Fitness Blender's 45 minute tabata training video targets multiple muscle groups, builds endurance, and burns off a great deal of calories.

This time we do HIIT intervals (20 on, 10 off) eight times through for a whole four minutes for each exercise. It’s tough, and a bit different from our usual structuring of HIIT workout videos up until this point – we usually do two minute intervals, but mixing it up like this is a great way to keep your body on it’s toes.

What I really ended up liking about this workout was that it was great for calling out weak spots in your body in terms of strength and endurance. It’s definitely a total body workout, and if you pay attention, the exercises that you really struggle with in those long 4 minute intervals are likely the places that you need to work on most. For me, I had a very hard time with the push ups (try not to laugh as you watch me trudge through those...). Upper body strength is definitely my weakness and something that I know that I need to work on – as you can probably tell from the video, after a few rounds of active intervals my push ups started to slow down and my form started to waiver. If I put a little extra effort into training my upper body muscles, I will likely find that the next time I try this workout, this part will be a little easier.

Be mindful throughout this workout and pay attention to the intervals that you find the most challenging – core, upper and lower body, and cardiovascular endurance are the main components of this routine; being aware of which one is hardest for you may be revealing of muscles and training types that you are neglecting in your normal program.

Structure
Cardio Warm Up
Tabata HIIT Cardio + Toning Workout
Cool Down & Stretch


Tabata Routine
20 On, 10 Off x 8 for each exercise
20 Seconds rest in between the different exercise intervals

Exercises:
Wide Burpees + 3 Squat Jacks
Push Ups – The hardest version that you can manage
Kettlebell or Dumbbell Swing (basic squat or squat jump if you don’t have access to any equipment)
Toe Touch Crunches
Jumping Jacks
Alternating Lunges (We used extra weight to make this more challenging, you can do the same or step up the cardiovascular demand & calorie burn by doing jumping lunges, instead)
Static Planks
Double Pulse Squats

Don’t skip the warm up, and don’t skip the cool down; both are important and help you avoid injury and can even help improve your performance.

How often can I do this workout?
Depending on what the rest of your regular program consists of, you can do this routine 3-4 times a week, as long as you are waiting until those same muscles are not sore before attempting it again. Do remember that in order to get the best results, you need to mix your program up frequently. Also, while this is definitely a total body routine, it only touches on each muscle group briefly, exhausting them, but not necessarily from multiple angles or ranges of motion. For this reason, it’s a good idea to make this a part of your regular routine, but make sure that you aren’t doing only this routine.