Share with me your HIIT routine with no/minimal equipment

redheadmommy

I want to start some HIiT routine in my backyard a few times a week. I do not know where to start. I am not interested following some DVD exactly, as I am feed up to be inside and I just want to be outside with a jumping rope or whatnot.
I do not really know what qualifies something to be a HIIT? Just the fact that high and low/ medium intensity segments alternate? How long the intervals should be? 30 sec? 1 minute? Or more? Should the intervals be the same length for the entire routine or the length of the intervals should be changing?
I assume jump roping qualifies for the high intensity segments. What else? Jumping jacks? Anything else?
What is good for the lower intensity part? How long should be the whole routine ? I am thinking 25 minutes, but that maybe not enough?
Please share your routine along with the reason for doing it the way you do it.
Thanks!

snazzyjazzy21

My HIIT routines are usually 20s on/10s off or 40s on/20s off if I really want to push myself, always with MAX effort. I struggle to do more than 20 minutes. Mine usually has things like high knees, burpees, push ups, star jumps, jumping lunges, etc. I usually do a bit of light cardio afterwards if I want to extend my workout a bit but if you can do more than 30 minutes of 'HIIT' then it's not actually HIIT. You should be working at your absolute max, leaving nothing behind by the end.

ETA: During my low intensity/off segments, I do a light jog in place or a boxer shuffle, depending on my energy levels. I try not to stop completely until I'm done.

corgarian

So I have a middle school track/football field by my house and thats where I do this one I made recently. I do this on the field.
I like it best with a partner but you can do it solo

-Sprint half way and back
10 burpies (or if you have a partner, while you run they burpie and vice versa so you dont have to count them)
-Sprint half way and back
25 mountain climbers (or if you have a partner, while you run they burpie and vice versa so you dont have to count them)
-High knees half way and back
50 jumping jacks (" ")
-Butt Kicks half way and back
25 Russian Twists (a side to side twist counts as ONE) (" ")
-Sprint half way and back
25 squats (" ")
-Sprint half way and back
20 lunges (10 on each side) (" ")

Then we finish it with a 1 min plank and a walk to cool down.
*this is more high intensity through out you can edit to fit your needs.

Sometimes we will do the whole thing, sometimes we will do only part, amd sometimes we will do more. It all depends on how we are feeling that day.

LaurenAOK

I usually do 2 mins on/1 min off for 20-30 minutes. By the end I feel like I'm going to die (okay who am I kidding, by halfway through I want to die haha).

Some ideas you could do in your backyard are alternate jumproping/walking in place, burpees/light jogging, vigorous jumping jacks/light jumping jacks, high knees/light boxing, etc.

sshintaku

So I have a middle school track/football field by my house and thats where I do this one I made recently. I do this on the field.
I like it best with a partner but you can do it solo

-Sprint half way and back
10 burpies (or if you have a partner, while you run they burpie and vice versa so you dont have to count them)
-Sprint half way and back
25 mountain climbers (or if you have a partner, while you run they burpie and vice versa so you dont have to count them)
-High knees half way and back
50 jumping jacks (" ")
-Butt Kicks half way and back
25 Russian Twists (a side to side twist counts as ONE) (" ")
-Sprint half way and back
25 squats (" ")
-Sprint half way and back
20 lunges (10 on each side) (" ")

Then we finish it with a 1 min plank and a walk to cool down.
*this is more high intensity through out you can edit to fit your needs.

Sometimes we will do the whole thing, sometimes we will do only part, amd sometimes we will do more. It all depends on how we are feeling that day.

I like this!

MeanderingMammal

I do not really know what qualifies something to be a HIIT?

Well it needs to be intervals of high intensity and lower intensity, should be pretty self explanatory as far as that goes.

The main thing is that it's intervals of absolute maximum effort for the high intensity period, the lower intensities depend on what you're doing.

Personally I do run intervals by time or distance, 20 seconds with 20 second recovery, 200 metre, 400 metre. Tabata training is essentially an occulting time period where the rest periods are shorter than the high intensities.

As far as your intensity is concerned, clearly the amount of effort that you put in will reduce over the session as you tire, so it's broadly about rate of perceived exertion, rather than any more sophisticated measure.

For my sessions the rest periods tend to be at 6mph, but I have a couple of friends whose focus is on bodybuilding who will reduce to walking pace for anything up to a couple of minutes.

How long should be the whole routine ? I am thinking 25 minutes, but that maybe not enough?

Generally if you're putting in maximum effort you shouldn't be able to sustain a HIIT session for more than about 20 minutes, although you'll need to add time to warm up and cool down. Again for my sessions I'll warm up for 15 minutes at 6mph and cool down for 15 minutes afterwards.

Clearly running isn't something that you can do in your yard, but that should give you some framework around timings.

redheadmommy

Thanks for all the replies! It seems that all kind of things can be considered HIIT. Also the length of intervals are so different from 20 second to upto 2 minutes. I do not think I can do 2 minutes of max effort, but I guess I need to play around and find what I can do.
The only thing seems to be same that the length of high intensity segments are twice as long as the low intensity. Is that is an actual rule? Or that just seems good fit for most people? I like heavy lifting and I do a lot of low/ medium intensity cardio, but generally I do not do high intensity and that needs to be changed.