With the holiday season in full swing and the hustle to get
end-of-the-year projects complete, it’s easy to stray from our regular
exercise habits. Who has time for exercise when we are shopping for
presents, cooking for family, running errands, traveling and attending
parties? You. You have time for exercise. If your regular routine of
going to the gym is getting trumped by this busy time of the year, try a
high-intensity interval training (HIIT)
workout that offers both fitness and calorie-burning benefits. Plus,
you’ll work up a good stress-reducing sweat in a short amount of time.
High-intensity interval training features alternating bouts of
all-out high-intensity exercise effort and short rest periods for a
specific number of sets. These short, intense bursts of activity give
you an incredible aerobic, anaerobic, strength and power workout all
rolled into one. During a HIIT workout,
your body metabolizes fat for fuel and after your workout your body
will tap into fat stores for the energy. This makes HIIT one of the best
ways to maximize caloric burn in a short amount of time. All you need
is 15 to 30 minutes to reap all of these benefits of a HIIT workout.
No fitness equipment necessary for this 20-minute HIIT workout, but
make sure you have water close by and a timer to keep track of the
work/rest exercise intervals.
This workout includes two sets of three exercises repeated four times
in row. Each exercise in the set is performed for 20 seconds followed
by a one-minute rest. When set #1 is complete, move on to set #2.
High Knee Running: Run in place, bringing your knees up toward your chest and pumping the arms as quickly as you can.
Diagonal Jump-ups: Begin in lunge position, with
your right foot forward and your body turned toward the upper-right-hand
corner. Push through both feet, jump up and land in a lunge position
with the left foot forward and your torso facing the upper-left-hand
corner.
Burpees: Squat and place both hands down on the
floor. Jump or walk back to high-plank position and perform one push up.
Jump or walk your feet back to the squat position and immediately jump
up with arms overhead.
Ankle Touches: Run in place, turning your knees
slightly outward, bringing the inside of the leg up toward the chest and
reaching your hands to touch the inside of your ankles.
Squat Jumps: Lower down into a squat, swinging your arms back behind you. Immediately jump up, swinging your arms up toward the ceiling.
Push-up + Jump In/Out: Begin in quadruped position,
with your hips over the knees and shoulders over the hands. Curl up onto
the toes and lift the knees slightly off the floor. Jump or walk the
legs back into high plank and perform one push up. Jump or walk the legs
back into the elevated quadruped position.
Source :
Stephanie Thielen Fitness, LLC./ Ace Fitness