Working out can sometimes feel like a chore. Especially if it's been a minute (or maybe several years) since you last voluntarily broke a sweat, outside of maybe chasing a runaway dog, or speed-cleaning before unexpected guests arrive.

But what if there was a way to get a really effective workout without spending hours at the gym or needing a degree in exercise science? Enter the world of HIIT.

What are HIIT Workouts?

HIIT stands for High-Intensity Interval Training. Don't let the fancy name scare you. The concept is quite simple.

Imagine you're doing an exercise – maybe jumping jacks, burpees, or cycling. Instead of doing it at a steady, moderate pace for a long time, you do it really hard for a short burst. Then, you get a short rest or do the exercise at a very low intensity to recover. Then you repeat this cycle several times. The goal is to push yourself nearly to the limit during the high intensity portions of the work-out.

Think of it like a series of mini-sprints rather than a long, steady jog. This style of exercise is designed to make your body work hard and get your heart-rate up in those brief intense periods, then allow yourself to recover to repeat the process. That's the "interval training" part – alternating between high effort and recovery.

The duration of the intervals can vary widely. There’s no magic length of time for the high intensity and recovery intervals; these can vary depending on your level of fitness, your fitness goals, the exact exercise you’re doing, and time constraints. Generally, the high intensity and rest intervals each last in the range of 30 seconds to 4 minutes and the entire work-out duration is typically between 10 and 30 minutes (Guo et al. 2023).

Who is HIIT Good For?

HIIT workouts can be a great option for a lot of people, especially if you're:

• Short on Time: Factoring in time for warm-up and cool-down, a typical HIIT workout can be started and completed in 20-40 minutes.
• Looking for Efficiency: Because of the high intensity, you can potentially get significant fitness benefits in less time compared to longer, moderate workouts (Guo et al. 2023).
• Easily Bored: The constant switching between high effort and rest keeps things moving and can prevent that "are we there yet?" feeling you might get on a long treadmill session.
• Not a Fan of Cardio or Weights: The cool thing about HIIT training is that it has benefits of both cardio training (like running, swimming, and biking) and strength training (weight-lifting) as it engages both the aerobic and anaerobic energy systems. You don’t need to understand what that means, just know that that this is good (Tabata et al. 1996; Atakan et al. 2021)
• Ready to Boost Your Fitness: If you've been doing some walking or light activity and want to step it up, HIIT can be a good progression.

The Benefits of Trying a HIIT Workout

Okay, so you're working hard for those short bursts. What do you get for your effort?

1. Improved Cardiovascular Health: By pushing your heart rate up quickly during the high-intensity intervals, you're giving your heart and lungs a fantastic workout. This can help improve your endurance and overall heart health (Wisloff et al. 2007).
2. Efficient Calorie Burning: You burn a good number of calories during the workout. But here's a cool part: because your body has worked so hard, it continues to burn calories at a higher than regular rate after the workout as it recovers and gets back to normal. This is sometimes called the "afterburn effect."
3. Time-Saving: need I say more on this point? I don’t think so.
4. Can Be Done Almost Anywhere: Many HIIT workouts require little to no equipment, meaning you can do them at home, in a park, or even in a hotel room. HIIT work-outs often consist of bodyweight exercise movements like burpees, jumping jackes, jump rope, mountain climbers, and squat jumps, just to name a few of the possibilities.

Hold Up! A Word of Caution

While HIIT is awesome, it's intense. If you're starting from zero or haven't worked out consistently in a while, diving headfirst into the most extreme HIIT routine you find online is probably not a good idea. Nobody wants to be that person who “pulled something” because they got a little too ambitious with their exercise.

Start slow and be flexible. Maybe start with a HIIT work-out that has 1 minute high intensity intervals and 1 minute recovery intervals rather than one that has 4 minutes of high intensity and 1 minute of recovery. Choose exercises that you feel comfortable with at a lower intensity and that you can sustain for the duration of a work-out. If you haven’t been exercising for a while, a whole bunch of burpees might not be the best move, but cycling, stairs, or jumping-jacks may be more realistic.

Make sure to listen to your body; this is crucial. If something feels sharply wrong, stop. Don't push through pain if it feels like something other than your muscles burning. Know your limits and respect them! It's okay to modify exercises or take a slightly longer rest if you need to. You're building fitness for the long haul, not trying to win a medal.

It's important to note that HIIT doesn’t come without risks. If you have high blood pressure, heart disease, or other health conditions, it is best to consult with a doctor or trained health professional about your exercise.

Tips for a Successful HIIT Workout

To keep your HIIT journey fun and injury-free, keep these points in mind:

• Warm-Up: Before you start your intervals, spend 5-10 minutes doing some light cardio (like jogging) and dynamic stretches (like leg swings, lunges, skips, and arm circles) to get your muscles ready for action.
• Cool-Down: After your last interval, spend 5-10 minutes doing something light; simply walking is a great option. For some people, stretching can be useful too. 
• Focus on Form: Especially when you're tired during those high-intensity bursts, it's easy for your form to get sloppy. Poor form is a fast track to injury. If you're unsure about the correct way to do an exercise, look up videos or consider a session with a trainer. It's better to do an exercise correctly at a slightly lower intensity than incorrectly at a high intensity.
• Wear Proper Footwear: Make sure you have supportive shoes appropriate for the type of movement you're doing.
• Stay Hydrated: Drink water before, during, and after your workout.

Ready to Give HIIT a Try? What to do…

• Choose your own adventure: what’s a movement you know you can do with little thought? Perhaps squats, mountain-climbers, or jumping jacks, or maybe even a combination of things. Just choose something and get started! Do it almost as hard as you can for the amount of time that feels right, probably at least 30 seconds, take your rest period, which can be the same length of time as your high intensity period, then repeat it. Continue the process for at least 15 minutes.
• Let the machine guide you: if you have access to a stair-climber machine, a stationary bike, or a treadmill, the simplicity and continuous movement on these machines can make a HIIT work-out mentally effortless. Choose an intensity level that is difficult but that you can maintain for 1 to 4 minutes, then choose an intensity level that is easy for your rest period. Simply cycle between these two intensity levels for 20 minutes or so then call it a wrap.

No clue where to start? Look to the internet: We all know there are tons of YouTube work-outs and work-out plans out there on the internet, and the same is true for HIIT work-outs. So search the web, find a plan, and like Nike, just do it. Just don’t waste your time searching for too long. And if you rather not search at all, here are some helpful guides from Healthline, 6 Best HIIT Exercises: With and Without Equipment, and from Tom’s Guide, Best HIIT workouts for beginners you can do at home with or without weights.

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Written by Luke Johnson