Other than being a snappy acronym, what is HIIT? How can you do it? Read below to find out more!
How can you do a HIIT workout? What are some ways you can add this to your routine? Below are three popular HIIT variations you can use, AMRAP, EMOM, and Tabata. To give you an example of how to apply these different method to a HIIT workout, we’ll take four basic body weight exercises (Pull ups, Push Ups, Sit Ups, and Squats) and give you a sample workout you can do. But you could very easily cycle in your favorite moves with things like kettlebells, dumb bells, and other equipment.
Make sure to do a 5-10 minute warm up before doing of any of these HIIT workouts. You’ll also want to download a workout timer that has these different HIIT variations pre-programed (I use Trifecta for my timer, and is free is free to use)
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As Many Rounds As Possible (AMRAP) – AMRAP workouts involve doing as many rounds of an exercise circuit as possible in a fixed amount of time. You can track your progress by recording how many rounds you complete in that time, and then repeat the workout later to see if you can improve on the number of rounds you can complete.
You can add this to your routine by doing 10 sets of 3 or 4 different exercises, and seeing how many rounds you can complete in 10 minutes. Here’s our sample bodyweight workout you can try:
AMRAP – 10 MINUTES
5 Pull ups 10 Push ups 20 Sit ups 20 Squats Record how many rounds of these 4 exercises you can complete in 10 minutes. Then, repeat the next week to see if you can improve on your score. As it gets easier, you can increase the number of reps or the amount of time for an increased challenge.
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Every Minute On the minute (EMOM) – This involves completing a number of reps of a given exercise within a minute, with your rest period only coming between when you complete the reps and the start of the next minute. For example, if you were to do 10 pushups EMOM, and you were able to complete the 10 pushups in 32 seconds, then you would have 28 seconds to rest until starting the next exercise. Here’s our sample workout:
EMOM
Minute One: 5 Pull ups Minute Two: 10 Push ups Minute Three: 15 Sit ups Minute Four: 10 Squats Do four rounds of this, with a minute rest in between each round. The total workout would be 20 minutes.
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Tabata – My personal favorite, the Tabata protocol is super easy to program and can be applied to almost any exercise. Tabata is named after Dr. Izumi Tabata, who pioneered the method with his research conducted with the Japanese Olympic speed skating team. Tabata intervals consist of 8 rounds with 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest, for a total of 4 minutes. You can alternate between two exercises, 4 exercises, or just do one. An easy way to do a Tabata work out is on a stationary bike. Pedal as hard as you can for 20 seconds, and the pedal slowly for 10 seconds. Repeat 8 times. Simple! Here’s the sample workout using our four body weight movements:
Tabata Pull ups for 20 seconds, rest 10 seconds Push ups for 20 seconds, rest 10 seconds Sit ups for 20 seconds, rest 10 seconds Squats for 20 seconds, rest 10 seconds Do as many of each of the exercises as you can in the 20 seconds, with the 10 seconds rest being enough time to set up for the next exercise. Complete this circuit twice for the complete 4 minute Tabata. You can repeat this Tabata work out two more times with a two minute rest in between Tabata circuits for an 18 minute workout.
Sharing is caring, so share this workout with your friends!
AMRAP
EMOM
Tabata
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