9 Hiit ‘Burn Fat Build Muscle’ Workouts at Home

HIIT workout is one of the best options if you want to lose fat. As these workouts are very intense, your body continues to burn unwanted calories even after you finish working out. Find out how to burn fat and build muscle with these 9 HIIT workouts.

Are you thinking of transforming your body (lose fat and gain lean muscle) and want quick results? Studies ^[1]National Library of Medicine: High-Intensity Intermittent Exercise and Fat Loss suggests that HIIT workout is the best when it comes to “burn fat build muscle strategy.” Moreover, these exercises keep you away from the risk of developing conditions like cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and some types of cancer.

What are HIIT workouts?

HIIT workouts are those exercises that involve short intensive workouts associated with a short recovery time. HIIT exercises are considered the best and the most efficient exercises.

The time duration of HIIT workouts should range between 10 and 30 minutes. Though these are short-duration workouts, they offer more benefits than moderate-intensity workouts.

There are different activities that are a part of HIIT workouts that include biking, sprinting, bodyweight exercises, and jumping rope.

For example, an HIIT workout done using a stationary bike involves 30 seconds of fast cycling which is followed by easy and slow cycling. The duration of time you spend on a particular exercise is based on which exercise you choose and the level of your intensity.

HIIT workouts not only offer long time benefits in a short time but also provide sustained health benefits.

Considering the norms of social distancing and the risk of working out at the community gym, we are listing out the best HIIT workouts for fat loss at home.

Top 5 benefits of doing HIIT workouts

HIIT workouts offer a lot of health benefits in a shorter duration of time. People who have a busy lifestyle are more and more choosing HIIT in recent years because they can get in and out of this program in just 30 minutes. The top 5 benefits of HIIT workouts are mentioned below:

• Burning Calories: Doing HIIT exercises regularly, you can burn a lot of calories in less time. HIIT exercises ^[2]PubMed: Caloric expenditure of aerobic, resistance, or combined high-intensity interval training using a hydraulic resistance system in healthy men burn up to 30% of more calories than other forms of workouts.
• Higher metabolism: HIIT workouts help you in burning calories even after you finish doing them. HIIT ^[3]PubMed: The acute effect of exercise modality and nutrition manipulations on post-exercise resting energy expenditure and respiratory exchange ratio in women: a randomized trial exercises keep your metabolic rate high even hours after doing them.
• Reduces body fat: HIIT workouts are very effective in losing body fat. A study ^[4]PubMed: The effects of high-intensity interval training vs. moderate-intensity continuous training on body composition in overweight and obese adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis involving 13 different experiments conducted on 424 obese adults has proved that HIIT exercises reduce not only body fat but also waist size even though they spent less time on HIIT workouts.
• Promotes Muscle gain: Quick and healthier muscle gain can be possible with HIIT workouts. Apart from helping in losing body fat, HIIT workouts help to gain muscle mass. In fact, muscle mass gain has been observed in people who primarily used specific muscles during HIIT exercises.
• Decreases High blood pressure: HIIT workouts reduce high blood pressure and normalize heartbeat. Research shows that doing HIIT workouts regularly helped in decreasing high blood pressure and heart rate in people suffering with obesity and being overweight.

HIIT workouts – burn fat build muscle

HIIT can help to burn fat, we all know but does HIIT build muscle? Below are some best and quick exercises to maximize your HIIT workout at home. You can easily incorporate into your fitness regime to get the best of the benefits:

Burpee

Burpee is a high-intensity bodyweight workout that helps burn fat quickly and build lean muscle. It is a move where you get the complete body to the ground and back.

How to do

• Stand upright
• Crouch down and place your hands in front of you flat on the ground by bending your knees (squatting position).
• Jump both of your legs straight out and position your body to a push-up position. Push your chest to the ground.
• Jump back to the squatting position, and then stand upright.

Benefits: Enhanced blood flow, reduced risk of heart diseases and diabetes, stronger lungs, optimum cholesterol levels, and improved brain function.

NOTE: When you stand back, your spine should be straight.

Russian Twist

Russian twist strengthens your obliques, spine, and core. It builds stability and balance. It is one of the best weight loss and muscle-building workouts.

How to do

• With your feet flat on the ground, sit down with your knees bent.
• Form a (45-degree angle) V-shape by leaning back slightly and lifting your torso.
• Lift your feet slightly off the ground by clasping your hands in the front.
• Move your core muscles by slowly twisting them to the left and the right.
• Repeat this for at least 2 to 3 minutes.

Benefits: Helps in significantly reducing belly fat at the sides. It is a great way to detoxify your body as it flushes out toxins through sweating.

