I know that some of you reading the title of this post will be a little sceptical. Can I really get fit by just doing 3 x 20 minute workouts?

The short answer is….

YES.

Now of course if you want to run a marathon or become a bodybuilder then 20 minute workouts just aren’t going to cut it.

If however you are somebody just looking to drastically improve fitness and boost your health quickly and effectively without spending hours and hours in the gym then this post is 100% up your street…

#1 The Benefits of HIIT Training

HIIT basically stands for High Intensity Interval Training. HIIT is a great way to get fit, build muscle and improve your general fitness.

One of the major benefits of this style of training is that it doesn’t take very long to complete. Sessions are short, intense and sweet (ok maybe not sweet!). You could even do an effective HIIT workout in 10 minutes providing you select the right exercises.

HIIT workouts differ but the general concept is that you work extremely hard (80-100% effort) for a number of reps or minutes and then follow it up with either a rest or slow paced period of exercise before going all out again.

For example a HIIT Workout may look like this…

20s cycling as fast as possible (100% effort) followed by 40s slow recovery cycling (30-50% effort), you would then repeat this for a number of minutes e.g. 10x,  totalling 10 minutes.

For people with higher levels of fitness you can extend the intense period, and for those with lower levels of fitness you can decrease the intense period, for example….

• Advanced Fitness: 40s sprint cycling, followed by 20s slow recovery cycling
• Lower Level Fitness: 10s sprint cycling, followed by 50s slow recovery cycling

You can adapt HIIT workouts to suit any level of fitness.

Although 10 minutes can suffice (especially for beginners) I’d recommend building up so you can do 20 minute HIIT workouts.

#2 HIIT Phone App

In order to set up a timer for your HIIT workouts i’d recommend using the app ‘Interval Timer’ – this app allows you to set seperate intervals e.g. interval 1… 15s, interval 2… 45s, etc, etc. You can also play music through the app (winner winner!)

#3 Gym HIIT Workout

Here’s a free HIIT Workout for you to try in the gym…

• Warm Up: 2 minutes on a rowing machine
• Part 1: 20s rowing as fast as possible, followed by 40s slow recovery rowing – repeat this 2x
• Rest 60s
• Part 2: 20s back squats, followed by 40s of push ups – repeat this 2x
• Rest 60s
• Part 3: 20s DB push press, followed by 40s of plank – repeat this 2x
• Rest 60s
• Part 4: 60s cable bicep curls, followed by 60s tricep rope extensions – repeat this 2x
• Rest 60s
• Part 5: 10s cycling as fast as possible, followed by 50s slow recovery cycling – repeat this 2x
• Stretch: 2 minutes to cool down

#4 Body Weight HIIT Workout

Here’s a free body weight HIIT Workout for you to try at home…

• Warm up: 3 minutes of light jogging on the spot
• Part 1: 15s burpees, followed by 45s high knees (repeat this 3x) – 3 minutes
• Rest for 60s
• Part 2: 15s push ups, followed by 45s star jumps (repeat this 3x) – 3 minutes
• Rest for 60s
• Part 3: 15s squat jumps, followed by 45s crunches (repeat this 3x) – 3 minutes
• Rest for 60s
• Part 4: 15s mountain climbers, followed by 45s air punches (repeat this 3x) – 3 minutes
• Stretch: 2 minutes to cool down

#5 How To Get Fit With Just 3 x 20 Minute Workouts Per Week…

Ok so now you know more about HIIT training and the benefits, how do we put this all together and get fit with just 3 x 20 minute workouts per week?

Well…

I’d recommend splitting up your 3 sessions throughout the week e.g.

• Monday – HIIT Workout 1
• Wednesday – HIIT Workout 2
• Friday – HIIT Workout 3

In terms of planning out your sessions you could copy the free examples above, and you could also replace the exercises to give you more variety. There are plenty of free HIIT workouts, and articles online.

I can guarantee that if you follow the instructions in this post and consistently do 3 x 20 minute HIIT sessions for the next 8-12 weeks you will notice a BIG difference to your fitness.

If you eat a calorie controlled diet too you will also notice the pounds fall off!

Thanks for reading,

Nick 

P.S. Make-sure to check out my other blogs – there are now over 450 FREE articles on my site! and that number grows weekly 🙂