HOW TO CREATE A HIIT WORKOUT
"Running late is my cardio". HA. I couldn't agree more.
Sometimes I find that my most effective workouts are when I'm short on time. If I know I only have 30 minutes to workout that really means that I ONLY HAVE 30 MINUTES.
That means there's no time to drive to the gym and I'm probably working out in my pajamas.
BUT luckily 30 minutes is the perfect amount of time for a sweaty HIIT workout.
H I I T = HIGH INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING
This is the kind of thing that allows you to burn MORE calories in LESS time and as long as you know a couple different variations, you can do a HIIT workout everyday in 30 minutes or less and see some crazy ass results.
Basically the point of a HIIT workout it to keep your heart rate up most of the time. That's the HIGH INTENSITY PART.
You want to make sure that you're pairing something that gets your heart rate up with something a little less intense, this is the INTERVAL part.
Then just make sure you have enough exercises to last you about 27-30 minutes and you're golden!
Here's my technique for making a HIIT workout:
+ Pick 8 exercises
+ Make 4 of them HIGH INTENSITY
+ Make the other 4 LOW INTENSITY
+ Then combine them into 2 circuits
EXAMPLE:
CIRCUIT 1 CIRCUIT 2
- Low intensity - High Intensity
- High Intensity - Low Intensity
- High intensity - High Intensity
- Low intensity - Low Intensity
Pretty easy right? Now you just obviously need some examples of what is high intensity and what is low intensity.
When you think high intensity think about anything that is going to get your heart rate UP.
I always think of anything that's going to make me RUN or JUMP.
Use these for some high intensity options:
(Reps are based on fitness level. Beginner -> Extreme. I find that 15-20 reps is plenty for me right now).
- Jump Squats (10-30)
- Jump Lunges (10-30)
- Burpees (10-30)
- Commandos (10-30)
- Pop Squats (10-30)
- Mountain Climbers (10-60)
- Mountain Climbers x 4 + 1 Push up ( 10 times)
- Jump Rope (1-5 minutes)
- Run Outside (1-5 minutes)
LOW INTENSITY OPTIONS:
(Should still keep your heart rate up, just not as high as it would be if you were running or jumping continuously).
- Weighted Step Ups (10-30 reps, 5-20 pounds)
- Push Ups (15-30)
- Squats (15-30)
- Abs Bicycles (20-50)
- Scissor Kicks (20-50)
- Crunches (15-50)
- Leg Lifts with hip raise (10-30)
- Walking Lunges (12-20 on each side)
- Medicine Ball Squat and Press (15-25)
- Triceps Dips (15-30)
- Straight Leg Sit Ups (15-30)
- Raised Reverse Lunges (10-20 each leg)
- Weighted Wide Squats (15-30)
So notice how the high intensity workouts involve JUMPING or RUNNING or FULL BODY MOTIONS where as the LOWER intensity workouts are more PUSHING or STEPPING.
If you're making a HIIT workout for your very first time then maybe try the lower number of reps but still give it everything you've got!
I tend to do appx 15 reps of each move.
SO IN ORDER TO MAKE THIS LAST ABOUT 30 MINUTES YOU NEED TO DO THE FIRST CIRCUIT TWICE, AND THEN MOVE ON TO THE SECOND CIRCUIT AND MAKE SURE YOU COMPLETE THAT ONE TWICE AS WELL.
Start incorporating a HIIT workout into your weekly routine 3 times a week.
This is what my schedule looks like:
Monday: Steady Cardio for 30 minutes
Tuesday: HIIT WORKOUT
Wednesday: Steady Cardio for 30 minutes
Thursday: HIIT CARDIO + A HIIT Workout
Friday: Steady cardio for 30 minutes
Saturday: HIIT WORKOUT
Sunday: Hike
Create one, try it, and then let me know how it goes for you! Challenge yourself and don't be afraid to pick the running outside option or the burpees. I swear i'm doing like 90 burpees a week right now and my arms and abs are toning up fast!!
xoxo
TIPS FOR TONING
Okay I don't want to scare you of but at the same time, let's just jump to the point, shall we?
in order to start toning you’re going to want to start lifting heavy weights, don’t be scared, you’re not going to turn into a man haha, it takes A LOT of work to do that and our bodies aren’t the same as men.
I lift heavy often for my legs and booty because, well, i want toned legs and a big booty! DUH. For my arms I tend to lift lighter weights because I just want to maintain what I have, i don’t want to make the muscles there much bigger.
In order to build muscle we also need to FEED our muscles! We need to make sure we are giving them the proper nutrients before and after working out.Before a workout I eat COMPLEX CARBS! Something like oatmeal, sweet potatoes, or ezekiel bread to FUEL my muscles and then AFTER I workout I need to FEED my muscles protein so that they can rebuild! This is either a protein shake, tuna, tofu, egg whites, or beans with avocado.
The heaviest I’m doing right now for legs is about 85 for the leg press, and then i’ll do lunges, squats, and dead lifts with a 30 lb barbell.
You should start much less than me then work your way up!!
Embrace the soreness :) Or catch this blog on how to actually help seriously avoid being super effing sore.
HOW TO WANT TO RUN
I’m someone that pretty much loves everything. I don’t like to be in a bad mood, I like to try basically anything and everything blah blah blah.
But ever since I stopped playing soccer I have not even sort of been a fan of running outside. For the longest time I hated it because I thought it was boring. That’s basically the only reason actually. I preferred to be on the same elliptical every day for 30 minutes rather than somewhere outside but the problem with that was that that also got boring. Surprise surprise.
But, just like with anything else in life, I believe that things are what you make them and you can adjust your mind to like or not like something in an instant. I knew that running would allow me to lose the weight I was hanging on to AND FAST so first I told myself over and over again that I LOVE running outside…!
From there I made sure that I had music on my phone so that my internet wouldn’t give out on Pandora in the middle of my run and make me want to kill myself, and I downloaded a free running app. After the self-convincing all I had to do was make it more exciting to me than watching paint dry.
I did this a few ways.
I put together a few playlists that made me zone out and set a good pace for me so that I wouldn’t really think about how hard I was pushing myself.
If I needed to get in 30 minutes of cardio I would set my running app to let me know when I had been running for 15 minutes then I would know when to turn around. This way I could go the same way back to where I started and know that I had hit 30 minutes. This took out the annoying aspect of having to continue glancing at the time and it also gave me the freedom to run wherever I wanted rather than saying “I’m going to run to the pier and back” and then only thinking about how far away the pier is the ennttiireee timmmeee.
If I only had 20 minutes to run I would do intervals to get the most out of my time. I would set my running app to let me know when I had hit 10 minutes and then I would turn around and do the same drills back. I would usually do something along the lines of jogging an easy pace and counting to 45 steps. Then, I would SPRINT but I would count at the same pace I was when I was jogging, but only count to 12. Make Sense? Again, this way you don’t have to keep looking at the clock and you know that you just keep doing it until you hear your running app that its been 10 minutes, then turn around!
Also, LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION! Change it up. Sometimes I hit the ground running from the first step I take out of my apartment, other times ill drive to a random neighborhood in Santa Monica and just see where I end up. This usually leads me to different bridges, overpasses, stairs and pathways (Q the fun, ex out the boring)
Just some tips for running if you think you can’t or if you find it to be too boring! Now I actually really do love running outside, I’ve slimmed down and my playlists are on point ;)
Let me know how it goes!