This year, I’m going to get into shape. It does not matter that I’ve made this same resolution every year for more than a decade, or that I gave up after a month each time. In 2024, I mean it. Unlike years past, my motivation is not aesthetic but utilitarian: I want to get fit so I stop feeling like garbage. As I enter my late 30s, I’m struggling with the health issues that come with the terrain—high blood pressure, lower-back pain, and persistently achy joints. On top of those, I’m a new mom, chronically sleep-deprived and exhausted. My six-month-old son saps all my energy but also steels my resolve to protect it.
With all my new motivation, I first had to find a workout regime. Scrolling through social media for inspiration, I saw athletes of every variety across my feed. There were people sweating it out at a Navy SEAL–style workout, a Muay Thai–inspired kickboxing class, and a workout designed and taught by former inmates. Yoga isn’t just yoga anymore; it can be hot, aerial, acrobatic, Drake, and even goat. Personal trainers shout commands through media including YouTube, VR headsets, and, uh, mirrors. You can work out alone or in a group (or alone in a group, if Peloton is your thing). For the graceful, there is barre; for the nerds, there is a Lord of the Rings–themed app that logs exercise as movement from the Shire to Mordor.
We are living in a golden age of fitness: With workouts to accommodate every skill level, interest, time commitment, and social capacity, it should be easier than ever for novices to find one and get started. But it’s not. Instead of finding a workout that suited me, choice overload left me even more inert, and less motivated, than I was when I started my search. If you’re serious about committing to a fitness regime, choosing one isn’t just about moving your body. It could shape your future schedule, lifestyle, and even identity. To others, the way you exercise might say something about who you are, whether that’s a marathon maniac or a #PelotonMom. To the exercise newbie, this can make the stakes feel dauntingly high.
The stakes are high. Exercise will lead to results only if you do it consistently, potentially spending hours on it each week. It’s essential to pick right. I was never fitter than when I played in a basketball league in my early 20s and was held accountable for going to games and practice. Since then, I’ve only dabbled in activities—like kickboxing, spinning, and something called Dance Church. None of them stuck. In the search for the ideal workout, baseline criteria include practical concerns such as location and affordability. No matter how exciting the class, a gym that’s out of the way or prohibitively expensive is not one you will attend regularly. Then there is what I call doability—as in, Can my body do that? Answering honestly can eliminate unlikely options, such as the gruelingcircuit that turned actors into Spartans for the movie 300. Being too pragmatic, however, can also stifle fitness aspirations. If your goal is an eight-pack, the “lazy-girl workout” probably isn’t going to cut it.
Ruling out options based on practicality only whittles the list down so much. The next step is harder: figuring out what you actually want to do. For a goal as broad as “get in shape,” you can drive yourself crazy trying to find the answer. Picking a workout that ticks all the boxes is virtually impossible, because there will always be other options that seem better. At first, streaming Yoga With Adriene in my living room seemed like a cheap, enjoyable, and physically demanding option, but it lacked a social component to hold me accountable. Programs inspired by high-intensity interval training (HIIT), such as F45, promise to get people ripped—fast!—but exercising under a constant deadline is my idea of hell. I found flaws in workouts as varied as rock climbing, rugby, Orangetheory, Tabata, Aqua Tabata, and Tabata-style spinning.
Adding to the gravity of the decision is what it signals about who you are. Personal fitness is rarely personal these days. Stereotypes inform the culture of certain workouts and how their adherents are seen: Indoor rock climbing is associated with tech bros, running with intensely driven morning people, weight lifting with gym rats. Many boutique workouts come with even more distinct personality types, perpetuated by the communities they spawn in real life and on social media. Perhaps the most recognizable is the CrossFit Bro, an aggressive, bandanna-wearing jock who can’t stop talking about CrossFit. Pure Barre and SoulCycle call to mind lithe, athleisure-clad smoothie drinkers; Peloton, the kind of person who can afford a Peloton.
New identities can also form by virtue of the lifestyle shifts that these workouts can bring about. Friendships are nurtured by sweat spilled during class; exercise may even shift eating habits. For some, fitness programs become so embedded in daily life that they begin to resemble institutionalized religion. In an extreme case of life imitating exercise, a couple who met at CrossFit got married and served a paleo cake at their wedding, which was held during a CrossFit competition. Because exercise is so good at fostering community, the search for a workout is sometimes described as finding “your tribe.”
