Short on time but still want a solid sweat? This 20-Minute HIIT Workout For Beginners is designed to get your heart rate up, build strength, and boost energy, without complicated moves or long sessions.
HIIT stands for high-intensity interval training, and this 20-minute beginner HIIT is designed to be simple, effective, and doable at home. It’s a fast-paced way to boost your heart rate, build strength, and improve endurance without needing any equipment.
What makes it beginner-friendly is the structure: short bursts of work followed by intentional rest. No endless burpees or confusing choreography, just straightforward movements that get the job done. If you want a no-jumping option, check out this no-equipment circuit workout. And if 20 minutes feels like too much right now, start with my 5-Day Fitness Challenge to build consistency first.
Bonus: Pair it with something simple like this dairy-free chocolate protein pudding or coffee protein brownies to keep your energy up.
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What Makes HIIT Effective (For Beginners)
HIIT works by alternating periods of effort with short rest, helping you build endurance and burn calories in a short time.
For beginners, this means you can get an effective workout without needing long sessions or advanced movements.
20 Minute HIIT Workout For Beginners
Know that you can take the impact out of this workout entirely by completing marches instead of skips (any of these low-impact plyometrics work). Likewise, you don't need a skipping rope for the skips, hops in place work!
| Walking Lunges | 10 reps per leg |
| Mountain Climbers | 20 seconds |
| Rest | 15 seconds x3 sets |
| In & Out Squats | 40 seconds |
| Skips | 100 |
| Rest | 15 seconds x3 sets |
| Bear Crawl Tabata | 20 seconds work : 10 seconds rest |
| 6 sets |
How to perform the workout:
- Perform the first two exercises back to back.
- Rest for 15-30 seconds after the mountain climbers.
- Repeat for a total of three rounds.
- Move on to the next group and perform the exercises back to back.
- Rest for 15-30 seconds after the skips. Repeat for a total of three rounds.
- Finally, perform bear crawls for twenty seconds.
- Rest for ten seconds. Repeat for a total of six rounds.
Workout PDF
Below is a free PDF to download with the HIIT workout. Use this workout printable to take notes about when you performed the workout and how it felt.
Then, progress and get better each and every time!
Tips For Performing The Workout
One of the crucial elements when working out at home is learning how to properly engage your muscles and tweak your own form- especially with HIIT exercises!
In particular, simply going through the motions as fast as you can, will become ineffective quickly. Instead, learn to slow it down and focus on engaging the muscles versus just doing.
Walking Lunges
Perform ten repetitions on each leg
- Begin standing upright
- Step forward with one leg and pause while you drop the back knee to the ground in a lunge position
- Make sure the weight is evenly distributed in the front foot and the knee tracks over the foot (not caves in and no leaning forwards)
- Pull up through the front foot and step forward with the back leg to the starting position and repeat the movement
Mountain Climbers
Perform this exercise for twenty seconds
- Begin in a plank position on your hands
- Alternating legs, bring one knee up towards your chest in an abdominal crunch
- Be sure to keep the hands under the shoulders and not to drop the low back
Squats With Bottom Pause
Perform ten repetitions
- Take your feet hip width or more apart
- Drive the hips back and bend at the knees to lower into your squat
- Drive the knees out
- Keep the weight in the back of the foot, chest up and pause at the bottom for three seconds
- Contract the glutes, drive the knees out and return to standing position
Skips
Perform 100 skips
- Holding onto the rope with both hands have the rope start behind you
- Turn the handles with momentum and hop over the rope when it comes
Note: you can mimic skips if you don’t have the room or a rope. Or, using standing knee taps for a low-impact option.
Bear Crawls
Perform this exercise for twenty seconds, rest for ten seconds and repeat.
- come onto all fours lifting the knees so that they hover above the ground
- keeping the hips low move one hand and the opposite leg forward
- repeat on the other side and begin to crawl forward
- perform the crawls forward and backwards
How To Make The Workout Harder
As this workout starts to feel easier, you can increase the challenge without needing anything fancy.
Increase your work time, shorten your rest, or add an extra round to push your endurance. You can also hold light weights during certain movements to increase intensity and keep progressing. Learn more about ways to make workouts more intense at home.
HIIT Workouts Versus Strength Training
Both HIIT and strength training can help you lose weight and build muscle, what matters most is consistency and progression.
HIIT leans more toward cardio and endurance, making it great when you’re short on time. Strength training, on the other hand, is what helps build muscle and long-term “tone” (learn about the benefits of strength training) That’s why using a mix of both (like in my SMASH home workout program) works best.
Don't Forget To Pin This HIIT Workout For Beginners
More Home Workouts and Tips
Below are a few resources to help you on your journey. If you want a more supported approach, test the waters with my my 6-Weeks to STRONG workout plan.
Beginner HIIT Training FAQs
HIIT workouts can range from 2 minutes to 30 minutes. There is no perfect duration. You can get a great workout with just 15-20 minutes of interval training. However, if you’re brand new, start small and scale up. Each week (or every other) see if you can add an extra minute or set to your workout.
20 minutes of HIIT training per day is a great place to start and definitely enough to see results. It’s not the length of the workouts as much as the effort and intensity. So long as you’re engaging the muscles and consistently scaling your effort, results will come. All of this can easily be done in twenty minutes (or less!)
Beginners can start a HIIT program anytime, but they should ease in gradually. Focus on form over intensity and avoid jumping exercises until you have a base amount of strength.
Yes, HIIT can be very effective for weight loss because it’s intense and efficient. The key is continuing to challenge yourself over time by increasing intensity, reps, or rounds.
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