The other day while writing this routine, it started out with a list of my favorite implements of HIIT torture but without a specific idea of how I wanted to put them together. Then out of the blue (probably because Kelli had just filmed a jump rope workout) I remembered that in a few previous workouts we had mixed HIIT exercises with jump roping to get a different type of cardio feel. That got my creativity going and this is the end result, a routine that incorporates some of my favorite HIIT exercises but also prolongs the calorie burn by adding in consistent bouts of jumping rope. Get ready for the sweat!

This routine is deceptively simple in structure but hardly simple to complete. I have given this a 4 out of 5 on the difficulty scale but if you are crazy enough to use a weighted jump rope then this is definitely a full 5 out of 5 (you can also get this to a 5 out of 5 by adding in double unders, crisscross, single leg or combination of other jump rope styles, or just by pushing yourself to your personal 5/5 exertion level).

As I said before this routine is actually very simple, we start off with a well rounded warm up and then jump right into the HIIT (no pun intended). With the HIIT section we have broken the workout into two sections only to give you a long rest break so we can keep both sections as high intensity as we can. As you will notice in the printable version below we have coupled each HIIT style exercise with a bout of jumping rope which helps keep the level of cardio high without over exhausting you as can happen when only using anaerobic effort over and over. We are using a traditional tabata interval of 20 seconds of activity and 10 seconds of rest, but you will notice there is no coupling pattern to this routine. Instead we will run straight through the list of exercises twice to complete the group before moving on to the second group which is done in the same way but with new HIIT exercises. After that all we have left is to do the cooldown and mop up the pool of sweat we just created. This is a great example that a workout does not have to be long to be extremely effective at burning calories or improving your cardiovascular endurance.

If you don’t have a jump rope don’t worry, you can still easily do this routine with minimal modification. When the Jump rope intervals come around you have a number of options; you can do mock jump roping (which is basically what it sounds like, swing your arms and jump like you have a jump rope, the bonus being that you will never mess up), Jumping Jack variations, dancing, you name it. Feel free to get creative, just keep that cardio up.

Let us know what you thought of this workout video and if you would like to see more like it in the comment section below. Hope you enjoy this workout as much as I did.

Warm Up: 5 Minutes
- Toe Touch Sweep
- Arm Cross + Side Step
- Bicep Curl + ¼ Lunge
- Arm Circles
- Calf Raise Push Pull
- Squat + Overhead Press
- Standing Side Crunch + Knee Up L&R
- Standing Cross Crunch 
- Boxer Shuffle
- Star jacks

Workout: 16 Minutes (20 On, 10 Off; straight through, twice)

Group 1:
- Jump Rope
- High Knees
- Jump Rope
- Star Jumps
- Jump Rope
- Burpee
- Jump Rope
- Jumping Lunges

Group 2:
- Jump Rope
- Lateral Jumps
- Jump Rope
- Mt. Climbers
- Jump Rope
- Squat Jacks
- Jump Rope
- Thigh Slap Jumps

Cool Down: 5 Min
- Toe Touch
- Inside Thigh Stretch L
- Inside Thigh Stretch R
- Quad Stretch L
- Quad Stretch R
- Calf Stretch L
- Calf Stretch R
- Deep Glute L
- Deep Glute R
- Cobra