These stereotypes are not always true, of course, and they can also be aspirational. Embarrassed as I am to admit it, I would love to be a smoothie girl. But the notion of joining a tribe makes pedaling on a stationary bike or joining a rock-climbing gym feel much more consequential than the activities themselves. I was getting nowhere in my own fitness search, so I turned to experts for a reality check. Selecting from a multitude of fitness options is “quite a dilemma,” Sarah Ullrich-French, a kinesiology professor at Washington State University, told me, but the way out is to focus on what feels good, physically and psychologically. Fitness identities, however palpable, only have to mean something if you want them to. If the stereotype of the intensely focused predawn runner inspires you to get up for a morning jog, lean into it. But if it seems like an annoying downside to running, it’s okay to treat it as such. Pay attention to workouts that bring up anxiety and dread; even if you aspire towards a certain identity, “negative associations and feelings will often win over our goals and what we think we should do,” Ullrich-French said.
Part of my problem was having a goal that was too diffuse. Theoretically any workout could help me get fit, but if I refined my ambition to, say, “getting up the stairs to work without heaving,” doing so would narrow my options to exercises that optimize stamina and strength. Instead of immediately signing up for a weekly running club, start with small, attainable goals, such as taking the time to stretch each morning, Adam Makkawi, an assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University, told me. Small goals are easier to achieve, and can help make more workout options a real possibility.
My biggest mistake was to treat choosing a workout as an intellectual endeavor, sort of like shopping for a new vacuum by reading endless online reviews. Test several options, and when you’ve found one that you like, customize its intensity and frequency until it suits you, Catherine Sabiston, a professor of kinesiology and physical education at the University of Toronto, told me. The likelihood you’ll stick to it, she added, boils down to competency—how well you feel you can accomplish a task—and enjoyment, both of which can be known only through experience.
Choice overload is real, but it can also be a powerful excuse to stay inert. Although a little self-reflection about fitness identities can be helpful, fixating on them can rule out perfectly viable options. In this spirit, I compiled a list of doable, challenging, and conceivably fun workouts to try—and even mustered up excitement for a fitness identity that brought me joy. This week, I begin my search in earnest, embarking on a virtual Lord of the Rings running journey across the rugged terrain of Middle Earth.
This High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) guide is probably the best interval training guide in the galaxy.
My justification for such a bold claim?
We’re really good at this stuff, AND we have dinosaurs and Muppets.
Plus, lots of great gifs:
We build custom interval training programs just like the ones in this guide for our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Clients, including workouts for at home, the gym, or even while traveling.
In this Ultimate Guide to Interval Training, we’ll cover:
If you’re interested in starting a HIIT practice (which you are, ’cause you’re here), you may want to try our new app! It contains a fun adventure that will take you from sitting on your couch to a full HIIT workout – with plenty of benchmarks in between for you to find your groove. No guesswork needed, just jump into the app and follow it’s next steps.
In 2018, High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) was ranked the number one fitness trend by American College of Sports Medicine.[1]
They wrote:
HIIT typically involves short bursts of high-intensity exercise followed by a short period of rest or recovery and typically takes less than 30 minutes to perform.
Essentially, HIIT is just following a specific regimen where you vary your speeds and intensity throughout a shorter run, swim, bike, or row.
Any exercise can be a form of HIIT, but here’s a common routine:
Jogging lightly for three minutes.
Pushing yourself harder for a minute (run or sprint).
Repeating this cycle 4 more times.
Because everybody is busy and overwhelmed, fast results in the least amount of time is why most people discover HIIT.
Plus, you can do HIIT with just about anything, including a jump rope:
You may be asking, “Steve, just how short and intense are we talking about here? Also, your new haircut looks spiffy.”
The 1996 landmark Tabata study demonstrated the benefits of extreme HIIT.[2]
Dr. Izumi Tabata, from Japan’s National Institute of Fitness and Sports, was obsessed with interval training.
The doctor sought to see exactly what kind of gains were obtained from short, intense, periods of exercise. He conducted an experiment with Olympic athletes on stationary bikes and put them through intense bouts of exercise followed by short periods of rest.
