The last few years have seen a massive breakthrough in terms of young men and women getting fit, hitting the gym everyday despite hectic work schedules. What’s great is most of us are getting fit for ourselves, more than for Instagram to see.
However, pacing with the current times might be a little difficult, especially if you plan on taking a month off for rejuvenation and have to start gym routines again. Some of us also have a never evolving love-hate relationship with the gym (guilty), so if you are a beginner, an in-between pseudo fitness lover, or a hardcore ‘I go to the gym everyday’ person, the following quick workouts researched and curated by our team can do wonders to let you cut off extra flab and help you towards your journey to being fit and healthy!
Read Today, to know the best of easy yet effective workouts that can be done anywhere and guarantee fat burning, and need NO EQUIPMENT AT ALL!
Before we move on with the exercises, let’s have a quick look at what High-intensity interval training is?
Interval training uses high-intensity, quick paced exercise alternated with short periods of rest to maximize calorie burn and cardio-respiratory (breathing and heart health) fitness in almost half the time of slow, steady state cardio.
HIIT or High-intensity interval training is proven to be one of the most efficient forms of cardio training recommended even by the most well-known fitness gurus, and it is not just another gimmick, it really does work! Some studies have proved that a well-made HIIT routine burns fat 5-6 times more efficiently than steady activities such as running or walking. It is because it increases metabolism drastically, and that high metabolism level exists after the training for almost one day! Woah!
This workout targets the whole body and gives you the best of both worlds—you’re building muscle and burning oodles of calories too. This workout doesn’t require any equipment—just a spot on the floor where you can move around a bit.
Okay, so now that you know the basics, let’s get sweaty!
Tip – Beginners can stick with the lower number of reps, while more advanced exercisers can opt for more repetitions. You can complete the following circuit three times with a 30-second rest in between each round.
- Jumping Jacks: 20 reps or 40 reps
- Squat: 10 reps or 20 reps
- Wall push-up: 10 seconds or 20 seconds (If regular push-ups are hard to do, try doing them against a wall)
- Plank: 30 seconds or 40 seconds
- Butt Bridge: 5 reps each leg or 10 reps each leg
- On-spot lunges: 10 reps each leg or 20 reps each leg
If you are comfortable with doing the above circuit it is the best fat burner. If you are not a novice, you can attempt the following exercises for a HIIT workout!
Squat Jumps
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, bend your knees and push your butt back as if sitting in a chair. Focus on keeping your weight on your heels, not your toes. Keep your back as straight as possible with your chin in a neutral position. When your upper legs are even with the ground, explode upward. Be sure to land on the balls of your feet, then shift your weight to your heels and repeat the squat jump for 30 seconds. Squat Jumps are a dynamic exercise that targets the legs, glutes, and core.
Jumping jacks
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, bend your knees and lower your hands down to the ground, jump up with as much explosive power as possible raising your hands overhead and outward and spreading your feet apart. While in the air, you should look like an X. Be sure to land with your legs back at shoulder-width apart and on the balls of your feet. Immediately bend your knees, lower your hands to the ground and repeat for 30 seconds. The star jump is a dynamic exercise that targets legs, glutes, core, shoulders, and cardio.
Close Grip Push-Ups
Start in a plank position. Hands on the ground, placed inside your shoulders (your hands may even be touching), body straight from your shoulders to your toes. Bend your elbows, allowing them to go backward (not outward) until your chest touches your hands, then push back up. Repeat for 30 seconds. Close grip push-ups are a great modification to the standard push-up. The close grip push-up targets your chest, shoulders, and core.
Reverse Crunches
Lay on your back with hands to your sides and legs straight. Start with your heels a few inches off the ground. Keep your legs straight and raise them until they are vertical. Once they are vertical, raise your feet towards the sky bringing your hips off the ground. Return your hips to the ground, lower your straight legs to the starting position a few inches off the ground and repeat for 30 seconds. The reverse crunch targets the lower abs but will require the entire core to be involved.
Toe Touches
Lay on your back and lift your legs until vertical. Raise your upper body off the floor reaching to your toes with your fingers, then lower your upper body back to the floor. Keep tension in your core by not allowing your back to come all the way to the floor. Repeat for 30 seconds. Toe Touches are an excellent core exercise the targets your upper abs.
Burpees
Start in the standing position with feet about shoulder-width apart. Bend your knees and place your hands on the ground shoulder width apart. Kick your legs back until fully extended and you’re in a plank position. Immediately jump your feet back to the original position and jump upward raising your hands towards the sky. Repeat for 30 secs. Burpees are one of the best exercises around. They target legs, glutes, core, shoulders, and cardio. Add in a push-up (Burpee Push-up) when in the plank position and you also target chest and arms.
(You can browse through a YouTube tutorial if you aren’t sure as to how to perform any of the above mentioned exercises)
The above circuits can be done as frequently as you want in a week, or you can build a basic HIIT anywhere, anytime workout for yourself which alternates between quickly pacing up and down the stairs, skipping, burpees, and any other form which you like doing from the above mentioned exercises.
Hope you found the list informative and were able to take away important tips from the above. If you have an alternate HIIT circuit, let us know in the comments below.
