Want a workout that will burn fat, build muscle and bring world peace in 25 minutes?

Okay, it may not achieve world peace, but if everyone did this workout, we’d all be feeling a little more calm and peaceful.

As you know I always preach high intensity interval training (HIIT) over long slow boring cardio as a means to getting that lean and healthy body you’re looking for. HIIT is the fastest most efficient way to burn fat. In research, HIIT has been shown to burn adipose (fat) tissue more effectively than low-intensity exercise – up to 50% more efficiently. HIIT speeds up your metabolism and keeps it revved up for some time after your workout. The bottom line is that HIIT training burns a greater number of total calories than low-intensity training, and more calories burned equals less fat on your body.

However, it’s not easy.

Pair up HIIT and resistance training and you have a metabolically powerful workout for super fat loss and muscle gain. But again, it’s not an easy workout.

Generally I hate cardio. I’m not someone who enjoys going for a run or getting on a bike, treadmill or any other piece of equipment to do intervals. If I can shorten any workout, cardio workouts would be the one. I always look for ways to incorporate cardio into a resistance workout. This not only provides for a metabolic boost, it eases boredom for me.

I’m a stubborn person. This is probably  one of the reasons I’m super fit. I decided on the circuit I’m about to explain to you without doing the first set. I often do this. I’ll set up a workout without ‘testing the water’ first. Lucky for my boot campers that I’m the guinea pig for their workouts…

This was a hard challenge, but this is when I get my stubborn-ness to work for me. I’ll just finish the set no matter what…Now I will stop a set if, in it’s ridiculous nature, I see that I get an ache or pain that indicates potential injury. And I recommend the same for you. I can’t afford getting hurt. When I say this, I mean that I don’t want to have to train around an injury cuz injured or not, I definitely won’t be sidelined, I just work around things. And you should too (with some professional intervention if you’re sporting an injury that is).

Onto this particular workout…

I needed to get in some HIIT with my resistance training and  I was pressed for time (as is usual for all of us).

I decided to combine three of my favorite things: push ups, squats and jump rope.

Here was my interval:
I set up to do 2 minutes of jump rope, 30 seconds of rest and then 2 minutes of squats, 30 seconds rest, then 2 min of push ups. I repeated this three times and ended with a final set of skipping.

(Skipping is one of my favorite ‘go to’ HIIT exercises.)

(I decided to add a little weight to a squat bar, but you can do body weight squats or you can hold dumb bells to increase the intensity.)

(I forgot to take the push up pic at the end of the workout when I took the others….Aaand, if you can’t do 2 min of push ups, you can modify to a plank.)

For an added challenge, on your first set,  count your reps and maintain the same rep scheme for the remainder of the workout.

The end result? A grueling 25 minutes, a great workout and my cardio done and done.

Are you up for this challenge? Let me know how you make out in the comment section..

Need more at home ideas? Check out my new website and program HERE.