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High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a great way to burn calories and build endurance, especially for those who don't have a lot of time to exercise each week. A great alternative to biking, HIIT is anything but strenuous and time-consuming—the two biggest "turn-offs" for riding bikes. It's also easy to do at home without any equipment, or even outside if you have access to some stairs or hills! Here are six HIIT exercises that can help you lose weight faster and improve your fitness levels—all while taking up less than 20 minutes of your day.
Best HIIT Exercises That Burn More Calories Than Biking
1. Burpees
Burpees are a full-body exercise that works the legs, core, and arms. These might be the most challenging of all HIIT exercises in terms of calories burned. You can do this exercise anywhere as it requires no equipment or space.
How should you do it?
- Briefly, burpees are performed by dropping into a squat position with your hands on the floor in front of you and kicking your feet back so that they land underneath you.
- From there, jump up into a standing position while throwing your hands to the sky.
- Next, return back to the original squatting position with your hands on the floor and then return back down into that downward dog yoga pose before jumping up again for one more round!
- A total of 20 minutes doing burpees will burn around 300–400 calories on average—which makes them one of the best HIIT exercises for weight loss.
2. Jump Squats
Jump squats are excellent if you wish to add some cardio to your workout routine.
How should you do it?
- Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent. Hold a dumbbell in each hand at your sides, palms facing out.
- Raise your arms straight above your head as you bend into a squat, lowering down until your thighs are parallel to the floor.
- Explosively jump up as high as possible, swinging the weights forward and landing softly on both feet (in this case, "softly" means you don't want to hurt yourself). That's one rep. Do 10 reps total for three sets with 60 seconds rests between each set.
3. Rope Jumps
The rope jump can be done anywhere and will help you burn a large amount of calories. It is also an effective exercise to work your leg muscles as well as your heart and lungs. This is because it requires you to jump up and down rapidly.
How should you do it?
- To do this exercise, start by standing with feet shoulder-width apart on top of a sturdy rope that is about knee-high off the ground.
- Then jump up so that your rope passes in front of you while your feet are off the ground.
- Bring them back down again until they touch the surface below them. Repeat these movements for sets of 1 minute each—or even better: 5 minutes straight!
4. Mountain Climbers
The mountain climber will strengthen your abs, arms, butt, and thighs, which improves cardiovascular fitness as well as helps burn calories very quickly.
How should you do it?
- To perform this exercise, bring your knees up to your chest while keeping your upper body in a plank position.
- Alternate between bringing one knee up and then switching to the other side. This is an excellent workout for people of all fitness levels due to its simplicity and effectiveness.
5. Plank Jacks
Plank jacks are an easy and effective way to burn calories in your HIIT workouts.
How should you do it?
- To perform the plank jack, start in a standard push-up position with your hands just outside shoulder width, palms flat on the ground, and toes tucked under you.
- Jump your legs out to your sides and increase your pace as you get accustomed to it.
- Hold your plank for 20 seconds — no more or less. Then bring your legs out and repeat until you've completed 10 total reps per side (since each rep takes about 3 seconds).
6. Sprints
Sprints are excellent to get your heart rate up and burn some serious calories. They're also an easy way to do HIIT. This form of exercise involves alternating between periods of intense exercise, followed by periods of rest or lower-intensity work. Sprints provide just enough time for you to catch your breath before going all out again. So they're ideal for people who don't have much time to work out each day. Further, as sprinting requires little equipment or preparation—you could even run down the street in your neighborhood—it's possible to do them anywhere!
How should you do it?
- The key here is not so much speed as it is effort—you should be pushing yourself as hard as possible during each sprint without compromising safety or form (which means no hunching over). Aim for 10–15 seconds at full speed after every 1–2 minutes spent walking or jogging between intervals; if done correctly this will result in an effective workout that burns up an impressive amount of calories!
Conclusion
HIIT exercises burn a large amount of calories and are easy to do at home. We hope that this article has given you some ideas on how to start your own HIIT workouts. The best part is that you can always mix and match and try new things with interval training!
