Get Your Blood Pumping

So often when we think of doing a cardio workout, we think of hopping on a piece of cardio equipment or going for a run outside.

But you don’t need a machine or even to go outside to get in a great cardio workout. And you definitely don’t need to run at a steady state for hours to get in a killer workout.

With these Bodyweight High Intensity Interval Cardio Workouts, you can get in a great workout anywhere in less time.

High intensity interval training will give you more bang for your buck and are a great option especially if you are short on time. And HIIT has been proven to burn more calories than steady state cardio not only while you workout but also for the hours after.

If used correctly, HIIT can even help improve your endurance and VO2 Max.

With HIIT Workouts there isn’t only one break down you can use. Depending on your goals, you can perform workouts with work intervals from 8 seconds to 1 minute. You can also rest for less than you work or up to 5 times the time you work. It all simply depends on your goals.

Below are three different types of HIIT workouts you can use anywhere to get your blood pumping and lungs burning.

HIIT Workout #1: The 30/30 Jumping Jack Workout

With this HIIT workout, you will work for 30 seconds then rest for 30 seconds before moving on to the next exercise. Beginners can rest 1 minute between rounds while more advanced exercisers will only want to perform the 30 seconds of rest.

During the 30 seconds of rest, you should try to bring your heart rate down and relax as much as possible so you can work as hard as possible during the 30 seconds. If you rest during the 30 seconds of work or don’t go hard during that time, you won’t get as much out of this workout.

Below is a 30/30 Jumping Jack Interval Workout to try out. First warm up properly then perform the circuit below for 5-8 rounds.

CIRCUIT:

• 30 seconds Jack Burpee
• 30 seconds Rest
• 30 seconds Push Up Jack
• 30 seconds Rest
• 30 seconds Squat Jack
• 30 seconds Rest
• 30 seconds Plank Jacks
• 30 seconds Rest
• 30 seconds Oblique Jacks
• 30 seconds Rest (Beginners may rest 1-2 minutes between rounds if needed)

For descriptions of all the moves, check out these 15 Jumping Jack Variations.

HIIT Workout #2: A Take on the Tabata Interval 20/10 Workout

With HIIT workouts, you can do equal work to rest, like with the 30/30 workout, or you can work double the time you rest, like the following workout, which contains 20 second intervals of work and 10 seconds of rest.

Make sure to keep moving during the 20 seconds. The intervals are short and if you rest during them, you won’t get as much out of the workout. You may find you need to regress movements as you go because 10 seconds of rest isn’t really enough time to recovery and you want to keep moving the entire 20 seconds.

This is a great workout if you are short on time since it is just over 20 minutes.

With this workout, you will complete 8 rounds of 20/10 intervals of an exercise before resting 1-2 minutes and moving on to the next exercise.

EXERCISE #1:

• 20 seconds Bull Dog Burpees
• 10 seconds Rest

Rest 1-2 minutes

EXERCISE #2:

• 20 seconds Mountain Climbers
• 10 seconds Rest

Rest 1-2 minutes

EXERCISE #3

• 20 seconds Split Squat Jumps
• 10 seconds Rest

Rest 1-2 minutes

EXERCISE #4:

• 20 seconds Donkey Kick Sit Thrus
• 10 seconds Rest

For descriptions of these moves, check out these Bodyweight Cardio Exercises.

HIIT Workout #3: Double the Rest Interval Workout

Not every interval workout should make you feel like you just keep getting more and more destroyed. Actually sometimes with interval workouts, you can go hard and then allow your heart rate to completely come down before you go again.

Workouts like this can be great to build power, especially if you do super short work intervals or even help you improve your recovery.

Below is a great Interval Workout using 20 seconds of work and 40 seconds of rest. By including more rest, you should be able to work harder each and every round than you would be able to with shorter rest. The longer rest intervals should keep your max effort closer to your true max effort than if you rested for only 20 or even 10 seconds.

However, like all Interval Workouts, you only get as much out of them as you put in. Work hard for the 20 seconds and do not rest during that time. Between rounds rest 1-2 minutes.

CIRCUIT:

• 20 seconds Crawling
• 40 seconds Rest
• 20 seconds Push Ups
• 40 seconds Rest
• 20 seconds Hop Overs
• 40 seconds Rest
• 20 seconds Skier Hops
• 40 seconds Rest
• 20 seconds Skater Hops

1-2 minutes Rest

Using these 3 HIIT Workouts, you can get in a great workout no matter where you are and you don’t need to spend hours on a piece of cardio equipment. Quick and effective…Why wouldn’t you do them?!

Cori is the owner of Redefining Strength, a functional training facility in Orange County, California focused on helping each client find their strong. She started training and writing a fitness blog in 2011 because she wanted to empower people through diet and exercise so that they can lead healthier, happier lives.