10 Minutes of HIIT Exercise Each Day Will Keep the Fat Away
HIIT (high-intensity interval training) is quickly gaining ground, and not without reason. Gone are the days of counting every second till you reach the end of your treadmill routine. While steady-state prolonged cardio does have its benefits, it’s also time-consuming and tedious for those who already hate exercise. Still wondering whether you should give HIIT a shot? Check out these 5 reasons why it rocks and try out the workouts below for yourself, all from the comfort of your cozy hobbit hole.
1. Boosts Human Growth Hormone Levels
Human growth hormone (HGH) is a peptide hormone responsible for regulating your body’s metabolism. Higher levels of HGH = faster metabolism = fat loss. Properly timed HIIT exercises stimulate human growth hormone and increase your body’s metabolism for up to 24 hours at a time, even post-exercise. Now that’s what we call efficient.
2. Powerful Endorphin Boost
HIIT training is like chocolate in exercise form, once tasted you love it and crave it. That coveted runner’s high can be achieved with just a few minutes of timed, intense HIIT training workouts, so don’t worry if you are on a tight budget but still want that natural high. HIIT is also a great remedy for those sugar cravings you experience when stressed, providing a healthier alternative to that nasty sugar high (without the rollercoaster crash). Endorphins also help to manage chronic pain and depression, just one more reason to love HIIT training.
3. Easy to Incorporate and Versatile
Want to boost your weight-lifting session? Incorporate 5 minutes of HIIT exercises before and five minutes of HIIT to really toast that fat and build muscle. HIIT is also convenient and many HIIT training workouts can be done without any equipment.
Want to get started with HIIT today? Below are a couple workouts to get you going. An important word of caution: Always make sure your muscles are warmed up and that you do a few cool-down stretches afterwards to prevent injury. Also, wear supportive shoes to protect your ankles from all the jumping.
1. Push-Till-You-Drop Routine
Warm Up for 3 Minutes: Do NOT skip warming up or you risk injuring yourself! If you have a favorite warm-up routine, do that. Otherwise, jog in place, swing your arms, and so some squats and lunges.
Do each of these 5 exercises for 30 seconds each, followed by a 15 second rest. Repeat twice for a 10 minute workout.
• Jump Squats
• Burpees
• Mountain Climbers
• High Knees
• Jumping Curtsy
If this is the end of your workout routine, make sure to stretch for at least a couple minutes.
2. Burn-That-Fat-Blaster
As with the previous workout, do a quick 3 minute warm up stretch (longer if you’ve been sitting for a while) before jumping into the exercise. Do each of the following exercises for 50 seconds followed by a 30 second rest period.
• Jump Squats
• Jumping Lunge
• Burpee + Jumping Jack
• Jumping Calf Raises
• Crunches
• Star Jumps
Make sure to cool down and stretch and keep yourself hydrated afterwards.
Have some favorite HIIT exercises or any questions about HIIT? Share below!
