Whether you have never done a High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) routine before and you want more from your workouts, or you are a pro at interval training and are looking for a new challenge, you have found your next workout.

This HIIT routine starts with a quick 5 minute warm up then dives into a Tabata style interval routine that uses only two exercises to burn a massive amount of calories; then we follow that up with a short 5 minute cool down and stretch.

If this sounds too simple then you have never done a HIIT training routine before. This workout will get you so worn out that you wont be able to tell your elbow from your ankle.

Once you are done with this brutal workout your first thought may be to never do a HIIT workout again but once you realize that you just burned more calories in around 20 minutes than most people burn in 60 minutes of cardio you will be coming back for more.

Though High Intensity Interval Training comes in many different styles, ranging in work to rest ratios from 1:2, 1:3, 2:1 or 1:1 and time per cycle ranging from minutes to seconds, in this routine you will utilizes a style known as Tabata that has a 2:1 ratio of 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest.

These cycles are repeated for one minute per exercise, alternating back and forth for a total of 4 minutes before you get a long, active rest break of 2 minutes. Then you repeat the full 4 minute cycle over again before moving on to your cool down.

Tabata is a common interval training style and is one of our favorites for burning a lot of calories in a short period of time, without completely exhausting your body.

To get an even higher calorie burn out of this workout we selected two exercises that target the biggest muscles in your body, those of your legs.

The Squat Jumps primarily focus on the large leg muscles in the thigh, butt, and lower leg, but they also target the muscles in the core for stability while jumping. Those large leg muscles, however, are the primary heavy hitter when it comes to calorie burn.

The Burpee is a sick exercise that takes you from a plank or push up to a standing position with an optional jump. This exercise uses the large leg and butt muscles as well as the chest and core, just to name a few. Utilizing all of the muscles causes this motion to be a monster of a calorie burner.

Because these routines are so intense you will want to start slow and only use them once to twice a week. After your body starts to build up more aerobic and anaerobic endurance, start to add one more HIIT routine per week until you get to four to five max per week.

With the increased intensity comes increased wear and tear on your muscles, tendons, and ligaments, so make sure you take time to fully recover every week. We suggest taking at least one day per week completely off and possibly even two; however, you can do very low intensity and light impact training on those days if you are not sore.

In the full twenty minutes of this routine, a person could burn between 9-13 calories a minutes. During the actual HIIT part of the workout, a person likely burns more along the lines of 12-16 calories a minute.

Aside from the calories burned while you are actually working out, it’s important to remember one of the biggest benefits of a high intensity interval workout like this one; long after you are finished working out, your caloric burn remains higher as your metabolism tries to restore your body to its normal physical and chemical resting state after the “disturbance” that you cause in your system’s preferred balance.