Turbo Fire Review: 15 Minute HIITThe principle behind a HIIT workout
is to push your body into the red zone, to exercise at your absolute
all-out max. What happens at that level of exertion is that your body
rapidly runs out of available oxygen to feed your muscles, forcing you
to operate in the anaerobic zone. This has a host of benefits, and
causes your body to burn fat at an advanced rate, while forcing your
body to adapt rapidly to this level of effort. However, due to the
intense nature of such exercises, they cannot be performed for more than
5 minutes or so; if you're able to go that long, even with the interval
breaks in between, than you're simply not pushing yourself hard enough. Chalene structures her HIIT workout like this: 35 seconds of HIIT, then a 30-40 second break in between. These breaks are designed to allow you to catch your breath back, and also give her time to walk you through the next HIIT routine. There are three routines in all, and they are made up of such moves as leaping jumping jacks, low blocks, punches, lunges and high knees. The magic lies in how Chalene strings them all together, so that you flow from one move to the next, helping those hellish 35 seconds of all out effort actually seem fun and challenging in a novel way that just running a sprint could never compare too.
The First Set
Starts off with squat jumps, where you lower down into a squat, then explode into the air. Do a few of these, and then you transition into Ski Runs (think of cross-country ski motions), interspersed with low blocks where you jump and spin so that each arm blocks toward the front. Finish it off with 4 Fist Punch Jacks and a final brutal combo of 4 Air Jacks, and you're done. Repeat 3 times, and you're a third of the way through ;)
The Second Set
Starts of with 2 Fist Punch Jacks, then segues into High Knees, followed by another pair of Fist Punch Jacks, some more High Knees, and then into a Tap the Floor switch move and finished off by Leaping Lunges. Repeat three times.
The Final Set
Starts off with 8 Runs, followed by 2 of your old friends Fist Punch Jacks, two high Jumps, Out Ins, and then some High Knees.
And that's it! Incredibly short, incredibly hard to do, and you reap the rewards for long after your workout is finished.
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