The results were fascinating.
Tabata found:
That 6 weeks of moderate-intensity endurance training did not affect anaerobic capacity, but that 6 weeks of high-intensity intermittent training (HIIT) may improve both anaerobic capacity and VO2max simultaneously.
Let’s translate that: compared to regular cardio, HIIT had a greater impact on improving BOTH:
Aerobic increases (endurance).
Anaerobic increases (power).
Even crazier?
Tabata was able to demonstrate improvements in his athletes with just FOUR-MINUTE bursts.
So what’s happening here?
Simple: your heart is a muscle.
If you keep your heart beating at a constant rate, never expanding it outside of its comfort zone, it will never grow stronger.
By introducing chaos and pushing your muscles outside of their comfort zone, they must adapt and grow more resilient in order to survive.
Intense interval training challenges your heart by constantly forcing it outside of its comfort zone.
Coach Jim explains 7 different ways to achieve progressive overload in this video:
Since Tabata’s 1996 study, many other trials have shown the positive impact of interval training.
Here are some of the benefits of High-Intensity Interval Training:
#1) HIIT can burn lots of calories in a short amount of time.
Revving up your effort requires more out of you, including calories.
One study backed this up, finding HIIT burned about 20-30% more calories than regular cardio.[3]
The researchers stated:
These data suggest that individuals can burn more calories performing an HIIT session than spending the same amount of time performing a steady-state exercise session.
The name of the game here is “intensity.” The more intense you go, the more calories you’ll burn.
#2) HIIT for lowering blood sugar.Managing blood sugar is really important for health, not just for diabetics.
Those trying to lose fat should be aware of their blood sugar and corresponding insulin levels.
The good news for our current discussion? HIIT has been shown to help lower and manage blood sugar levels.[6]
#3) HIIT for heart health. Touching on the “antifragile” topic again, HIIT has been shown to help with overall cardiovascular health.
It does so in the same way traditional endurance training does, but at a fraction of the time (almost half).[7]
Alright, let’s chat about how to actually do some interval training.
The key to HIIT is being able to go from “easy” to “difficult.” All sorts of different exercises can get you there:
Aerobic (cardio).
Bodyweight (strength training).
Resistance (weight training).
HIIT is generally associated with running (aerobic), so we’ll devote this section to just that.
The easiest way to experiment with HIIT would be to run.
Here’s how to start with a basic HIIT running workout. Go to a park in your neighborhood. Warm-up with some light jogging, high knees, and mobility – leg swings, arm swings, etc,
And then begin your workout!
Run/jog at a brisk pace for 30 seconds.
Jog/walk at a slower pace for 2 minutes.
After your rest, shoot for another 30-second run/jog.
Continue until you get tired or after about ten “push/rest” intervals.
And BAM! You just did HIIT.
Don’t get disheartened if you find yourself stopping a lot during your first week of HIIT training.
You’ll be surprised how quickly you get better at this!
Also, “running” or “jogging” is subjective. Whatever walking fast means to you is great. Do that for your periods of intensity.
It should be noted, that the entire “Couch to 5K” concept rests on interval training through running.
It’s all broken down into “walking,” “jogging” and “running.”
If you’re curious, check out our in-depth Couch to 5k review. If you want to start interval training, “Couch to 5K” could be a good way to do it.
More of an indoor person?
Consider a treadmill, where it actually sets intervals for you based on your desired difficulty.
Just be careful on it…
We’ll be talking about machines a lot more in the next section, but a treadmill is all you need to do a HIIT workout.
Experiment with the speed and incline to find a setting that you would consider “intense.” Many machines can be programmed to flip between this and an “easy” setting.
And you know what that means… boom! It’s built for HIIT.
When we designed NF Journey (our awesome new app), we used an “intense” and “easy” interval switch for most of the workouts.
If you want, you can sign-up for a free trial right here to see what I mean:
Elliptical. If it has a dial for resistance, it can be used for interval training. For a couple of minutes, go on low resistance (0-2 level). Then crank up the resistance for one minute (up to 8-10). Repeat this process 12 times, which will give you a 20-minute workout.
Stair Climber. Much like the elliptical, alternate between periods of low intensity for two minutes, then one minute for high intensity. The difference with the climber is the dial will control the speed of the stairs. Be careful.
