For those of you joining us for this 7 day New Year Slim Down series today please make sure you check day the previous days here.
This year I wanted to do something a little bit different on the blog, by focusing 100% on setting that New Year’s intention correctly and making the most of your New Year’s motivation. We are after a lifestyle change rather than something that you do for a few weeks and then give up. When we give up we often feel bad for quitting but know that everything will be okay as you’ve quit every other year as well. The thing is, we spend half the year feeling pretty average about ourselves due to giving up and not reaching that goal we set for ourselves.
Today’s New Year’s Slim Down is all about a 4 minute no equipment, HIIT workout!
Did you know that you can get a really good workout in a short amount of time, as little as four minutes actually! A four minute workout? No way you say! Yep I’m 100% serious!
What’s even better is that you don’t need any fancy equipment to do this work out! All you need is yourself and either an interval timer app on your smart phone, or access to a clock with a second hand on it!
Set your interval timer to 8 intervals of 20seconds with a 10second rest in between each one. You will complete each exercise below at the highest intensity that you can for 20 seconds, have a 10 second rest and then move on to the next exercise. You will perform each exercise a total of two times.
The really important thing here is that you do the exercises with the full intensity that you can give them (this will differ for everyone depending on your current fitness level). This style of workout is called a HIIT workout or high intensity interval training, you work for 20 seconds then rest, then repeat this cycle at a high intensity for a short period of time.
// High Knees
High knees can be performed at two different levels, one is simply to walk your knees up as high as you can one after the other and the harder (and best) version is where you run your knees up as high as you can one after another. The key focus here is getting the knees up nice and high.
// Jumping Jacks
Jumping jacks (or star jumps as they are also known) are an exercise that most people know how to do and can perform at some level or another. The basic version is stepping out your feet where the harder version involves jumping out both your arms and legs at the same time.
// Fast Feet
Fast feet is essentially running on the spot as fast as you can go, your speed will depend on your fitness level but go as fast as you can. You should be able to feel everything in your body jiggle when performing this exercise 😉
// Squat Jumps
Squat jumps are a great explosive exercise and while the power comes from the legs they really do use all of your body and get your heart rate up nice and high. Squat down and explode into the air as high as you can go, once again height will differ depending on your fitness level and how comfortable you are with the exercise.
7 Day New Year’s Slim Down – Homework
- Complete this 4 Minute HITT workout at least twice in the next week!
Which exercise do you think you will find the hardest in this workout? – Comment below and let us know, we love hearing from you!
I am still recovering from stomach surgery and have stitches in my leg so I am really nervous about starting to work out again- however I think I will try this out tomorrow!
Non alcoholic drink I like best is pineapple juice with a splash of lime and passion fruit. Fav alcoholic is a passion fruit cider mmmmm