready for Summer
First off, what is a HIIT workout? A HIIT workout is a form of interval training. It stands for High-Intensity Interval Training. Basically, you perform an exercise with maximum effort to reach your target heart rate and then you rest for a short period of time, during what is called a recovery period. They burn 25 to 30 percent more calories than any other form of workout. Not only that, but you will also gain muscle and burn a lot of fat in a short period of time. How do you ask?
Number one benefit: A HIIT workout only takes between 10 to 30 minutes but will burn MORE calories and fat than any other workout. Watch your fat drop off of you!
How: HIIT increases your metabolic rate even after you are done with your workout. You will continue to burn calories for the next one to two days even! This means fat loss! Another way of burning fat through HIIT is through muscle gain, which also takes place during HIIT workouts. Another great benefit of HIIT workouts? It increases oxygen consumption, reduces high blood pressure, and reduces high blood sugar. Sound pretty great right?
My experience with HIIT workouts: I never worked out until I was 20 years old; crazy, right? I had gotten out of a bad relationship and decided I wanted to challenge myself. So I joined a cross-fit gym. I learned everything there was about lifting weights, and I discovered that I am capable of pushing my body to the limits with cardio. I enjoyed Cross-Fit but I sort of stopped seeing results after a while. I wasn't burning fat, and I had a lot of muscle but I just didn't look like I really worked out.
I thought, well if I am going to work my butt off I at least want my body to look like it. So I left my cross fit gym, joined a regular gym, and started doing a combination of HIIT workouts at home and weight training at the gym. All I can say is WOW. Within about three months of doing HIIT training four to five days a week for about 20 minutes, I looked AMAZING. I had sculpted abs, my muscles looked more defined and I had burned tons of fat. I was honestly so impressed that my body had changed that much in such a short period of time. All from just incorporating HIIT into my workouts. Yes, HIIT workouts are really hard. You will want to give up and die during most of your HIIT workouts. But when you complete a HIIT you will feel so empowered, and you will realize how capable you are of pushing yourself to your max effort! Not to mention you will love the results too!
So how do you do a HIIT workout? Below is a list of my go-to HIIT workouts.
HIIT #1 - The Booty HIIT
- (30 seconds max effort, 10 seconds rest)
- Jumping squats with band
- Dumbbell deadlifts
- Walking lunges with dumbbells
- High knees
- Repeat four times
HIIT # 2 - Full Body HIIT
- 15 burpees with a push-up
- 15 shoulder presses with a barbell
- 15 banded sumo squats
- 15 leg raises on the floor
- 10 burpees with a push-up
- 10 shoulder presses with a barbell
- 10 banded sumo squats
- 10 leg raises on the floor
- 5 burpees with a push-up
- 5 shoulder presses with a barbell
- 5 banded sumo squats
- 5 leg raises on the floor
- Repeat 1 more time
HIIT #3 - Sprints on the Treadmill
- (20 seconds max effort, 20 seconds rest)
- Warm up: Set treadmill speed to 3.2 with an incline of 1.5. Walk at this speed for 2 minutes. Then, increase the speed to 5.5 or 6 and jog at this speed for 3 minutes. Once you are warmed up, begin the following sprint interval below.
- Sprint at speed of 8.0-10.0 for 20 seconds. (Find the speed that is best for you that pushes you to your maximum effort. This speed will vary depending on how in shape you are.)
- Walk at a speed of 3.2 for 20 seconds.
- Repeat 10 times
If you aren't really feeling these workouts don't worry! There are a ton more all over Youtube and Pinterest! Get at it!
About the Creator
Ashley Dahlke
Born and raised in San Diego. Moving to the East Coast June 2019. Navy wife. Vegan. Fitness Freak. Professional Photographer.
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