10 BEST HIIT WORKOUT EXERCISES TO BURN CALORIES FAST
High Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT, has been all the craze as of late. You might have heard your co-worker talking about doing HIIT with their trainer and saying how it has changed their body in ways they could never imagine. So, what is HIIT?
HIIT is a form of “cardio” training. The bouts of exercise are done in intervals, with high intensity during the active bouts and either active recovery or a stationary recovery during the rest bouts. When performing a HIIT interval, you are usually be aiming to achieve a max heart rate of 80% — (220-your age)x0.8. The work to rest ratio for a HIIT interval should be about to a 1:2 or 1:3. But what does this look like? Well, in a 1:2 work to rest ratio, you would be doing your high intensity portion for 30 seconds and have a complete minute (60 seconds) of rest.
What Are the Best HIIT Exercises?
For someone who has been training, for a good amount of time and has running frequently might consider either sprints on the treadmill or outdoor/indoor track if it’s available.
For a novice trainee, a good option might be to do something very low impact as they wont have the ligament and tendon strength to tolerate a lot of the impact that running/sprinting has.
This being said, a personal favorite exercise for HIIT for those just starting looking to get their conditioning up is Mountain Climbers, a true oldie but goodie. Being a relatively low impact exercise, it engages the full body, and fires up your core due to its hand plank positioning. The exercise is also a relatively very safe exercise especially when done on a mat, as the worst that can happen is you land on the mat. Also, the exercise is very scalable so as you get better you can easily increase the intensity.
How Many Times Should I Be Doing HIIT?
Once you have decided what type of HIIT to do, you have to come to a decision as to how many times to incorporate HIIT into your training week. This may vary heavily based on your training experience and current conditioning. For an intermediate trainee, this may be up to as many as 4 times per week in conjunction with a proper strength training regimen. When looking at a novice trainee, this may be about 1-2 times per week.
Although these are just general suggestions, some things that you should take into account when deciding what is right for you is what your goal is — is it just increasing your conditioning or, are you looking to burn a hefty amount of calories to help put you into a larger calorie deficit?
Obviously, if you’re looking to burn more calories, frequency will be very important. What that number may be will vary heavily on what your recovering ability is from workout to workout. What shouldn’t happen is after completing your HIIT portion of the session/workout, it shouldn’t trail into your next scheduled training session and impact your performance in that workout. That’s how you know you should tone it back and then increase according, with intensity and frequency until you find that sweet spot where you are able to get a good amount of volume while still killing the other portion of your workouts.
Why Is HIIT Good for Losing Weight?
HIIT is good for losing weight due to its time efficiency. When performing these high intensity intervals, it causes your heart rate and rate of breathing (respiration rate) to increase dramatically, like literally fly through the roof. This is good for you because it causes your body to burn a lot more calories minute for minute when compared to standard resistance training/strength training. Especially when you are cut for time and trying to make the most of that hour that you are able to set a side, this will be your secret weapon for increasing your energy expenditure and really aiding in helping you in shedding off those last extra pounds and bringing you to your end goal.
What Burns the Most Calories in 30 Minutes?
Ideally in this situation, you will want to do a movement that engages your full body. When able to run with efficiency and intensity, this would be your best fat burner. Getting those sprints on the tracks (or treadmill alternatively), in the sun and really getting that heart rate up there would be killer!
If you’re just starting, it is better to get those knees moving with mountain climbers. Either exercise will be equally as effective, especially when starting to work your way into it and melt that fat off!
10 Best HIIT Workout Combinations to Burn Calories Fast
Combo #1
High Knees (20 seconds work- 40 seconds rest) x 5 sets
Plank Jacks (20 seconds work- 40 seconds rest) x 5 sets
Burpees ( 30 seconds work- 60 seconds rest) x 4 sets
Combo #2
Side Plank Walks (30 seconds work- 60 seconds rest)x 5 sets
Jumping Lunges (20 seconds work- 40 seconds rest)x 5 sets
Mountain Climbers (20 seconds work- 40 seconds rest)x 5 sets
Combo #3
Jump Squats (20 seconds work- 40 seconds rest)x 5 sets
Plank Jacks (20 seconds work- 40 seconds rest) x 5 sets
High Knees (30 seconds work- 60 seconds rest) x 5 sets
Combo #4
Side Lunges (30 seconds work- 60 seconds rest)x 5 sets
Saw Plank (30 seconds work- 60 seconds rest) x 5 sets
Butt Kick (30 seconds work- 60 seconds rest) x 5 sets
Combo #5
Side plank walks (30 seconds work- 60 seconds rest) x 5 sets
Burpees (30 seconds work- 60 seconds rest)x 5 sets
High Knees (30 seconds work- 60 seconds rest)
Combo #6
4 sets of:
Jumping Jacks 20 seconds work
Mountain Climbers 20 seconds work
60 Seconds rest
Plus 4 sets of:
Side Plank Walks 20 seconds work
Saw Plank 20 seconds work
Burpees 20 Seconds work
90 seconds rest
Combo #7
4 sets of:
Dumbbell Squats 30 seconds work
Side Squats 30 seconds work
60 seconds rest
Plus 4 sets of:
High Knees 30 seconds work
Butt Kick 30 seconds work
Burpees 20 seconds work
90 seconds rest
Combo #8
4 sets of:
Jumping Lunges 20 seconds work
Mountain Climbers 20 seconds work
60 seconds rest
Plus 4 sets of:
Jumping Jacks 30 seconds work
Side Squats 30 seconds work
High knees 20 seconds work
90 seconds rest
Combo #9
4 sets of:
Squat Jumps 20 seconds work
Jumping Jacks 20 seconds work
60 seconds rest
Plus 4 sets of:
Mountain Climbers 20 seconds work
Side Plank Walks 20 seconds work
Saw Plank 20 seconds work
90 seconds rest
Combo #10
4 sets of:
Jumping Jacks 30 seconds work
A2. High Knees 20 seconds work
A3. Butt Kick 20 seconds work
60 Seconds rest
Plus 4 sets of:
Burpees 30 seconds work
Mountain climbers 30 seconds work
90 seconds rest x 4 sets
Now that you have this 10 combos in your arsenal, you can get fit and healthy in no time! Happy HITTing!