Build strength, stamina, stability, and power with our Tough Mudder-approved quick HIIT workout. This speedy workout will get you ready to face any obstacle out on course, using some of our favourite go-to exercises.
HIIT is one of the most efficient training methods out there. And with everyone’s schedules somehow managing to get busier with each passing year, HIIT is set be more pivotal to your fitness, performance, and mental health than ever. HIIT, or high-intensity interval training, is all about alternating periods of max-effort exercise with rest intervals to get more done in less time and train both the body’s aerobic and anaerobic systems for improved strength, power, endurance.
It also affords exercisers incredible metabolic benefits: HIIT is highly effective at burning maximal calories in minimal time, while also depleting the body’s glycogen, or carb, stores so that, throughout the rest of the day, they burn even more fat, he says. By increasing levels of lean muscle mass, HIIT can also help improve metabolic health to make you healthier and more powerful in everything you do, both on and off of the course.
It can feel great to take a few minutes for yourself, break a sweat, and know you’ve made progress toward your fitness goals.
Perform each exercise for 30 seconds with max effort (90 seconds total), rest for 30 seconds more, and then repeat for a total of 4 rounds. Give it all you’ve got, and move on with your day.
Pull-Ups
Grab a pull-up bar with an overhand grip, your hands greater than shoulder-width apart. Brace your core to tuck your ribs (don’t let them flare). Keeping a tight core, pinch your shoulder blades down and back, and pull through your arms to draw your elbows to your sides and raise your collarbones to the bar. Pause, then lower back down with control. Want to change it up a bit? Our UK trainer Born has a number of Pull-Up Variations.
Note: If you don’t have a pull-up bar handy, you can sub in another pulling exercise such as dumbbell or TRX rows.
Push Ups
Get on the floor in a plank position and tighten everything in your body to get as rigid as possible. Squeeze your glutes and core, and corkscrew your hands into the floor to engage your lats. Slowly row your torso toward the floor, letting your elbows flare 45 degrees from your body. Pause, then press through your arms to raise to start.
DB Squats
Stand with your feet hip-width apart and hold a dumbbell in each hand in a double rack position. Brace your core to keep your back in neutral. Lower as far into a squat as you can comfortably, pause, then drive through your feet to raise to standing.
Don’t have your ticket to your next Tough Mudder Event? Get your 2021 ticket today.