Kettlebell Swing

Kettlebell Swing is an HIIT body workout that best suits people who want to maximize efficiency. This HIIT exercise targets your shoulders, abs, pecs, quads, glutes, hips, lats, and hamstrings.

How to do

• Hold a kettlebell with your hands in a standing position with your feet shoulder-width apart.
• Pushing your hips back slightly, bend your knees a little. Swing the kettlebell between your legs.
• Contract your glutes by standing up, then swing the kettlebell to your chest’s height.
• Lock your elbows at the top of your momentum. At this time, your glutes and quads should be contracted. Keep your core tight.

Benefits: Reduces belly fat and burns up to nearly 150 to 200 calories. It improves hip flexibility, balance, and posture. It also promotes cardiovascular health.

Jumping Jack

Jumping Jack, also called star jump, is a total body jump HIIT workout that can be done anywhere. It burns a lot of calories. Apart from activating muscles, it elevates your mood.

How to do

• Stand with legs straight and arms to the sides.
• Spread your legs while jumping. At the same time, take both your arms above your head as if touching each other.
• Jump again to bring your arms and legs back to their original position.

Benefits: Helps in regulating blood pressure and promotes weight management.

Note: Pregnant women should speak to their doctor to make sure if jumping jacks are safe for them and how they should perform them.

Flutter Kicks

If you are thinking about how to build lean muscle, while burning fat quickly, then Flutter kicks are a must on your list of exercises to do. This workout primarily targets lower abdominal muscles.

How to do

• With your hands underneath your back, lie down on your back. Draw your legs together.
• With your back on the ground, lift the left leg slightly off the ground past your hip’s height. Lift the right leg at the same time so that both your legs are off the floor.
• Hold to this position to the maximum time you can while exhaling the air slowly from your lungs. Try to pull your abdomen inside while exhaling.
• Inhale slowly while you come back to the normal position.

Benefits: Strengthens abdominal muscles by eliminating fat, improves posture, and promotes stability and balance.

Note: Lifting your neck off the floor while exhaling will yield quicker results.

High Knees

High knees is a high-energy HIIT move that works on core muscles, thus activating your lower body. It keeps your heart pumping, leading to increased sweating.

How to do

• Stand straight with your legs a little apart (hip-width)
• Pull your right knee towards the right side of the chest.
• Then, take the right knee back to the normal position and push the left knee towards the left part of the chest.
• Repeat this move on both sides for at least 2 minutes.

Benefits: Burns belly and hip fat, and excellent for the upper and lower abdomen.

Jump Squat

Jump Squat is an agility improving HIIT workout that involves no equipment with little space requirement. It strengthens the lower body and burns from 150 to 200 calories.

How to do

• Stand straight with your feet a little apart and your hands at chest level.
• Slowly, sink to a squat position and immediately jump to the highest you can.
• Then, go back slowly to the squat position.

Benefits: Jump squats help burn lower abdomen fat, strengthen the core and lower back, and promote agility.

Push Up

Push-ups are very effective strength-building workouts that make you sweat easily and burn a lot of body fat. Moreover, you can do them anywhere. It strengthens the upper body.

How to do

• Position your body to a high-plank position.
• Keep your abs tight and slowly drop the chest towards the floor.
• Using your arms, push your body back to the original position slowly by keeping the whole body straight.

Benefits: They help in strengthening the core and lower back muscles. They also help in promoting shoulder muscles and triceps strength.

Mountain Climber

Mountain Climber is the best if you want a flat belly. It is a complete bodyweight exercise involving upper and lower body muscles that helps build a strong core and promote agility.

How to do

• Keep your body in a high-plank position.
• Draw your right knee towards the chest.
• Take back your foot to its previous position.
• Now, do the same with your left knee.
• Repeat this for at least 2 minutes.

Benefits: Works towards burning belly fat, promoting core muscle strength and endurance, and supporting cardiac health.

Note: Doing this workout regularly will help reduce fat, build lean muscle, promote a healthy heartbeat, and reduce the risk of type-2 diabetes.

Take away

“Burn fat build muscle” has always been the goal of most of the fitness enthusiasts . However, to lose fat and gain lean muscle, it is very important that your diet has a good amount of proteins, carbohydrates, fiber, and also a few good fats.

Trying to achieve both results at the same time requires a lot of dedication and hard work. The solution to losing fat and building lean muscle is very simple. Every day, your protein intake should be just enough for the day. Regular workouts will additionally help in burning the accumulated fat.

HIIT workouts burn more fat by increasing metabolism and promote faster weight loss. They help in building lean muscle and better heart health since they are high-intensity body workouts. Moreover, you don’t need any equipment, and they require little space to perform.

Doing all the above exercises every day will reduce your accumulated belly fat and show obvious results in just 8 weeks. Do remember to do each of them for at least 3 to 5 minutes.