3 Great High Intensity Interval Training Exercise Routines to get Fit in 10 Mins.
06-02-2018 | Posted By: Chhavi | 2678 View(s)
People in my office always have the same response to my following announcement – “I want to focus on my fitness, and so I have recently started working out. You’ll see the difference in a few weeks hopefully :)”And the almost immediate response is “Which Gym did you join?”It’s natural; Gyms have become synonymous to working out in today’s age.One is expected to go to a gym if he or she is serious about getting fit.That isn’t correct though.
Working out in your homes can be just as effective, if not more than sweating out in gyms.High Intensity interval Training Exercise can help you a great deal to stay Fit at home without having to visit a Gym !
How ?
You can perform a specific series of task called as High intensity interval training. These tasks combine intense workouts with short amounts of breaks to make sure that you are burning a good chunk of calories in a short amount of time.
So, what is High Intensity Interval Training ?
High intensity Interval Training is a technique often recommended by fitness gurus and followed by many people around the world to burn the maximum amount of calories in the minimum amount of time. The steps are very simple to follow – all-out exercise routines which are followed by periods of active rest.
These workouts can be performed in fewer than 10 mins and if they start to become boring, you can always change a few exercise routines to break the monotony.
A high intensity and interval training workout can effectively boost your metabolism more effectively than a slow and steady cardio workout.
So, here are 3 High intensity Interval Training Workouts that we found the most interesting.
These workouts require no gym equipment, so you can work out without having to go to the gym.
Remember to take only 1 min rest after each set and no rest between the exercise routine, which is what ‘Active Rest’ means.
And just Don’t worry if you are not able to complete the whole routine, they are usually hard, and your body needs some time to get used to them.
1. Burpees at the last.
This routine only contains 3 easy exercises.
The routine starts with Pull-ups.
Perform as many pull-ups as you can in 30 seconds.
Pull-ups work the muscles in your back, rear shoulders, and arms and increase their strength.
You can use a pull-up bar to perform this exercise, and if you already have a part of your home where doing this exercise is possible, then you are already good to go.
Make sure not to use the rest of your body to create the momentum to complete the pull-ups.
Next – Jumping Jacks for 60sec.
Jumping Jacks are very easy to perform and work your whole body, but it is important to maintain your form while doing them.
To start, stand up with some distance between your feet.
Then extend your hands outwards in line with your shoulder. Both your hands and your shoulders should be forming a straight line. Keep your palms facing down.
Now, Jump up and in the same motion move your hands above your head and clap. Also, when you land this time spread your legs wider. You should look like a temple as my PT instructor used to say.
Now, jump again and move back to your initial posture. This exercise should be repeated for 60 seconds.
And remember to maintain your posture during the routine.
Next up- Burpees for 30 seconds.
Burpees are high-energy and high-calorie burning exercise. You’ll feel your breath getting heavier during the routine.
This is the most basic version of burpees, but there are a lot of variations available on the internet, you can use those to avoid monotony.
You start in a crouching position.
Next, use your legs to jump as high as possible and stretch your hands and legs in outward directions.
As you land, immediately go back to your initial posture. When landing, make sure that you land softly, so not to injure yourself.
Get a minute of rest after completing the set. During rest avoid sitting or drinking lots of water, it will only make the next repetition that much harder.
Try doing three reps, and you’ll feel a lot fitter.
2. Skipping Routine.
This routine has 4 exercises, which focuses mainly on your core strength. This is actually a great routine to follow and my personal favourite.
First, you start off with Mountain Climbers for 45 seconds.
To perform this exercise, your starting position has to similar to the one you have when doing pushups.
You need to keep your back straight, arms at shoulder length and feet sufficiently apart to perform the routine.
Now, try to bring your left knee closer to your stomach. Hold for half a second and bring the knee back to the original position. Perform the same with the right leg.
Your actions should resemble the act of climbing a Mountain – hence the name. Try to increase the pace as you get comfortable with the movement.
Next – Push-ups 20-30 reps.
Push-ups are one the most basic and popular exercise routines.
While doing a Push-up make sure your arms are neither too close nor too far.
They should be directly below your shoulders.
Do Make sure to keep your back straight as you perform the routine.
Push-ups build your chest muscles as well as working the triceps muscle group of your body.
As with burpees, there are a lot of variations you can try with push-ups to increase or decrease the difficulty level.
Front plank – 1 min.
This is a very useful exercise to strengthen your core muscles and might look easy to perform, but it is actually difficult to maintain the posture for longer periods of time.
To do this place your forearms on the ground with the elbows aligned below the shoulders, and arms parallel to the body at about shoulder-width distance, similar to your starting position while doing a Push-up. Make sure to keep your Your body as straight as possible.
You should start feeling the pressure building in your core as you try to hold onto the position for longer periods.
You can try variations of Planck to increase the resistance.
Next -Jump Rope – 1 minute
Skipping rope is a good cardio exercise to burn calories.
10 minutes of skipping can have the same health benefits as a 45-minute run, amazingly time effective, isn’t it?
Skipping is a Whole-body workout; you use your legs for jumping, shoulders and arms to turn the rope and your core to maintain the balance.
Skipping is probably one of the most underrated easy-to-perform exercises.
Take a minute break and as I stressed earlier, during break avoid sitting or drinking too much water.
3. Leg Day Skipper
This is called ‘Leg day Skipper’ because this routine focuses more on the lower part of your body, so if you ever feel like skipping a leg day (Which by the way, you never should), you can perform this routine instead.
Start with sprint for 30 seconds.
Sprinting is a good exercise to get your blood pumping and warming your body while burning calories.
If you don’t feel like going outside your home, you can try sprinting on the spot. Sprinting builds and defines the glutes, hamstrings, and quads in your body.
Next – Lunges – 20 each leg.
Lunges are an easy and very effective exercise to help build strength in your quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings, calves, and core.
Stand with your feet hip-width apart and keep your upper body straight, with your shoulders back and relaxed.
You need to Step forward with your right leg while lowering your hips until both knees are bent at about a 90-degree angle. Make sure that your front knee is directly above your ankle, not pushed out too far, and also make sure your other knee doesn’t touch the floor. Keep the weight on your heels as you push back up to the starting position.
Now, move back to your initial position and move your left leg forward and repeat the steps.
You can use dumbbells to add resistance to your workout.
Calf raises – 50 reps.
Calf raises are easy to perform and help in increasing the strength of your calf muscles.
To perform these stand in front of a wall or a table to keep your balance.
Raise your body by lifting your heels off the ground. Maintain your balance on the balls of your feet and then slowly lower your body in a controlled motion.
As always, take rest and repeat the routine.
High-intensity Interval Training is a great way to get fit if you have less time. The Best part is that High-intensity Interval Training workouts can be performed almost anywhere, so you really you don’t have any excuses left for not focusing on your fitness and health.