How to Design Your Own Home HIIT Workout
I’m sure you have already heard about the popular HIIT workout, especially if you’re a part of my Healthy Habits Group on Facebook. I love home HIIT workouts. They are my go to workout when I’m feeling unmotivated or want a good kick in the butt- either way I know I’ll get in a quick and dirty workout that is effect.
But do you know what it is exactly, and how can you make your own home HIIT workout plan? It pretty darn easy! Let’s dive in:
What is HIIT?
HIIT stands for high-intensity interval training.
It is a kind of cardio exercise that consists of short and intense bursts of physical activity, and intervals of recovery periods. Or in other words: in this kind of workout you work hard, you rest, and then you work hard again.
There are many activities that you can build in your home HIIT workout. What you choose is really up to you (biking, running, bodyweight exercises, jump rope, etc.).
In a HIIT workout, the hard work periods are followed by short rests. The rest periods can be different for everyone: you can stop moving completely, or have an active recovery. In the second case, you don’t stop, you just slow down and you go for example from running to walking, or from fast pedaling to slow pedaling on the exercise bike.
A HIIT workout usually lasts from 10 to 30 minutes. With over 30 minutes, there is a higher chance that you will get injured, therefore try to keep the length of the training under 30 minutes.
Related article: The Power of Exercise
The benefits of a HIIT workout
HIIT workouts became extremely popular in the last few years, and for a reason!
HIIT is one of the most beneficial training types, so prepare your sports leggings if you want to get into shape and enjoy all the amazing benefits of HIIT.
Time-saving
A well-designed home HIIT workout can save you a lot of time. Even if you have a very busy lifestyle, you can easily find 10 minutes to do some exercise. And what is the best thing?
Thanks to the intense exercise parts, you can get the maximal health benefits in a very short time.
Quick calorie burn
Compared to other types of workout, HIIT is much more effective when it comes to burning calories in a short time. You don’t believe it?
There is even some scientific prove it: Researchers conducted some studies concerning calorie burn, and the results showed that HIIT burns 25-30% more calories than other kinds of training. Sounds great, right?
Weight loss
Why do most people start to exercise? Because they want to lose weight and look great in a bikini.
Of course, HIIT will help you to lose weight as well. During the intense exercise part, your heart rate increases to a great extent, so you will burn fat more quickly.
Related article: How to Do a Full Body Workout at Home
Increased muscle mass
HIIT is good also to increase your muscle mass or tone up (don’t worry ladies- you won’t turn into the Hulk). Depending on the chosen activity, you can gain muscles at those body parts you use the most during the training.
Reduced blood pressure and heart rate
Amongst the many health benefits, HIIT can help you to reduce your blood pressure and resting heart rate in the long term. This is great for heart health, especially if you are overweight or have blood pressure problems.
Improved blood sugar
HIIT can have positive effects on your blood sugar levels, especially if you are dealing with type 2 diabetes (just consult your doctor first).
This kind of workout is more effective than traditional training: it can largely reduce blood sugar, and improve your insulin resistance.
Metabolism boost
HIIT will boost your metabolism to a great extent.
For hours after your workout, you will have an increased metabolic rate. It will help you to burn more calories as well.
Related read: How to Optimize Your Home Workout Routine
How to do a home HIIT workout
There are so many different kinds of HIIT workouts on the internet. As a beginner, you might find it a little bit difficult to choose from them and design your own home HIIT workout. But don’t worry! It is enough to follow a few basic rules and instructions, and you are good to go.
Set up the place where you will do the workout
First, choose a nice place in your home where there is enough space for your movements, and prepare the equipment that you will need during the workout. The type of equipment depends on the exercises you would like to do during the workout. It may be a yoga mat, kettlebell, jumping rope, dumbbells, resistance bands, etc.
Choose the duration of your exercise intervals and set a timer
When you are planning your HIIT, you have to decide on the total duration of the workout, and how long each exercise and rest intervals will last.
A HIIT workout should be about 10-30 minutes long. But if you have only 5 minutes to work out, it is also fine. The important thing is to start somewhere.
Depending on your current fitness, you can start with a 10 or 15 minute long workout. Later as you get used to it and improve your fitness, you can slowly increase this time.
And what about the intervals?
If you are a beginner and you have a low fitness level, you can start with a 1:4 ratio of work to rest. This means that for example, you work out hard for 15 seconds, and then you rest for 1 minute.
If you have a higher level of fitness, you can start to work out with a 1:2 ratio. In this case, you exercise for 15-30-60-90 seconds, and you rest twice as long. Repeat these intervals until the end of your set workout duration.
As you gain more confidence and get better, you can change to a 1:1 or even 2: 1 ratio (the length of the working and resting time is the same or half).
To keep track of time, it might be a good idea to set a timer as well.
Choose the type of exercise you would like to do
The main goal of HIIT is to get your heart rate up. Therefore, you must choose some activities that help you to do that. Try to think about those exercises that you enjoy doing anyway. Because who told you that a workout can’t be fun? The more fun the better 🙂
Plyometric exercises are great to increase your speed and make you strong. You can do squat jumps, dance moves, jumping jacks, burpees, clapping push-ups, reverse lunge knee-ups, etc.
During your workout, you can also use weights. If you don’t have any, you can use your body weight to do some exercises.
Low impact cardio exercises are also amazing because they are gentle with your joints by taking off the pressure of them. So if you are afraid that you will get injured or you have previous joint problems, choose from these exercises.
If you want, you can also focus on specific body parts (legs, shoulders, arms, core) or muscle groups, and choose exercises to improve them. Of course, you can also do combo moves. Everything is up to your preference!
Related read: The Best Home Workout Program
HIIT workouts are not just beneficial for the body, but they can be fun, too. You should just find those exercises that fit you the best.
I personally love that I can do a HIIT workout at home with no need for any special equipment. And the best thing is, that it saves me so much time and I feel great after! My absolute favorite is this simple 7 minute workout.
What about you? Have you been doing any HIIT workouts at home? What are your favorite online workouts and moves?
