Get fit at home with these 10 HIIT exercises

HIIT (high-intensity interval training) is one of the most popular kinds of interval training. Sometimes known as Tabata Training, it can consist of up to 15 rounds of high-intensity exercises that are 10-30 seconds long.

A full body high-intensity workout can be achieved from a handful of HIIT exercises. As intense as these exercises may be, HIIT is great for the time-strapped individual. You don’t require special equipment for a workout. In fact, all the exercises can be body weight-type exercises.

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10 common HIIT exercises to try:

Sprints

These are great if you have a large elastic band that can be tied to a tree or your training partner. Wrap it around your waist, turn away from it and run in the opposite direction pulling the elastic and creating resistance. If you don’t have the elastic, simply do high knee runs on the spot and swing your arms vigorously in a running motion.

Skipping

The skipping rope has always been one of the best home exercise’s. It’s compact and affordable.

Burpees

One of my favourite exercises that many love to hate. It’s one of the best full body exercises and targets many muscle groups at once.

Pushing yourself to complete as many burpees as you can in 10-30 seconds can raise your heart rate through the roof and burn mega calories.

Mountain climbers

These are great for improving leg strength and endurance. They target calves, quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, abdominal muscles and shoulder muscles.

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Plank Jacks

Standing in the plank position, jump and split your legs sideways, still landing on your toes. Split your legs inwards and outwards for 10-30 seconds and you will feel your abdominals, lower back and hip flexors working.

Jump squats

Jump squats are one of my favourite exercises. Get into a basic squat position then spring up and jump into the air, landing back down into the squat position.

Be careful not to hurt your knees. If your knees hurt, rather not jump.

Squat Jacks

This is a challenging one. It is a combination of two great exercises, squats and jumping jacks. It requires some practice for you to perfect it.

From the squat position, spring up, splitting your legs outwards into the jumping jack position. By the time you land, your feet must be together again in the squat position.

Push-ups

Push-ups have always been a great upper-body building exercise. The standard push-up targets the chest, shoulders, triceps, middle back and abdominal muscles.

Superman

This is one of those friendly exercises that can easily be done by all. It is great for strengthening the lower back. Lie on your mat facing down with arms stretched straight above your head or down by your sides.

To perform the exercise, lift both legs and your head off the ground at the same time, hold the position for one second and drop down to the floor. Repeat this for 10-30 seconds.

Jumping lunges/Split squats

Jumping lunges/split squats This is an explosive exercise which is great for the quads, hamstrings and glutes.

Start in the stationary lunge position, jump up and switch legs in the air and land in the lunge position again. Repeat this for 10-30 seconds nonstop. These are just a handful of exercises you can try but basically, any exercise that can be performed with high intensity can be used in a HIIT workout routine.

All the exercises that are mentioned here are perfect for winter as they can be done in the comfort of your home and require no gym equipment.

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