The Skinny

Looking to shed pounds quickly, then HIIT is what you want to do.

If you’ve ever played sports growing up, you know the feeling of being told to do burpees during conditioning. The team couldn’t get past full 4 burpees let alone 10 but for some reason the coach made you all do them at the beginning or end of each practice. Burpees, as well as many other similar workouts, are a form of a workout called High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

HIIT tend to be the hardest but worthwhile workouts out there. Exercises that incorporate HIIT tire you out quicker than most other workouts but help you lose weight faster in the process. If you are serious about losing weight and losing weight in a short period of time these type of workout are what you should include in your exercise routine.

These type of workouts are not only good for your heart and muscles but can also help you burn a massive amount of calories in a short time frame. Another good thing about HIIT workouts is that they’re just a different way of doing things you already know. So no extra learning is really required when doing these workouts.  

Aside from Burpees, some HIIT workouts include:

• Cardio Blast: For this workout, you will be doing cardio. For 30 seconds to a minute you will be walking or jogging at a normal pace then for the next 30 seconds to a minute you will be sprinting as fast as you can. Then go back to walking or jogging for 30 seconds to a minute and repeat for the duration of your workout which is usually for about 10 to 15 minutes. This could be done on a treadmill or outside at your local track!
• Mountain Climbers: This workout is another well-known exercise that people may not know is considered a form of HIIT. For this workout, you will start in a full plank position. Keeping your back straight and our body weight right over your hands you will pull one leg to our check at a time (in a sense run in place). This workout usually calls for 20 reps on each side (meaning each leg should be pulled in at least 20 times).
• Anything with jumping: jump squats, jump rope, and jumping jacks are all forms of HIIT workouts that can be incorporated in any workout set you do. These exercises are pretty self-explanatory and easy to do. Anything that gets your heartbeat up in a short amount of time could be considered a form of HIIT.

Some people like spending countless hours in the gym every day by doing cardio and other long-winded exercises. Others would rather get as much done in the shortest amount of time possible. If you are like the second type of people HIIT workouts are for you. Exercises that aid in weight loss tend to vary from person to person but this type of workout is known to help people of all shapes and sizes lose weight.  So the next time someone tells you they lost a massive amount of weight by doing burpees, believe them!