If you haven’t heard of HIIT, let me introduce you to my favorite form of cardio exercise. HIIT stands for high intensity interval training. When exercising with this form, you are providing maximum energy expenditure through short bursts of physical activity. For instance, a typical HIIT routine may involve 30 second intervals of burpees, jump squats, or mountain climbers repeated 3 times with 10 second active rest in between each interval.
HIIT typically burns more calories at a faster rate than steady state cardio because the exercises are intense in nature. This means that in less time, you will have a higher calorie expenditure.
This makes HIIT perfect for those with short attention spans. If you are anything like me, and the thought of running on a treadmill for an hour fills you with dread, HIIT may be the cardio exercise you’re looking for. Because the HIIT sessions typically last between 15 and 30 minutes, with each exercise changing every minute or so, you will less likely get bored. HIIT is so much more fun than a monotonous exercise like hopping on the elliptical or a stationary bike. And some may even find the various exercise challenges to be fun.
Another thing to love about HIIT is that it jumpstarts your metabolism. The quick uptake in your heart rate that occurs during the intense exercises in a HIIT routine will increase your metabolic rate. And because the workouts are mostly bodyweight only, you can do these routines anywhere at anytime. However, you can always feel free to add weights to your routine to get the benefits of strength training and add another layer of difficulty to your workouts.
If you think you would like to give this sweaty, intense, and kind of fun exercise a try, FItness Blender, one of my favorite workout websites has a bunch of videos here.