Creating Your Own HIIT Workouts

It's no secret that I'm a HUGE fan of HIIT (high intensity interval training). I found HIIT almost eight years ago and it radically changed my health and fitness pursuits. I started with a 'paid-for' program called Fit Yummy Mummy which totally whipped me into shape and helped me to lose 50 pounds in about 4 months. Then, a few years later I went to another program by Dr. Sara Solomon, which further refined my health and fitness level, AND led me to my beloved speed roping! While I LOVED using both of these programs, I no longer follow them for my exercise routines, but create my own each month.

Over the years I have come to realize the importance of regularly changing up my workouts so that I do not plateau in my fitness journey. Every month I create two new HIIT workouts. I design two, 15 minute HIIT sequences (that I call my 'A' and 'B' workouts). I rotate these workouts every other day ~ 6 days a week ~ Monday through Saturday. I take Sundays off as a day of rest. 

To create my own workouts I utilize the following three easy steps:

1. Determine my time sequence: The bases of a HIIT exercise routine is doing a set amount of exercises as fast and as hard as you can for a set amount of time and then resting and/or setting up your next exercise. Some commonly used times would be a 30/30 (30 seconds of exercise and 30 seconds of rest) or 50/10 (50 seconds of exercise and 10 seconds of rest). I use a 50/10 split. Also I decide how long I plan to do my HIIT. Typically they are 15 to 20 minutes long. Currently I do two, 15 minute HIIT workouts, six days a week.
2. Decide my cardio: I prefer my workouts to be full body workouts and for them to include both cardio and strength training. I plan for every other exercise to be cardio. These days I'm doing speed roping for my cardio. But, some other exercises for cardio could include: high knees, bunny hops, speed skaters, jumping jacks, etc. These can easily be altered for low impact.
3. Decide my strength: I'm a huge believer in strength training for everyone! I use dumbbells, weighted balls, kettle bells, and sometimes body weight is sufficient for some exercises. As I mentioned above I rotate between cardio and strength training exercises, for my strength exercises I might do something like curls, squats, or planks, but the list could go on and on; as long as I'm using appropriate weights and intentional to continue to add weights as I get stronger. 

To help find exercises to use in my HIIT workouts, I peruse Pinterest and Instagram. There are so many folks out there sharing free exercises. I never copy them, but I gain inspiration from what they share to create my own exercise sequences. 

HIIT has changed my life in an extremely positive way. In a season of life where I am needed at home and have a very limited time to exercise, HIIT has been a life saver ~ or rather healthy mom lifesaver! I am able to get a highly effective workout completed every day, in the comfort of my own home, for relatively free, and actually see continues results. Seriously, it doesn't get better much better than that. HIIT has worked so well for me I can't imagine ever using anything else to reach my personal fitness goals.

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer