2022 Cardio-HIIT Challenge

Get HIIT done! 

Happy New Year! Welcome to your 2022 New Year’s Workout Challenge. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is one of the most effective ways to burn fat, build lean muscle and transform your body in a short amount of time. Couple it with cardio and you’re in for a real treat! 

Check out the banner below or keep scrolling for a detailed overview of each exercise in today’s Cardio-HIIT challenge. Let’s get going!

Cardio-HIIT 

This workout requires no equipment. You’ll repeat this workout a total of 4 times in the month of January. Each week, you’ll add on 10 seconds—the requirements are listed below. 

How to Do Power Jacks

1. Start with your hands by your side and feet together in an upright position with your knees slightly bent. 
2. Keeping your torso upright, jump your feet out wide into a sumo squat position while swinging your arms high above your head. Your knees should be bent 90 degrees, ensuring your knees don’t go past your toes. Land lightly on your feet, keeping your weight in your heels and butt back and down. 
3. Still engaging your core, jump your feet back together and bring your arms to your side. That’s one rep. Continue without pausing until time expires. 

How to Do Drop Squats

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart with your toes slightly turned out. 
2. Jump your feet out as you lower into a squat. As you squat, keep your chest up, push your booty back and don’t let your knees come in front of your toes. 
3. Jump your feet back in and return to the start position. This counts as one rep. Keep repeating until time expires. 

How to Do Steam Engine Squats

1. Stand tall with feet shoulder-width apart. Place your hands behind your head with elbows in line with your shoulders. This is the starting position.
2. While keeping your chest up and back straight, hinge at the hips and lower into a squat. 
3. Raise back up and lift your left knee to meet your right elbow. Try to touch your right elbow to your left knee without bending over at your waist. Instead, twist at the torso. 
4. Lower into another squat and repeat the movement on the opposite side—right knee to left elbow. 
5. Keep repeating until time expires. 

How to Do Front to Reverse Lunges 

1. Stand with your feet together.
2. Put weight in the left foot, lift your right knee up and step into a forward lunge. The front knee should be at a 90-degree angle with the left knee just barely hovering above the ground.
3. Push into your right heel, come to stand and immediately step the right foot behind you into a reverse lunge with the left knee at a 90-degree angle. This counts as one rep.
4. Keep repeating on your right side until time expires and then switch to your left leg. 

How to Do Side Lunge Shifts 

1. Stand in a wide stance. Shift your weight to the right side, pushing your hips back and bending at the knee of the right leg. Keep your left leg as straight as possible. 
2. Lunge to a 90-degree angle on the right side. Once you reach the bottom of the movement, push yourself back up to standing and shift your weight to the left side. 
3. Keep alternating between your right and left side until time expires. 

If jumping isn’t an option for you, try a low-impact version of the following exercises:

Power jacks modification: Perform regular jumping jacks. If that’s not an option, step to the right and raise both arms in the air, similar to a normal jumping jack. Step right leg back to the middle, lower arms and repeat with the left leg.

Drop squats modification: Replace with air squats. 

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