One of the best ways to build strength in your legs without equipment or machines is plyometrics and one of the best ways to burn a huge amount of calories in a short amount of time is HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). So we thought why not combine two great training styles to give you a strength building, calorie obliterating, endurance challenging workout that brings the burn. We feel that we have achieved just that with this Plyometric and Cardio HIIT for Legs, but you can be the judge of that.

Because of the nature of plyometrics and HIIT you should not do this routine more than three times a week with full break days in between. If you are new to plyometrics or HIIT then you need to make sure you take your time getting used to the motions and intensity of this workout as it can be very challenging for a beginner. Also if you have any kind of cardiovascular or pulmonary issues and/or chronic joint or musculature injuries talk to your physician before attempting this routine.

We have not included a warm up or cool down in this video but they still should be done (we have videos for both). Because of the dynamic motions used in this routine starting cold will greatly increase your chances of injury. Also due to the aggressive nature of the HIIT style workout, doing a cool down is important to flush out the lactic acid and waste products created while exercising. Giving your body time to drop your heart rate slowly and flush out unwanted byproducts can also help with recovery time and a reduction in soreness.

Because this routine focuses on the large muscle groups in the legs as well as incorporating muscles in the core and upper body it demands a huge energy output. The exact amount of calories you can burn depends a lot on your gender, height, weight and muscle content however the biggest factor to your calorie burn is how hard you push yourself. If you are pushing yourself to exhaustion with every exercise then you can easily burn from 10-16 calories per minute with this routine but you have to push yourself. Just going through the motions and taking your time can easily cut your calorie burn in half; remember fitness isn’t easy, you have to work for it.

The main focus of this routine is HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). We have set an aggressive 40 seconds of each exercise with a 20 second active rest in between. The actual activities in the active rest can be set to your own desired level of difficulty. You can skip the active recovery by just standing still for your 20 second break or you can start to increase the difficulty by using walking in place, jogging in place, jumping jacks, high knees, burpees, or even jump rope essentially moving further from rest and more to a constant workout.

Warm Up (not included in video)

Plyometric Workout
Single Leg Squat (20 seconds on each side)
Burpee (add a push up to make it harder, take out the jump for easier modification)
Jumping Lunge
Side Hip Raise w/ Oblique Crunch (extend arm fully for harder version)
Power Skips (best done over distance if you can)
Mt Climbers
Lateral Jump Squats

Cool down/stretch (not included in video)

Your fitness is 100% mental; your body won't go where your mind doesn't push it. - Unknown