What is HITT?

I get asked a lot about what kind of workouts I do.  Since summer is coming and lots of people are cramming for a nice summer body, I’ve decided to start posting some of them here as a way to share them with everybody.  For the most part I do strength training with weights and for cardio I incorporate HITT.

If you’re like me and can’t stand running on the treadmill for more than 5 minutes without getting bored, I suggest trading your treadmill routine for a HITT workout.  HITT or High Intensity Interval Training has become a popular buzz term among the fitness world.  It’s the concept of alternating high intensity exercises with low or moderate intensity exercises or rest periods in between.

You will achieve more progress in a 15 minute HITT workout than one hour of treadmill jogging.  The short bursts of high intensity will improve your aerobic and anaerobic endurance.  This will allow your body to burn significantly more fat during and after the workout while still preserving your muscles. 

There’s no excuse as to why you can’t complete a HITT workout because you don’t need an expensive gym membership or fancy workout equipment.  I’ve found that the best exercises to get your heart rate up are plyometric moves, such as jump lunges, and moves that don’t require equipment, like high knees.

For me it’s about maximizing my time and getting the most out of it.  I love going to the gym, but I’m not the type of person that will spend hours workout out.  I like to get in and get out in the fastest and most effective time possible.  Therefore, I try to include a HITT workout into my routine at two to four times a week.  I like to follow two different HITT formats.  I’ll either use an Interval Timer App to track either 60/30 or 30/10 cycled time period workouts (shown below: HITT Circuit) or do a circuit of exercises from high reps to low reps (shown below: HITT Workout).

HITT Workout

60 Jump Ropes

50 High Knees

40 Mountain Climbers

30 Speed Skaters

20 Russian Twists

10 Burpees

60 second: Rest

Repeat 4 Times

HITT Circuit

30 seconds: Mountain Climber

15 seconds: Rest

30 seconds: Air Squats

15 seconds: Rest

30 seconds: Split Jump

15 seconds: Rest

30 seconds: Burpee

15 seconds: Rest

60 second: Rest

Repeat 5 Times

I’m no personal trainer and I have no professional training, but I’ve found that this is what works for me and what keeps me motivated, so I’m sticking with it!