Holy HIIT

Determined to turn things around and get back in to shape but short on time, I decided to give high intensity interval training a try.  Most of the HIIT workouts I saw seemed, well, impossible, but I saw a couple of workouts on DC Fit Crasher's blog that seemed somewhat do-able.  I combined a couple of them, subbed out some items I wasn't familiar with for some I knew how to do, and came up with this:

• 30 burpees with calf raises instead of jumps
• 30 spiderman push-ups
• 30 switch jump lunges
• 30 V pushups
• 30 squats with alternating single-leg front kick
• 30 tricep dips
• 30 side to side lunges
• 30 V-ups
• 30 mountain climbers
• 30 toe touches
• jump rope 100 reps in between each item above

I spent 8 minutes on the rowing machine to warm up before starting this routine, which ended up being totally unnecessary.  Halfway through the burpees my heart rate was up and I knew I'd bitten off more than I could chew.  I decided to adjust each item to 20 reps and cut down the jump rope to 50 reps.  By the time I got through the squats, my heart rate was through the roof and I was feeling a bit nauseous, so I decided to ditch the jump rope entirely.  Needless to say, it was an excellent workout.

I'll definitely be trying this again until I'm able to complete it as it's written.  It only took 20 minutes (granted, I cut it down a bit), required minimal equipment, and moved quickly enough to keep me entertained.  If you find yourself running low on time for workouts and/or looking for something new to do, I highly recommend it.