In this hour-long HIIT workout we will start out with a 5 minute warm up to slowly increase your heart rate and core temperature, focusing on quickly limbering up your joints to increase range of motion and prepare you for the HIIT portion of this workout. Once we start the HIIT portion of this routine, it will be no time at all until those muscles are burning.
We will be using a Tabata style timing of 20 seconds of work for every 10 seconds of rest. Each exercise will be done for 4 minutes straight for a total of 8 Tabata cycles. We will have a 20 second break at the end of each group of 8 sets to get ready for the next exercise. Since running through this routine straight would be a bit too much punishment we have a longer 1 minute break in the middle of the HIIT routine to let you recover a bit more.
Keep in mind that you should do this routine at your own pace so feel free to pause the video at any time if you feel as though you need a little extra rest.
Once we are finished with our last HIIT cycle we will move on to a short 5 minute cool down stretch. If you are not going to be doing another workout directly after this one (which you should not need to) then be sure not to skip the cool down section. The cool down is very important in keeping your blood circulating as well as slowly letting your heart rate and core temperature drop. This gives your body the necessary time to metabolize the lactic acid in the muscles as well as clean out the waste byproducts in your system that are a result of exercise. Immediately stopping your workout without a proper cool down can actually increase the soreness you experience and increase your recovery time from an intense workout.
This workout focuses on the entire body but especially focuses on the core muscles. Because of this the total calorie burn is slightly lower than a regular HIIT workout however this routine still burns a very high number of calories. This HIIT Cardio and Abs workout averages 6-12 calories per minute including the warm up and cool down. The total calorie burn for this 63 minute workout is 387 to 758. This wide range is due to multiple factors such as height, weight, age, gender, as well as arguably the largest cause of the difference, your own individual level of effort.
Exercises in this routine
1. Switchfoot Mt Climber
2. Mini Scissors
3. Jumping Jacks Plus a High Kick
4. Toe Tap Crunch
5. Switchfoot Burpee
6. Plank Steps
7. Walk Down Plank
8. Side Plank with Leg Kick (Left)
9. 4 High Knee Plus Floor Tap
10. Side Plank with Leg Kick (Right)
11. Broad Jump Plus 3 Hops Back
12. Russian Twist