Tough Love: A Cardio & Strength HIIT Workout

It is almost Valentine’s Day and what a better way to show you all how much I love you than to give you a tough workout you will love… after it is over.  How fun would it be to grab your significant other and complete this workout together- what a great Valentine’s date.  This HIIT workout combines both cardio and strength and stacks each round on top of the other.  Each round of cardio and strength will increase each time.

I have officially taught a version of this workout three times and each time my class members have loved it.  You will never work for longer than four minutes in this workout before taking a break.

Tough Love Stacked HIIT Workout

The workout consisted of cardio, an active recovery using your body weight and strength moves using a kettlebell.  As always, if you don’t have a kettle bell you can grab one single, heavy weight and use it.

Structure of the Workout

I love stacked workouts because they build upon each other, which means the cardio and strength segments get longer as you get farther into the workout.  The first round you will only be doing the first two cardio exercises, the whole recovery and the first strength exercise.  Each round you will add on more.  There are a total of four rounds.

Here is how the workout works:

• Each cardio move is 20 seconds long.
• Each strength move is 1 minute long.
• You start with the first segment of cardio: skis and speed skaters.  You ski for 20 second and then move right to the skaters for 20 seconds.
• Next you complete the whole active recovery segment.
• Once you recover, you complete the first strength move for one full minute.
• The next round you will complete the first AND second cardio segment (4 exercises, 20 second each).
• Then you will do the full recovery.
• Next the first two strength segments will be complete for 1 minute each (totaling two minutes).
• You do this with the third and fourth rounds too: adding on the segments each time and always doing the full recovery.
• The total workout should be just a little over 20 minutes depending on how much rest time you allow yourself.

The Exercises

Ski & Skate: When skiing, your feet switch fast one foot in front of the other and your arms move up and down.  Once you switch to the speed skater exercise, you are moving side to side.  Concentrate more on your range of motion than speed.

90 degree turn squats & football shuffle: When squatting, squat down, touch the ground and then turn 90 degrees.  Keeping going all the way around and then switch directions.  When doing a football shuffle, stay in place and pick up your pace.

Power Lunges & High Knees: Make sure when you are completing a power lunge, your power is coming from your front leg.  As always, modify to a reverse alternating lunge as needed.  When doing high knees, engage your core and bring your knees up as far as you can.

Squat Jumps & Jumping Jacks: Pretty self explanatory here, but as always, you can modify an squat jump for a regular squat.

Kettlebell Swing: I can’t say it enough: a kettle bell swing is not a squat– make sure you are hinging at the hip. If you need to watch a video and check your form first, do so.

Chest & Overhead Press: As you are holding your bell (or weight) do one press straight out and then one over head.  Continue this sequence.

Kettlebell Figure 8’s: Get in a squat position and move the kettlbell in and out of your legs in the shape of a figure 8.  Use your hips and legs to power the momentum of the kettle bell.  For a video of this, watch it here.

Kettlebell High Pull: Here is a video of the kettlbell high pull. Start with the kettle bell on the ground and your feet wide.  Grab the kettle bell with two hands and set your hips back with your knees bent. Your chest and head both stay up.  Pull the kettlebell to your shoulders, raising your elbows as you do so. Reverse the motion to return to the starting position.

I love sharing workouts I teach live on the blog so that those of you who attended class can repeat your awesome sweat session, but also for those of you who can’t come to my classes.  If you can’t make one of my classes, this is a perfect snippet of what it is like.  Complete this workout, imagine it being longer with a lot of your friends around and me yelling, “You are stronger than you think!” and that is what a class is like!

This Valentine’s Day, show your body some love with a tough workout that only takes 20 minutes.  Of course, if you want to extend it, complete more rounds if you are feeling up to it, but I promise, after 20 minutes you will be sweating!  Throw on your workout clothes, grab someone you love and a kettlbell (or a weight) and get moving this Valentine’s Day.  There is nothing like a TOUGH workout to say I LOVE you!

Your turn- tell me!
Will you make fitness a part of your Valentine’s Day?
What workout do you LOVE? 
What workout do you LOVE to hate?