The Best HIIT Workouts for All Fitness Levels

The Only Requirement is a Can-do Mentality

High-intensity interval training is one of the best ways to take your cardio and overall fitness to a greater level. HIIT is used in combination with running, cycling, rowing, stair climbing, etc. It requires you to build up a sweat fast, move into a recovery period, and repeat until you complete the predetermined number of repetitions. This strategy is highly effective as it reduces the amount of time needed in the gym and often helps its users lose weight, build muscle, and boost their metabolism.

Has your interest peaked? Let’s dive in further.

The Essentials of HIIT

As mentioned above, HIIT involves high-intensity exercise at short intervals. A typical HIIT workout lasts around 10 to 30 minutes and requires little to no equipment. The activity can include sprints, sit-ups, burpees, mountain climbers, push-ups, etc. For example, you may do 25 burpees with solid form as fast as possible, then rest by jogging in place for 90 seconds or until your heart rate slows. This is considered one round of HIIT; the typical workout will have 5-6 rounds.

Woman working out with ropes

Start with a Dynamic Warm-up

Before you dive head-first into high-intensity interval training, you must warm up. A dynamic warm-up involves stretching through a joint’s full range of motion and preparing muscles for more intense exercise. It promotes increased blood flow, helps prevent injury, and improves performance. Typical actions in a dynamic warm-up include hip circles, arm swings, the heel-toe walk, lunges with a twist, and side shuffle. In total, these exercises should last around 5-10 minutes.

Get to Work

Once your muscles feel warm and loose, you can dive into the actual workout portion of your fitness routine. HIIT isn’t any one style of fitness. Instead, it is more of a framework for building out different routines depending on the desired equipment and duration and the participant’s fitness level. The key to HIIT is maximizing your effort during the intervals.

Beyond a single-exercise HIIT workout, you can also incorporate a circuit. Circuits involve multiple exercises completed sequentially before the rest period. An example is

Squat jumps—30 seconds
Pushups with shoulder taps—30 seconds
Lunge to split jumps—30 seconds
Plank to hip dips—30 seconds
Burpee 180° turn—30 seconds
2 minutes rest

Repeat 4x

Of course, this workout can be modified in any way you please. An excellent example of a HIIT cardio workout is

Jog for 3 minutes
Sprint at maximum speed for 15-20 seconds
Return to a slow jog for 1 minute

Repeat 10x

Cool Down & Stretch

A cool-down stage is essential to any stellar exercise routine for optimal results. An article in Mayo Clinic shares, “cooling down after your workout allows for a gradual recovery of pre-exercise heart rate and blood pressure. Cooling down may be most important for competitive endurance athletes, such as marathoners because it helps regulate blood flow.”

This step allows you to gradually regulate your heart rate, reduce the build-up of lactic acid, which can otherwise lead to muscle cramping and stiffness, and prevent injuries. It also allows our body to release dopamine and serotonin, relax, and feel good. A dynamic or static stretching routine is also beneficial as it reduces pain and the risk of injury.

Types of HIIT Workouts

Due to the intense nature of the workout, on average, HIIT participants burn 25-30 percent more calories than their counterparts. Not to mention, high-intensity interval training has an impressive ability to keep its participant in the fat-burning zone for hours after the workout with an increased metabolic rate. For those interested in gaining muscle mass, HIIT is an excellent addition to your workout regime. Let’s explore the best HIIT workouts based on your goals.

HIIT for Fat-Loss

As mentioned, one of the many benefits of HIIT is that it’s an excellent full-body exercise for fat-lass. HIIT targets many different muscle groups, depending on the chosen routine. An example is

Reverse lunge—10 reps each side
Mountain climbers—15 reps each side
Shoulder taps—15 reps each side
Push-ups—10 reps
Side plank—30 seconds each side
Repeat 5x

The key here is to put forward a maximum effort to burn calories, build lean muscle, and ensure an effective workout. Reverse lunges strengthen the core and leg muscles. Mountain climbers combine resistance and cardio training in one movement and so on. Using multiple muscle groups in a HIIT circuit increases your heart rate, which helps you burn more calories. Adding strength training exercises, such as shoulder taps and push-ups, allows for muscle development.

HIIT for Muscle Gain

A study in the National Library of Medicine (NIH) explains how HIIT workouts are effective for increasing fast-twitch muscle fibers. This is important as these fibers are a primary pillar in building strength and speed. In conjunction with weight training, let’s explore an example of one of the best HIIT workouts for muscle gain.

Kettlebell swings—use a moderate weight x 15 reps
Lunges with dumbbells—use a moderate weight x 10 reps on each side
Russian twist with dumbbell—use a moderate weight x 20 reps on each side
Burpees—15 reps
Goblet squats (kettlebell)—use a moderate weight x 15 reps
Repeat 6x

The aim is to complete three to five-minute intervals six times.

HIIT for Endurance: Aerobic & Anaerobic

HIIT is an excellent tool in your tool belt when considering cardio workouts. That said, traditional cardio fitness relies heavily on lower-intensity exercise. Steady-state cardio targets major muscle groups and fat loss, and can be completed with or without cardio equipment. However, to take your aerobic and anaerobic endurance to the maximum level, the key is to incorporate several training styles. Short bursts, such as those performed during high-intensity workouts, spike your heart rate and allow you to burn calories more rapidly and for longer. An example of an aerobic and anaerobic HIIT workout is

Mountain climbers—30 seconds
Bodyweight squats—30 seconds
Push-ups—30 seconds
High-knees—30 seconds
Repeat 6x

The key to cardio HIIT workouts is to engage your whole body, take only short rest periods, and ensure you maintain a high level of intensity throughout the entire exercise.

"The single greatest challenge with HIIT workouts is you only get as much out of it as you put into it."

What to Expect

HIIT training is not for the faint of heart. It is intentionally challenging as it takes you outside your comfort zone and disrupts your typical work-to-rest ratio. Understanding that you are responsible for your effort and actions is critical.

Your Results

The single greatest challenge with HIIT workouts is you only get as much out of it as you put into it. For this reason, quality over quantity is essential. Rather than watch the clock while quickly completing reps, it’s critical to prioritize pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone. If you’re completing an endurance HIIT workout, you must push yourself harder, not be afraid to sweat more, and maximize your bodyweight exercises by taking shorter rest periods. Your results are truly dependent on your focus, effort, and grit.

Your Diet: Why it Can Make or Break Your Efforts

Whatever your fitness goals are for 2023, your body relies on the nutrients you provide through nourishment. Your muscles, joints, and cardiovascular system depend on a healthy balance of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, and proteins to perform at your peak. To get the most out of your workouts, you must prioritize the consumption of whole, fresh foods, avoid processed sugar and oils, eat sufficient lean protein, and ensure you’re adequately hydrated.

This is because exercise does not cancel out poor dietary choices, no matter how stellar you are in the gym. You must nourish your body with energy and provide all the necessary resources to strengthen your body physically and emotionally.

Crunch has our very own HIIT Zone, exclusive classes with state-of-the-art training and heart-pumping, team-based workouts. Not to mention, it’s a lot of fun. NASM-accredited, HIIT Zone is available at select locations. Search here.