A Beginner’s Guide To HIIT Workouts At Home For Weight Loss

You don’t need a fancy gym or even much space to do a full-body workout. While most people know that physical activity is healthy and especially aids in weight loss, most people don’t get enough. Whatever the constraint – limited access to a gym, or busy schedules, it is possible to find exercises that can suit your lifestyle. One popular workout is the high-intensity interval training (HIIT).

What Is High-intensity Interval Training?

HIIT involves short bursts of intense exercise alternated with low-intensity recovery periods. It is perhaps the most time-efficient way to exercise. Typically, a HIIT workout will range from 10 to 30 minutes in duration. The actual activity being performed varies but can include sprinting, biking, jump rope, or other bodyweight exercises.

7 Major Health Benefits Of HIIT Workouts

A full body HIIT workout has a range of benefits and plays an important role in weight loss.

1. Burns more calories than traditional exercises in a short duration
2. Increases your metabolism
3. Helps you lose visceral fat
4. Helps in increasing muscle mass
5. Improves oxygen consumption
6. Lowers heart rate and blood pressure
7. Reduces blood sugar

Top 10 HIIT Exercises To Try At Home

Ready to get your HIIT on at home? This 30-minute HIIT workout will make you feel fitter and more energised. This is suitable for people of all fitness levels and will leave you sweaty by the end of the workout.

Workout Directions:

1. Do each move in this full body HIIT workout below for 30 seconds of work, 30 seconds of rest. 
2. At the end of each circuit, rest for 60 seconds. 
3. Each circuit will be eleven minutes total, including the rest period. 
4. Do the entire circuit 3 times.

1. Butt Kicks

HIIT workouts for beginners start with a simple warm-up exercise like the butt kicks. This gets your body moving and ready for the main workout.

How To:

1. Start standing with feet under hips and hands at sides.
2. Bend left leg and raise the heel to glute, then quickly return it to start and repeat on the right side.

2. Walkout

This exercise is an easy HIIT workout at home. It helps in strengthening the upper body and is a great workout for your arms and shoulders.

How To:

1. Start by standing at the end of the mat with arms at sides.
2. Bend over and place palms on the floor then walk hands out to a high plank position. 
3. Pause, then reverse the movement to return to start.

3. Forward Lunges

Lunges are a must in the HIIT exercises list. They work your entire lower body and help strengthen your hamstrings and quads.

How To:

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, and your hands on your hips. 
2. Step forward with your right foot and bend both knees to 90 degrees to sink into a lunge.
3. Return to your starting position and repeat on the other side.

4. Push-ups

HIIT workouts for beginners include pushups. This is one of the most basic movements and is an essential step towards strength and increasing endurance and stamina.

How To:

1. Lie on the mat with your palms and toes on the mat. 
2. Slowly lower your body until you touch the floor before rising again.

5. Russian Twists

For a HIIT workout that strengthens your core, Russian twists are a necessity.

How To:

1. Sit on the floor, with your heels touching the floor and your hands at your chest. 
2. Twist from side to side.

6. Burpees

Burpees are a form of cardio exercise that works the entire body. It is extremely helpful for increasing metabolism and quickly breaking out a sweat.

How To:

1. Stand with feet apart. Jump up and land, then jump forward into a plank position. 
2. Push back up and reverse the movement to return to start.

7. Mountain Climbers

This exercise will get you results quickly and is an effective abs workout. 

How To:

1. Start in a high plank position. 
2. Bring your right knee toward the chest, return to a plank, and quickly repeat with the left knee.

8. Plank Jacks

In this HIIT workout at home, you combine two exercises – planks and jumping jacks to increase the complexity of the exercise and result in a total body burn for maximum results.

How To:

1. Start in a forearm plank position.
2. Jump feet out past shoulders to a wide-angle, then jump them back in again.

9. Star Jumps

A complete cardio exercise that targets all the major muscles of the body to improve the mobility and flexibility of the body. 

How To:

1. Stand with feet together and arms at sides.
2. Bend knees to crouch down, then jump up into the air bringing legs wide open and arms out overhead.
3. Softly land back into the bent position.

10. Jump Squats

Squats are the number one exercise recommended for your glutes. By adding in a layer of difficulty, this provides the intensity of the cardio while targeting your lower body muscles.

How To:

1. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, toes forward.
2. Bend knees and lower down into a squat.
3. Then jump up as high as possible off the floor, with arms swinging backwards.

Avoid Injuries With These Precautionary Tips

Here are a few guidelines for HIIT at home before starting the practice:

• Stay hydrated and eat right. Dehydration may affect your exercise performance and as this is intensive, eat healthy portions of proteins to avoid any issues in the body
• If you haven’t exercised in a while do not jump straight into a HIIT routine as this can cause muscle soreness or injury. Begin with low-intensity workouts and slowly increase it as your body adapts to the exercises.
• Maintain proper form as improper form can increase fatigue in the body and also cause injury
• Warming up before the routine is necessary to avoid pulling a muscle or tendon.
• Practice regularly and slowly build your strength each day
• Overtraining can lead to strained joints, poor sleep, increased risk of injury, and fatigue. Ideally, 2-3 times a week is recommended

FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How long should each HIIT workout last?

A. Experts recommend keeping the workout between 30-45 minutes based on your fitness goals for maximum effectiveness.

Q. How many times a week should you do HIIT?

A. This workout should be done 2-3 times in a week with enough time in between for recovery. You can choose to add different workouts like strength training, walking, or running on the other days of the week. This will give a good balance between cardio and other forms of exercise.

Q. Can you modify HIIT workouts?

A. You can easily modify your HIIT workout. You can choose to do a lower impact level of an exercise, or modify the time of movement and rest in each circuit, and even modify, add, or remove certain exercises based on your health goals and current fitness levels. Please consult a trained professional before making any modifications to avoid injury.

Eating right is as important as a routinely workout in your process towards your weight goals. Watch this video to debunk some common myths surrounding weight loss!