An effective way to burn fat and get in shape at home. This fat-burning HIIT workout needs no equipment and is an effective way to improve your cardio and increase your metabolism.
HIIT stands for high-intensity interval training. Which means this workout gets spicy. HIIT workouts are a great way to shed fat fast and build muscle.
This at-home HIIT workout uses bodyweight exercises (my favorite as a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist) combined with plyometric exercises to give you a wicked sweat session.
It only takes twelve minutes of your day but will have you working up a sweat and burning calories like no other.
If you're looking for more of a low impact workout, try this beginner HIIT workout instead.
HIIT Workouts Versus Strength Training
Both HIIT workouts and traditional strength workouts can be used to lose weight and build muscle.
However, HIIT workouts will give more of a cardio challenge and target muscle endurance in addition to strength. This makes them a great choice for anyone short on time.
The best HIIT exercises are also often combo exercises or compound exercises that target the most muscle groups possible in an intense way.
The Fat Burning HIIT Workout
Curtsy Lunge | 10 reps per leg |
Squat Jumps | 25 seconds |
Plank With Shoulder Taps or Walking Planks | 8 reps per arm |
Burpees | 30 seconds |
Bear Crawl | 30 seconds |
Rest | 30 seconds |
To perform it: Perform each exercise back to back for the prescribed repetitions or time. Rest for 30 to 45 seconds and repeat for a total of three rounds.
Tips To Perform The Workout
One of the crucial elements when working out at home (and especially using bodyweight exercises) is learning how to properly engage your muscles and tweak your own form- especially with high intensity interval training!
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.
Curtsy Lunge
Perform ten repetitions on each leg
- Begin standing upright
- Step back and towards your midline with your left foot
- Bend the back knee and drop down into a “curtsy” while keeping the front knee in line with the foot
- Reverse the movement and repeat on the opposite leg
This exercise is a great lunge variation (check out my favorite lunge variations here) that’s a little more geared towards the glutes.
Squat Jumps or Rolling Squats
Perform twenty-five seconds
- Begin standing upright
- Drive your hips back, bend the knees and begin lowering into a squat
- Drive through your feet and explode your arms up to jump up from the bottom position
- Land softly on the ball of the foot and immediately sink down into your next squat
A classic calisthenics option this exercise drives power through the lower body and explodes against gravity. If it's too intense, try performing speed squats instead.
Plank With Shoulder Tap or Walking Planks
Perform eight repetitions on each arm
- Begin in a plank position on your hands
- Keep the hands directly below the shoulders and the feet wider than normal
- Without dropping the low back or excessively twisting the hips, tap your right hand to your left shoulder
- Return to the ground and repeat on the other side
This plank exercise challenges your stability and the strength of the glutes and shoulders while supporting the movement change. Check out these plank variations for more ideas.
Burpees
Perform for thirty seconds
- Begin standing upright
- Drop down flat to the ground with your chest on the floor
- As soon as your chest touches the floor push back up to a plank position
- Jump the feet close to the hands and come into a deep squat position
- Explode up from the squat into a jump with your hands above your head
This exercise is the easiest way to get your heart rate up! It hits every major muscle group and challenges your endurance
Bear Crawls
Perform this exercise for thirty seconds
- 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
This exercise targets the entire body but there’s extra work needed from the quads and shoulders. It takes us back to basic movements and really gets the hips and surrounding muscles fired up.
Stop FALLING OFF The Fitness Wagon
Do you start a new workout plan only to fall off of it weeks later?
Imagine the compliments you’ll get from family and friends when you finally lose those few extra pounds and skyrocket your confidence.
The SMASH program is the ultimate solution for busy moms seeking a quick and effective workout routine at home. These 25-minute sessions are designed to fit seamlessly into your busy schedule SO THAT you don’t need to sacrifice your social life or time with your family. With this system, you’ll increase strength, stamina, and confidence.
Other programs have you doing cardio HIIT workouts complete with burpees and jump squats on the daily. But let’s be honest, just showing up for that is draining.
With SMASH Fit For Life you can say goodbye to that frustrated thought that you’re failing because you can’t seem to stick with it. Instead, these workouts focus on getting STRONGER with just one set of dumbbells and a mini band so that showing up for your workouts isn’t the worst part of your day.
Plus, you have direct access to a Certified Strength Coach anytime you have questions (or need some motivation!).
No more feeling guilty about missed gym sessions or overwhelmed about WHAT to do. The SMASH program was made for busy moms. Choose from a variety of packages and start prioritizing yourself today so that you can better help your family tomorrow.
Frequently Asked Questions About HIIT Workouts
Due to the nature of the workout, interval training is a great way to lose weight. Interval training keeps your heart rate up the entire time you exercise which helps burn calories (and thus body fat).
Plus, many of the exercises, when done correctly are strength-based which helps stimulate muscles.
Though much of belly fat will come down to nutrition and inflammation, HIIT training is a great form of exercise to pair with other changes. Learn more about the pillars of weight loss here
Definitely. It’s not the length of the HIIT workouts as much as the effort and intensity of the HIIT cardio workouts.
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!). Plus, as you progress you can always build up your workout time.
Add in an extra set every other week or even a couple of minutes of HIIT to keep your strength and fat loss progressing.
Other Home Workouts & Fitness Tips To Help You Kickstart Your Goals
- 6-week fat loss workout plan
- Learn how to get better at push-ups
- 3-day dumbbell workout plan
- 25 at-home workouts for weight loss
- Why moms should do tabatas
- 10 Full body at-home workouts
- Best equipment for home workouts
- Fitness tips for moms
This HIIT workout with no equipment is an easy way to squeeze some activity into your day (read more about how to boost your activity outside the gym).
It’s a speedy interval circuit that combines a strength-type movement with a plyometric movement that targets the same muscle groups. It’s challenging, will leave you breathless and perfect for a busy day!
[…] But I didn’t always have these equipment options and most of my clients don’t either. Actually, I trained for a few years without a gym membership or any fancy at home workout equipment. I also learned a lot. Mainly that you can easily rock an at home workout without equipment (here’s a fun cardio workout). […]