This no-equipment HIIT workout is designed for someone who’s looking to increase their overall physical performance but may not have time for the gym. The exercises combat a lot of the sitting that we do every day, which makes our shoulders slope, our belly stick out and our glutes become dormant.
To maximize your effort, this HIIT workout hits the largest muscle groups in the body with compound movements (exercises that engage two or more different joints to stimulate entire muscle groups and multiple muscles).This style of training, high-intensity interval training (HIIT), is intended to activate the entire body.
Related: Read more about the benefits of HIIT workouts here.
HIIT Warm-up Moves
These moves increase blood flow while improving overall mobility. They’re designed to build “mind to muscle connection” through proper movement pattern. If you are tight in one muscle group that keeps you from executing a movement with proper form, you are building movement patterns that will set you up for injury down the road.
- Lateral Shuffle
Stand with feet hip distance apart and knees deeply bent, so that your quads (or thighs) are as parallel to the ground as possible. Put your hands out in front of you, arms bent, in the guard position.
Keeping your torso upright and your core engaged, shuffle to the right four times as quickly as possible, and then to the left four times.
Repeat 10 times.
- Runner’s Lunge to Rotation
Step into a low runner’s lunge, with your right foot outside of your right hand. Your back (left) leg should be straight, and your front (right) knee is bent.
Keeping your front foot flat on the ground and your back leg straight, press your right palm firmly into the ground. Lift your left arm up overhead, rotating open toward that front leg. Reach as far as you can with your free hand, while looking over that same shoulder.
Repeat 10 times per side.
- Catcher Squats to Toe Touch
Place your feet shoulder-width apart with your feet rotated slightly outwards. Squat down until your thighs are parallel with the ground, and reach your hands down to touch your toes. Next, lift your glutes into the air by straightening your knees and simultaneously folding your upper body over until your hands touch the ground (or come close to it). Come back to the squat position with your hands touching your toes.
Repeat 10 times.
- Cactus Press
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and raise your arms out to the side so that your arms are parallel to the ground. Bend your elbows at a 90-degree angle so that your open hands are out in front of you, palms facing the ground, with your thumbs facing each other. Keeping your elbows in the same place, rotate your hands so that your palms face out in front of you and your forearms perpendicular to the ground (so you look like a cactus). Press your hands overhead until your body makes a Y-shape. Return to the cactus stance, and then rotate back to the starting position.
Tip: Keep your spine neutral, so you don’t hyperextend your back. You can do this against a wall to maintain proper postural alignment.
Repeat 20 times.
5. Fire Hydrant
Come into a table top with your back parallel to the ground, your shoulders above your hands and your hips above your knees. Raise your right leg out to the side and make a forward circular motion with your leg for ten repetitions and then reverse the movement. Repeat with your left leg.
Repeat 10 times on each side.
HIIT Super Set No. 1
Perform each of the 3 moves at maximum effort for 30 seconds. Rest for 30 seconds between each exercise. Each Superset will take 2 total minutes. Beginners should repeat this super set 3 times, advanced should repeat the super set 6 times.
- Pushup to Crunch
Get into plank position, with your shoulders lined up over your wrists and your abs tight. Lower your body down to hover just above the ground and push yourself back up to the starting position. Bring your right knee up to touch your right elbow and then return it back to its starting point. Repeat the move, alternating between your right and left leg each time. Do as many reps as you can for 30 seconds.
2. Glute Bridges
Lay down with your feet flat on the ground, knees pointed directly up in the air. Raise your glutes off the ground until your upper body is lined up with your legs. Squeeze your glutes together at the top of the movement for 1 second and return your body back to the starting position. Do as many reps as you can for 30 seconds.
3. Body Weight Squat
Place your feet shoulder-distance apart with your feet rotated slightly outwards. Initiate the movement by pushing your hips back, maintaining your gaze directly out in front of you and keeping your torso upright. Squat down until your quads are parallel with the ground, keeping your hands out in front of your body for balance. Push through your heels to bring your body back into an upright position and squeeze your glutes at the top of the motion for 1 second. Do as many reps as you can for 30 seconds.
Tip: Press your knees out and makes sure that you can see your toes through the entire movement
Rest for 30 seconds before moving on to the next super set.
HIIT Super Set No. 2
Perform each of the 3 moves at maximum effort for 30 seconds. Rest for 30 seconds between each exercise. Each super set will take 2 total minutes. Beginners should repeat this super set 3 times, advanced should repeat the super set 6 times.
1. Jumping Lunges
Place your feet shoulder-distance apart with your feet pointed directly out in front of you.
Step forward, lowering your hips until both knees are bent at a 90-degree angle, keeping your upper body as upright as possible. From there, explosively jump into the air, switching the positions of your legs so that you land and can immediately drop into another lunge but with the opposite leg forward. Make sure that your front knee is always lined up directly over your heel. Repeat for as many reps as you can in 30 seconds.
If maintaining your balance is difficult, modify the move by holding onto a sturdy object and shortening the length of your lunges.
- Super Mans
Lay face-down with your arms and legs extended, and your hands and feet spread two feet away from each other. Make sure that your thumbs and heels are pointed up to the sky, and raise your hands and legs 4-5 inches off the ground. Squeeze your glutes and shoulder blades together and hold for 3 seconds and return to the starting position. Repeat for as many reps as you can in 30 seconds.
- Up Down Planks
Get into plank position, with your shoulders lined up over your wrists, hands on the ground and your abs tight. Lower your right elbow to the mat and then your left, coming into an elbow supported plank. Put your right hand down on the mat, straighten your right elbow and return to a hand supported plank. Repeat the same on the left side. Repeat for as many reps as you can in 30 seconds.
Rest for 30 seconds before moving on to the finisher.
HIIT Finisher
When you get to the finisher, make sure that you are pushing your limits. In order to get the max benefit from high-intensity interval training, you need to increase the amount of oxygen your body requires during exertion to build up something called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption or EPOC. Basically, your body, when burning energy at close to a maximal rate, will build up an oxygen debt that is slowly paid back in the hours after exercise. This results in an elevated metabolism, long after you’ve finished this workout.
- 15-Second Mountain Climbers + 50-Yard Sprint
Beginners should repeat this combination 3 times, advanced should repeat the combination 6 times.
Get into plank position, with your shoulders lined up over your wrists, hands on the ground and your abs tight. Bring your right knee to your right elbow and return your leg to the starting position. Repeat for the left side and then alternate legs. Complete for as many reps as you can in 15 seconds. Immediately after finishing your mountain climbers, sprint for a distance of 50 yards.
Tip: Focus on quality ab contractions and a neutral (flat back) spine throughout the plank. It’s not about how many mountain climbers you can do in 15 seconds.