Rowing Machine. Start with a two-minute warm-up. On minute three, row like you’re being chased by the Kraken for a full 60 seconds. Then catch your breath. The rowing machine might be hard to do for a full 20 minutes, since it’s a lot of upper body. Shoot for ten minutes at first.
Jumping Rope.Jumping rope is a full-body exercise. Also, it’s fun. There’s no dial here, your own body controls the pace of the jump. Follow the same two-minute easy, one-minute intense as above. Jump rope can also be done with friends!
So far we’ve just been talking about aerobic exercises.
Let’s cover our other categories, of bodyweight and resistance.
Burpees. Stand up, then squat down, kick your legs out, do a push-up, bring your legs back in, and explode up into a jump. Try to do 20 repetitions, then rest for two minutes. Repeat until you hate yourself:
Push-ups. For 20 seconds, do as many push-ups as possible. Rest. Then do it again. If you’re worried about proper form, check out our push-up guide and watch this:
Pull-ups. Same idea as above, do pull-ups for 20 seconds, then rest. If you can’t do a pull-up, we got you covered in our pull-up progression guide:
Kettlebell swing. For ten minutes, do 20 kettlebell swings on every minute. This will be intense, and worthy of congratulations when you’re done. Check out our 20 Minute Beginner Kettlebell Workout for everything you’ve ever wanted to know about kettlebells.
Battle ropes.If your gym has battle ropes, they’ll be a great tool for HIIT. For intensity, the amount of slack in the rope determines the load. The more slack on the rope the tougher, and more intense, the workout. Also, don’t get stuck in just up and down movements. Some variation will help target different muscles.
Weight lifting.The critical piece will be moving from one exercise to another quickly enough. For example, hustling from the bench press to the lat bar: we call this circuit training!
To answer your next question: yes, you can also do circuit training as a form of HIIT.
Circuit training is going through a sequence of exercises, or stations, back to back.
Coach Lauren explains the ins and outs of circuit training in this video:
So in a circuit, you could go from push-ups to pull-ups, back to push-ups, only resting briefly from one exercise to another.
Circuit training would be perfect to mix into a HIIT workout, since you can design your circuit to be very intense.
Plus, there’s a Batman workout hidden in there. You’re welcome.
We create custom HIIT programs for busy people like you that are ACTUALLY fun. If you’re looking for a supportive coach to guide you and tell you exactly what to do each day, we got you covered!
If you just want a beginner circuit to get started with, you can try out our Beginner Bodyweight Workout Routine. Plus you can download a free worksheet to track your progress with this circuit when you join the Rebellion below:
Grab Your Beginner Bodyweight Routine Worksheet. No Gym Required!
Complete this workout at home, no equipment required
Avoid the common mistakes everybody makes when doing bodyweight exercises
Learn how to finally get your first pull-up
Oh, what’s that? You want to have even MORE fun while getting the benefits of HIIT?
Sure. Let’s think outside the box:
Basketball, tennis, soccer, and Ultimate (frisbee) are AMAZING styles of exercise that use interval training (it’s all start and stop!).
Run here, catch this, and wait for the next round to start.
That’s what we’re looking for in a HIIT workout.
So pick a form of FUN exercise that gets your heart racing faster and slower throughout the activity (yes, I suppose even THAT activity would count).
Regular exercise is an integral component of long-term weight management. However, unless implemented in very large volumes, short-term exercise in isolation (including HIIT) is unlikely to produce clinically meaningful fat loss.
What’s that mean?
As long as your energy expenditure is the same (and you’re in a caloric deficit), steady-state cardio is equivalent to HIIT for fat loss.
In other words, if you want to lose body fat, how you eat will be responsible for 80% of your success or failure.
It doesn’t matter how many intervals you do – it’s not gonna help you lose weight if you don’t also fix your nutrition.
There’s a lot to consider when embarking on a HIIT practice.
No matter which routine you end up starting with, make sure you follow these words of wisdom:
Ease into it. As the saying goes, “you must walk before you can run.” The importance is building a HIIT practice. If you need to go “less intense” before progressing to “intense,” that’s fine. It’ll help build your aerobic capabilities (endurance), which will be important when working on intensity. Start with walking.
