“I don’t have time to train” is one of the most common reasons people give for skipping exercise. High-intensity interval training – HIIT – takes that excuse away. By alternating short bursts of hard work with brief recovery periods, you can get an effective, sweaty workout done in around 20 minutes.
What is HIIT?
HIIT simply means working at a high effort for a short interval – usually 20 to 45 seconds – followed by a short rest, then repeating. The key is intensity: during the work periods you should be pushing hard enough that holding a conversation would be difficult.
Why it works
- It’s time-efficient. You can fit a full session into a lunch break or before work.
- It builds your engine. Repeated hard efforts improve both your cardiovascular fitness and your ability to recover between efforts – exactly what you need in a boxing round.
- It keeps burning after you finish. Intense sessions raise your energy use for a period after training, alongside the calories burned during the workout itself.
- It needs little or no kit. Many of the best HIIT exercises use nothing but your bodyweight.
- It’s never boring. The format changes constantly, so time flies.
Try this: a 20-minute boxing-inspired HIIT session
Warm up (5 minutes): easy skipping or jogging on the spot, arm circles, bodyweight squats and light shadowboxing.
Main set: work for 40 seconds, rest for 20 seconds. Complete the circuit three times, resting for one minute between rounds.
- Fast shadowboxing – non-stop jabs and crosses, staying light on your feet.
- Squat jumps – sit back into a squat, then drive up explosively.
- Mountain climbers – drive your knees towards your chest, keeping your hips low.
- Burpees – step back instead of jumping if you need to scale it down.
- Plank shoulder taps – keep your hips as still as possible.
Cool down (3–5 minutes): walk it off, then stretch your hips, hamstrings, chest and shoulders.
Do HIIT safely
- Quality first. If your form breaks down, slow down or take a longer rest.
- Don’t do it every day. Two or three HIIT sessions a week is plenty – your body needs time to recover and adapt.
- Scale to your level. Beginners can use shorter work periods (20 seconds) and longer rests.
- Check with your GP before starting high-intensity exercise if you have a heart condition, injury or any health concerns.
Train HIIT with KBW
Prefer to have a coach push you? KBW runs coached HIIT and all-ages boot-camp sessions with head coach Tanny Hussain, and our free spin class every Wednesday is a great place to start. With no contract and no joining fee, you’ve got nothing to lose. Explore memberships.