Forget hours running on the treadmill or the elliptical machine at the gym — if you’re short on time and looking for a way to torch calories, you’re better off doing a quick HIIT workout. You don’t just burn calories during a HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) workout itself. Your body continues to burn calories after you’ve stopped — something referred to as the Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC), or the afterburn effect.
There are several reasons why this happens. Firstly, during HIIT training, your body’s oxygen demand exceeds the supply, so your body needs to replenish this post-exercise, and this in turn burns calories. Your body will also be repairing muscle tissues, converting lactate back to glucose, and reducing its body temperature, all of which use energy.
HIIT training can also boost your metabolism post-workout, leading to an increased calorie expenditure.
But where do you start? If you’ve got 20 minutes and bucket loads of motivation, I’ve found the workout for you. Read on to find out more.
What is the workout?
The workout, devised by YouTube trainers nobadaddiction, promises to burn 500 calories. But how many calories you burn will depend on your fitness levels, how much you weigh, and other factors. As a reminder, you can’t spot-reduce fat — if you’re looking to lose weight, you’ll need to focus on your overall body fat percentage, your diet, and your cardio levels.
The workout takes 20 minutes to complete and is equipment-free, so you can do it from anywhere. If you’re a complete beginner or you’re returning to exercise following an injury or pregnancy, you might want to check in with a personal trainer beforehand to ensure you’re moving with good form. It’s also a good idea to complete the workout in front of a mirror so you can keep an eye on how you’re moving.
All of the exercises in this workout are high intensity, so this might not be suitable for everyone. The aim of the workout is to move quickly to get your heart rate up and really push yourself.
You’ll do each exercise for 30 seconds, followed by a 15-second rest, and there are two rounds in total.
What are the benefits?
As mentioned above, there are several benefits to HIIT training, one of which is that you’ll burn a lot of calories in a short amount of time. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t hit the 500 calories mentioned in the workout description — remember that the nature of HIIT training means that EPOC effect can last for several hours after your workout has finished, depending on the intensity you’ve worked at.
HIIT training can also help you reduce fat and build muscle in your body, as well as improve your aerobic and anaerobic performance in a short amount of time. One study found that people who did three 20-minute HIIT workouts a week lost 2kg of body fat over three months, without making any changes to their diet. They also saw a 17% reduction in their visceral fat levels.
What are you waiting for? Grab an exercise mat and give this one a go. Just don’t hate us during those plank jacks!
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- I'm a personal trainer — 3 things I wish I had known about stretching and mobility when I started exercising
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