Home HIIT workouts are just about the most effective way to get fit possible. For starters, you’re exercising at home, which saves time getting to and from the gym (as well as the cost of a membership), and with HIIT (high-intensity interval training) you can fit a workout into just 20-30 minutes.
Unsurprisingly, the popularity of home HIIT workouts exploded during the COVID-related lockdowns of the past few years, and there are lots of guided sessions available to those new to HIIT. You can find workouts on YouTube or use one of the best workout apps to find appropriate sessions for you.
If you’re simply looking for a HIIT workout that’s suitable for beginners, then we’ve got just the thing. The workout has been created by Joe Mitton, founder of MittFit, and it cycles through five fundamental exercises to work muscles all over the body while getting your heart pumping.
Home HIIT Workout
Run through the following five exercises, doing as many reps as you can in 50 seconds. Rest for ten seconds, then move on to the next exercise. Don’t worry if you need to take more rest when you’re starting out – ten seconds of rest is short for HIIT. An interval timer on a fitness tracker like a Fitbit or Garmin device will help you keep tabs on the time, or you can use a dedicated interval timer – there are web-based ones, as well as apps on the App Store or Google Play.
You can perform the sequence just once for a short five-minute HIIT taster, repeat it three times for a 15-minute workout or six times for a 30-minute session. Adjust your intensity according to how many rounds you plan on doing – you should aim to maintain the same intensity throughout, so dial it down if you’re going to work for 30 minutes.
Before you start make sure you perform some dynamic stretches to warm up and spend some time winding down afterwards to avoid stiff and sore muscles later.
Here’s Mitton to run you through the workout.
1 Squat
Time 50sec Rest 10sec
Stand with your feet slightly wider than hip-width apart. Bend at your knees and hips to lower, pushing your bum back as if you were sitting down. When your thighs are roughly parallel to the ground, push through your heels to stand back up. Keep your back straight throughout.
2 Press-up
Time 50sec Rest 10sec
Get on all fours with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and your body forming a straight line from your head to your heels. Lower your chest to the floor, then push back up. Go from your toes to your knees if you need to make it easier.
3 Lunge
Time 50sec Rest 10sec
Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Keeping your torso upright, step forwards, bending both knees and lowering until your rear knee is about to touch the floor, then return to standing. Alternate legs with each rep.
4 Jumping jacks
Time 50sec Rest 10sec
With your feet almost together and hands by your sides, jump your feet wider than hip-width apart and simultaneously raise your hands to the sides, bringing them back together above your head. Reverse the movements back to standing.
5 Crunch
Time 50sec Rest 10sec
Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Using your abs muscles, raise your shoulders off the floor, pushing your chest towards your hips, then lower back to the start.
Try One Of These Home HIIT Workouts Next
We have a wealth of HIIT workouts to help you pick your next workout, – so many, in fact, that you’ll be at risk of decision fatigue. If the above has whetted your appetite, allow us to point you in the direction of the two most popular HIIT workouts.
30-Minute Functional HIIT Circuit
This session comes from a branch of F45, a global brand of studios which, in normal times, holds intense group classes. One move requires a kettlebell and another dumbbells, but you can either improvise (a backpack loaded with books can work for both) or skip that pair. You’ll still work up a sweat. The format of this session is work for 35 seconds, rest for 25 seconds, and do three rounds in total.
- Kettlebell swing
- Burpee
- Bear crawl
- High knees
- Press-up
- Star jump
- Dumbbell overhead press
- Bodyweight squat
- Bicycle crunch
See the HIIT circuit
Joe Wicks’s Four-Week Fat Loss Workout Plan
The godfather of HIIT himself blessed us with this bodyweight plan, which asks you to do four 15-minute workouts a week. There are five moves in each workout. Perform each exercise for 30 seconds each, then rest for no more than two minutes. Repeat that sequence three more times. Here’s Monday’s workout.
See the Joe Wicks HIIT workouts
