How To Design Your Own HIIT Program

Do you want to know how to design a killer cardio workout? Here are a few awesome ways of designing a program that will guarantee fat loss.

First, what are the basics of fat loss? Read this HIIT workout post, beginner’s guide to cardio and more fat loss workouts if you want to learn about High Intensity Interval Training and other styles of training designed to make you lose weight.

How do I design my own fat loss program?

This post will give you some tools to design your own cardio program in case you are running out of ideas during the global lockdown. In this post, I start by breaking down what intervals are efficient at fat loss for beginners, intermediate and advanced athletes. I would perform this style of training just a few times a week, with three times being an optimal frequency to work towards getting to.

High intensity interval training is designed to get your body burning fat even after your workout, it therefore needs adequate recovery periods in between training sessions.

What is your training level?

For beginner levels, a 15 second maximum interval at a high-intensity followed by a 1 minute rest period is a good place to start. You will have to repeat this interval 6-7 times. The exercises that you can perform during your high-intensity period will be listed below.

For intermediate levels, a 30 second interval at a high-intensity followed by a 1 minute rest works. You can repeat this interval 6-7 times as well.

For advanced levels, perform your cardio exercise at a high intensity for 45 seconds and rest for 1 minute. Repeat 6-7 times.

What are some of the exercises that you can perform at a high intensity?

Firstly, if you have access to cardio equipment like a treadmill, elliptical machine or stationary bike, then you have a good base to start from.

If you do not have access to these machines nor do you enjoy using them, then why not try giving any of the bodyweight exercises below a shot.

Bodyweight cardio exercises for HIIT workout:

1. Jumping Squats
2. Butt-kicks
3. Push ups
4. Side Lunges
5. Jumping Lunges
6. High-Knees
7. Squats
8. Mountain Climbers

How many of these exercises can I do in one workout?

Our final step is using this interval with four exercises or one chosen piece of cardiovascular equipment like a treadmill/elliptical/cycling machine.

Why four exercises? It does not have to be just four, however, I do think that a beginner will enjoy performing squats for 15 seconds, resting, side lunges for another 15, push ups and jumping lunges for the final 15 with rest periods more than simply just doing squats for the entire workout.

So it does not have to be just four exercises, it can be as many or little as you want.

In conclusion, remember that consistency is king when it comes to getting actual results which in this case is healthy and sustainable fat loss through HIIT training.

I hope that you enjoyed this post on how to design an HIIT workout, please let me know what you thought in the comments!