Keep proper form. Doing your movements correctly will help prevent injury. Here’s how to run properly. This is even more critical in your later intervals, where you may be exhausted and tired. If you find yourself breaking form, go ahead and slow down. Intense isn’t worth an injury.
Get rest. Our bodies actually build muscle while we are resting. So take some “off days” from your HIIT practice. Want to stay active on these days? Do some fun exercise!
Take it easy, focus on your form, and make sure to prioritize rest.
One moment it’s intense, the next you’re onto a short rest break.
A good way to know when it’s time to go from one sequence to the next is a timer. A loud “beep” can tell you when it’s okay to catch your breath or when you have to kick it in gear.
Here are 5 HIIT timers you can try out:
Runtastic. Don’t let the name fool you, this free app is for more than just running. You can customize for many different interval workouts, depending on what exercise you go with. And the interface looks slick.
Seconds. It’s free and customizable to any form of HIIT. It can also integrate with your music, which is pretty sweet.
Seven. If you’re new to HIIT, Seven would be a good app for you. It’s free, plus it has illustrations for exercises. You also get to customize your own virtual personal trainer, which may be the future of fitness. The bots are coming…
Sworkit.First off, it’s a clever name (taken from “Simply Work It.”) Second, it’s free. Third, it can display your workout, goals, and calories burned. I like it.
J&J Official Seven Minute Workout. This free app from Johnson & Johnson is actually really awesome. It has premade workouts you can choose form based on your fitness level, or tweak them to make it your own.
Also, we need to talk about interval timers. Most of the apps referenced are completely customizable.
For example, you can change the intense interval from 120 seconds to 90 seconds.
This is critical because it’s up to you to decide how long you can do intense vs. rest.
Generally, folks recommend one minute of intensity and then two for rest when doing HIIT.
However, this all depends on the individual, and the exercises performed.
For example, burpees are tougher to do than jumping over a rope:
So feel free to make changes like 30 seconds of intensity and three minutes of rest. Make it your own.
Whatever way you chose to do HIIT, is fine, as long as you actually do it. The benefits of HIIT kick in when going HARD for you.
In other words, you don’t have to be an Olympic athlete to get the benefits of HIIT.[10]
A light jog totally works. Just don’t do it in a mascot costume.
As we discussed, if you’re consistent, you’ll improve.
So don’t stress about where you have to start.
For now, download an app and get going. Ours will help you train with HIIT too:
This is an example of a beginner HIIT workout we might prescribe for our Coaching Clients who are starting to train for their first 5K.
Let’s do seven intervals, two minutes each:
Warm-up. For three minutes, walk at an easy pace.
Intervals.For the first 60 seconds, power walk, like you’re trying to beat someone to the front of the line at Starbucks.
For the next 60 seconds, just walk.
Repeat six more times.
Cool down.You can do some more light walking, or a little bit of stretching here would be great.
Total time: 20 minutes.
I want to stress, that you can do just about any exercise in exchange for this routine. Just minus “power walk” and add “push-ups and bodyweight squats”
It’ll still be a great HIIT workout.
“But Steve, that’s still multiple choice!”
Right, right… sorry. Stick to power walking! Done!
How to Start Interval Training now
Do our power walking routine above. It’s a great place to start.
If you’re looking for EVEN MORE stuff to do, we have a few options for ya:
1) Check out our popular 1-on-1 coaching program. You’ll work with our certified NF instructors who will get to know you better than you know yourself and program your workouts and nutrition for you.
2) Exercising at home and need a plan to follow? Check out Nerd Fitness Journey!
Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).
Try your free trial right here:
3) Enlist in the Rebellion! We need good people like you in our community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion.
Sign up in the box below to enlist and get our guide, Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know. It’ll help you start incorporating interval training into your workouts.
Download our comprehensive guide
Everything you need to know about getting strong.
Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.
How to find the right gym and train properly in one.
There are a zillion ways to do HIIT, so don’t let the options paralyze you.
Pick one. Anyone. And get to it.
Interval training, in any form, is a solid fitness choice and a great practice to have in the workout arsenal.
Any questions?
Which HIIT workout style is your favorite?
Leave it in the comments below!
-Steve
PS: Make sure you check out the rest of our content on interval training:
