If you’re looking for fast results and can’t commit to hours of training each week, then HIIT is your best bet. Its high-burst exercises crank up your metabolism, triggering your body to burn fat, whilst boosting your overall fitness levels. Throw in a pair of dumbbells, like this high-intensity resistance training workout does, and in 20 minutes you can be on your way to building some lean muscle too.
High-intensity resistance training is the sibling of HIIT; you’re still performing short bursts of high-intensity exercises with short rest periods, but you’re adding in extra resistance, often in the form of free weights (such as kettlebells, dumbbells, or resistance bands). This stimulates muscle growth, improves muscle endurance and, according to TRX Training can burn more fat than regular resistance training.
What we like about this workout is its simplicity; it’s four exercises, each of which you’ll do for 40 seconds of work followed by a 20-second rest. You’ll complete it for a total of four rounds, with a 45-second rest between each round. Your gym water bottle is highly recommended (and a towel) as this is going to be a sweat sesh. Here’s your workout:
- Squat to front raise
- Squat followed by opposite elbow to opposite knee
- Skaters
- Squat jack into a burpee
We’ve got plenty of other HIIT workouts here on T3, like this 15-minute full-body workout. Again, it only has four exercises but it’ll leave all your muscles burning. Alternatively, if you just want to target your upper body, this 30-minute circuit will leave your biceps and triceps with a serious pump. For your lower body, try this nine-move circuit, packed with compound exercises to hit multiple muscles at once.
