HIIT Cardio Workout: 10-Minute Fat-Burning Routine

If you’re wondering how to lose fat fast, it’s important to know that there isn’t a quick fix or an overnight solution. However convincing marketing campaigns out there selling, “magic” diet pills, fixes or fads are usually misleading or downright deceptive. Losing fat long-term happens steadily but surely.

That said, if you’re looking for an efficient method to target fat, HIIT might be your best bet – especially this HIIT cardio workout. The fact that the intervals are short means you’ll push yourself harder than you would if you were doing long laborious cardio sessions or practicing endurance training. Because HIIT exercises only last around 15-30 seconds each, you’re pushing yourself to your physical edge, which is usually only sustainable for short interval periods.

These intense bursts of energy will stimulate your metabolism to keep burning well beyond the completion of the workout, as your body takes a few hours to reregulate its usual rate of expenditure. Your body will continue to benefit from the increased calorie-burn post HIIT workout, even if you’re just relaxing on the sofa! 

You know about HIIT, but what about LIIT? Take a look at our article on low-intensity interval training and see if it's right for you.

10-minute HIIT cardio workout

One of our in-house fitness coaches has created a 10-minute HIIT cardio workout that’ll get your heart rate up and challenge your endurance. Of course, you can always adapt some exercises according to your current fitness level.

Here’s the workout breakdown:

Round 1 (repeat three times)

• Side lunges – 30 seconds

• Skaters (fast) – 15 seconds

• Rest – 15 seconds

Round 2 (repeat three times)

• Sumo squats – 30 seconds

• Jumping squats – 15 seconds

• Rest – 15 seconds

Round 3 (repeat three times)

• Overhead forward lunges – 30 seconds

• Fast feet – 15 seconds

• Rest – 15 seconds

Fat-burning exercises

Let’s take a look at the exercises in Amé’s HIIT cardio workout. We’ve made sure you have a variety of movements and enough activity to push your heart rate up.

Side lunges

Muscles involved: Glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings

Directions:

1. Stand straight with your feet hip-width apart

2. Step your right foot out to the right side keeping your toes pointing forward and staying low

3. Shift your weight toward the right foot, bending your right knee and pushing your hips back

4. Drive weight into your right heel and straighten your leg, returning to the start position with feet together

5. Repeat on the other side

Tips:

• Keep your neck long with shoulders back and down away from your ears

• Engage your core

• Sit back on your heels

Skaters (fast)

Muscles involved: Quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, glutes, abs

Directions:

1. Start with your feet wider than shoulder-width apart

2. Jump sideways to the left, landing on your left leg, keeping the right leg up without letting it touch the floor

3. Reverse direction to the right

Tips:

• Keep your neck long and shoulders back, no slouching

• Engage your core

• Plant your foot firmly on the floor

Sumo squats

Muscles involved: Glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, lower back, abs

Directions:

1. Stand straight with your shoulders above your hips, with feet wider than hip-width apart and toes at a 45-degree angle

2. Drop your hips back and down with your knees behind the toes and hips and ankle in line, so your knees don’t collapse inward

3. Drop your hips as low as possible

4. Drive weight into your heels and squeeze your buttocks to stand back up to the start position

Tips:

• Keep your neck long, shoulders back and down away from ears

• Maintain a straight back

• Flexibility will improve over time — try to squat deeper with each rep

• Engage your abs and extend your arms in front to balance

• To make the exercise easier, squat with your feet wider apart

Dynamic squats

Muscles involved: Glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, calves, lower back, abs

Directions:

1. Stand straight with your shoulders above your hips, feet hip-width apart and toes turned out slightly

2. Quickly drop your hips back and down below knee level with your hips and ankles in line, so your knees don’t collapse inward

3. Drive weight into your heels to explosively jump up to the center and softly land back into the start position

Tips:

• Keep your neck long, shoulders back and down away from ears

• Keep shoulders above or behind your knees

• Engage your abs and extend your arms in front for balance

• To make the exercise easier, squat with your feet wider apart

Overhead forward lunges

Muscles involved: Glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, shoulders, abs

Directions:

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and arms reaching straight up so your hands are directly above your shoulders

2. Step forward with one leg and bend at the knee to drop your hips

3. Descend until your rear knee nearly touches the floor and your front knee is directly above your ankle

4. Drive through the heel of your leading foot and push to return to the start position

Tips:

• Don’t let your front knee extend beyond your toes

• Keep your neck long, shoulders back and down away from ears and directly above hips

• Keep your core engaged and arms straight at all times

• Flexibility will improve with time, so aim to extend your range of motion with each step

Fast feet

Muscles involved: Calves, quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes

Directions:

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart and arms at your sides

2. Push off on the balls of your feet

3. Run on the spot, lightly and quickly

Tips:

• Maintain good posture throughout with your neck long, shoulders back, no slouching

If you enjoyed our quick fat-burning routine and you want to learn more about HIIT, here's everything you need to know about HIIT Training.

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