Life’s busy. We get it. 

But everyone has 30 minutes to give to their  body, haven’t they? That’s all you need to blitz  your body with this month’s HIIT workout.  

Work. Kids. Social life. Sometimes our exercise habits can get pushed to one side because, you know, life. Well, that excuse doesn’t really fly anymore thanks to HIIT. Yes, it can be hard travelling to and from a place of exercise, and doing a full-on workout or class, but everyone has half an hour to spare. And heck, this workout from PT Catarina Vianna makes it even easier, this is High Intensity Interval Training as its best… and you don’t even need to leave your house.  

This workout focuses on short bursts of exercise where you’ll go all out (maximum effort) before a short rest before the next exercise begins. The workout will be intense and effective in a short period of time.  

This type of workout has shown to increase cardiovascular fitness and promote healthy blood glucose levels (when done correctly). It will also not only promote quicker results than other types of training but also increase muscular endurance. In fact, it has been shown to increase the resting metabolic rate for the next 24 hours following the workout for a great fat burner! 

What are you waiting for? 

THE WORKOUT 

Two rounds of four exercises. That’s it. Each round lasts for eight minutes, of which you’ll do 40 seconds of each exercise, then rest for 20 seconds before moving on to the next. Repeat both rounds twice, so total workout time: 32 minutes (without rest between sets), 36 minutes (with rest between sets). Do each set of exercises twice to hit that eight-minute mark. 

SHOULDER TAPS 

Hands under chest, closer together than a normal press-up position and feet wider apart (the further apart they are the more stability you will have). When tapping each shoulder (opposite hand to opposite shoulder) pay attention in keeping your hips stationary and engaging your core. 

WALL BALLS 

Squat back into your heels keeping your chest up and use that momentum to throw
the ball up against a wall before catching it back and falling into a squat again. 

SQUAT JUMPS 

Attention to weight on heels rather than toes, back straight and chest up. Use power from your legs to exert a powerful jump before falling back into a low squat. Pay attention in keeping your hips stationary and engaging your core. 

LUNGE JUMPS 

Feet hip width apart, make sure your knee does not go over your toes when lunging and use arms to help make the jump more powerful when changing legs. 

KETTLE BELL CLEAN AND PRESS 

Pick up kettlebell from the floor in a squat position and use hips to thrust forward to help bring the kettlebell up to your shoulder. Use a slight bend in the knees to help push the kettlebell overhead. Bring it back down into a squat and change sides. 

MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS 

Press-up position, back straight and neck in a neutral position. Bring one knee at a time towards your chest, alternating as quick as you can between legs. Make sure hands are under your shoulders. 

KETTLEBELL DEADLIFTS 

Begin with feet hip width apart with a kettlebell on the outside of each foot. Sit back to grab them and stand back up with the kettlebell on either side of your thigh. You want to focus on using your glutes and hamstrings to stand back up rather than your quads. 

ABOUT THE PT 

Catarina completed her personal training qualifications alongside a degree in Psychology at Durham University before going onto doing a Masters in Sport and Exercise Psychology at Leeds Beckett University. Catarina has always been a fan of quick and high intensity workouts to get a sweat on, mixing bodyweight and weighted exercises to help with endurance and strength.s