ADVANCED HIIT WORKOUTS FOR YOUR NEXT LA GYM SESSION

New Year’s Eve party invites are going out! Kick 2017 off by getting your hottest bod yet with advanced HIIT workouts for your next LA gym session! Your first stop should be revamping that workout style to something that will not only advance your exercise skills and physique, but will also keep you coming back for more!

HIIT is a standardized series of explosive, whole-body exercise movements, followed by an equal-or-lesser-than rest period. Those rest periods can mean taking an actual recovery to just taking a breath. You can also keep those rest periods active in the sense that it would require only half of the work capacity of your peak intervals. Either way, during each of your intervals, you should be working at your fullest capacity. These workouts often burn up to 500 calories an hour! HIIT also strengthens your heart, increases your metabolism, and gives you a start and end point to help with workout motivation.

Ok, so now that we know HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) is time efficient, challenging, and overall awesome, maybe you’d like to explore a more advanced approach. When you’ve become somewhat of a seasoned pro at HIIT, take the next step into increasing your workout difficulty with these more advanced HIIT workouts for your next LA gym session!

HIIT #1: Standard Circuit

Equipment Needed: Treadmill and a medium set of free weights
Total Time: 62 minutes

• Warm up – 5 minute walk on the treadmill

• Treadmill sprints – 30 seconds on followed by 30 seconds rest. 3x.

• Rest – 1 minute

• Jump squats – 30 seconds on followed by 30 seconds rest. 3x. 
Stand with feet hip width apart. Bend the knees and lower down into a squat with your shoulders back and abs engaged. Jump into the air and land softly back into that squat.

• Rest – 1 minute

• Burpees with a push-up – 30 seconds on followed by 30 seconds rest. 3x.
Crouch down and place your hands onto the floor. Jump or step back into plank and lower down into a push-up. Straighten the arms and either jump, or step your feet forward up to your hands.

• Lateral bounds – 30 seconds on followed by 30 seconds rest. 3x.
These are plyometric jumps right to left. See how far you can jump!

• Rest – 1 minute

• Man-makers – 30 seconds on followed by 30 seconds rest. 3x.
Start in plank with your hands on your free weights. Row your right, then left arm in towards your ribcage. From there, jump or step your feet forward up to your hands. Draw your abs in and lift your weights up to your shoulders as you stand up. Then push the weights up to an overhead press.

• Rest – 1 minute

• Treadmill sprints – 45 seconds on followed by 45 seconds rest. 3x.

• Repeat jump squats, burpees, lateral bounds, and man-makers each with a longer 45-second interval and rest time.

• Cool down – 5 minutes

HIIT #2: Sports-Themed Circuit

Equipment Needed: Medicine ball and a jump rope
Total Time: 30 minutes

• Warm up – Jumping jacks for 2 minutes

• Jump rope – 1 minute

• Mountain climbers with hands on the medicine ball – 30 seconds

• Jump rope – 45 seconds  

• Squat, basketball toss and catch with medicine ball – 45 seconds

• Jump rope – 30 seconds

• Shuffle side to side across the room with a push-up at the end with hands on the medicine ball – 1 minute

• Jump rope – 15 seconds

 • Boxing abs – 1.15 minutes
Sit on the floor with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground. Lean your torso back and cross punch right to left.

• Jump rope – 15 seconds

• Rest – 1 minute

• Walking lunges with a medicine ball twist – 1.15 minutes
Alternate lunges across the room. While holding the medicine ball, twist the ball towards the front leg.

• Jump rope – 30 seconds

• Speedskaters with the medicine ball – 1 minute  
Hold the medicine ball out in front of you. Then jump right to left while extending a leg behind you and across like a speedskater.

• Jump rope – 45 seconds

• Run in place with medicine ball held overhead – 45 seconds

• Jump rope – 1 minute

• Row the boat abs – 30 seconds
In a seated position with your knees bent and feet flat, lean your torso back and turn your upper body right to left as if you were rowing a boat.

• Repeat both circuits one more time!

HIIT #3: Core-Centered Circuit

Equipment Needed: Two yoga blocks
Total Time: 15 minutes

• High knees – 1 minute

• Walkouts with yoga block held in between thighs – 1 minute

• Forearm plank with hip dips – 1 minute

• Hold forearm plank and pick up one foot – 30 seconds each leg

• Burpees and a push-up with the yoga block in between your thighs – 1 minute

• Jumping jacks – 1 minute

• Sumo squat standing on the yoga blocks – 1 minute

• Crunches on your back with the yoga block in between thighs and feet flat on the floor – 1 minute

• Crunches with the block in between your thighs and one leg extended into the air – 30 seconds each side

• Plyometric lunges – 1 minute
Start in a lunge position with one foot in front of the other and jump switch so that the opposite leg is in front.

• Triceps dips off yoga blocks – 1 minute
Sit on the floor with two yoga blocks behind you at medium or its tallest height. Place your palms on them with your fingertips pointed forwards. Push your body up and down by bending and straightening your arms.

• Reaches with yoga block on your feet – 1 minute
Lay flat on the floor with your feet up in the air and your legs straight. Place the block on top of your feet and straighten the legs back up towards the ceiling. Clasp the hands behind your head and crunch up to your feet without knocking the block down.

• Pass the yoga block – 1 minute
Lay flat on the floor with the yoga block between your ankles. Lift your legs up while holding the yoga block and pass them to your hands. With the yoga block, reach your arms above your head and lower your legs down. Alternate between passing the block between your feet and hands.

• Alternating front kicks with toe touches – 1 minute
Come up to stand and kick your right leg out in front of you and reach for it with your left hand. Alternate back and forth.

• Alternating lateral lunge – 1 minute 
With toes pointed forwards, step out to the right with your right foot and bend your right knee into a side lunge. Come back to center and go back the other way!

Added Bonus: Try These Gold’s Gym Fitness Classes

• BODYATTACK™

If you haven’t tried this sports-inspired HIIT cardio workout, get to it! This formatted class helps to build strength, stamina, and stability. Your coaches will bring you through a series of dynamic exercises that have an athletic flare and cater to just about anyone looking to advance their usual sweat and lift.

• P90X LIVE

Never have a lame workout again with Tony Horton’s classic P90X LIVE workouts which provide considerably intense routines built with resistance and strength training, plenty of core work, plyometrics, and more! Using the science of Muscle Confusion™ which helps to never bore you or your muscles, this class won’t let anyone go near a plateau!

• Cardio Kickboxing

Think of a normal boxing match. Each punch uses a lot of power with each strike and then there’s a brief moment of lower intensity activity. The same goes for kickboxing class. However, cardio kickboxing heightens this intervalling process and uses your whole body by adding kicks to the workout. Whole body with power intervals? You betcha!

Always have a few extra workouts on hand just in case you find yourself without a plan, or with an extra 30-60 minutes to squeeze in a workout. Limit any room for excuses by staying prepared! Burn fat, build stamina, and gain strength with advanced HIIT workouts for your next LA gym session! What’s your favorite HIIT workout?