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Home  » Get Ahead » The ultimate 16-minute workout

The ultimate 16-minute workout

By Brinda Sapat
June 29, 2015 15:30 IST
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Brinda Sapat takes you through some real super-easy moves that burn fat like nobody's business. Ready?

High-intensity interval training pushes the body to the max and gives you a high fat burn.

This is a 16-minute workout with includes eight exercises done for 20 seconds, with a rest period of 10 seconds between.

The cycle repeats 4 times.

Do the workout 4-5 days a week.

Let's go!

Note: Please consult your doctor before beginning this workout. Stop if you feel any pain, breathlessness or any other discomfort.

You will need:

  • A clock with a seconds hand
  • A carpeted, wooden, grass or sand surface to workout on.
  • Surface-appropriate training shoes
  • Music you enjoy
  • A bottle of water

Begin with a five-minute warm up of jogging on the stop, stair climbing, jumping jacks, dancing; etc

Do exercise number one at your best intensity for 20 seconds, then rest for 10 seconds.

Repeat the same exercise again for 20 seconds; and so on until you have done that same exercise four times. Then move on to the second exercise and so on until you finish all eight.

1. Jumping jacks

  • Jump taking your legs wide out and arms up overhead from the sides.
  • Do them as fast as you can.

2. Mountain climbers

  • Get into a plank position.
  • Maintain a straight line from head to shoulder to hip to feet.
  • The back should not arch, nor should the hip rise up.
  • Bring your right knee in towards your chest then extend it back again.
  • Next bring the left knee in.
  • Keep alternating legs going as fast as you can while maintaining the proper hip position.

3. High knees

  • Jog bringing your knees as high up in the front of you as you can

4. Squat and Side-Leg Lift

  • Stand with your feet a little more than hip distance apart; hands by your sides.
  • Push your hip back, bend your knees and lower your thighs till they are almost parallel to the floor.
  • Make sure your knees stay in line with your ankles and don't come forward.
  • Press your heels into the floor, push yourself up to standing and as you do lift your right leg out to the side, and lift your arms up overhead.
  • Bring the leg down and lower down into the next squat. As you come up this time, lift the left leg to the side.
  • Continue with the reps, lifting alternating legs each time.

5. Skip sideways and lunge

  • Skip to the right by taking two steps sideways with a little skip, allowing you to travel across faster and reach down towards your right foot with the left hand, then skip to the left.
  • Keep going side to side.

6. Plank with leg raises

  • Get into a plank position.
  • Face down, hands on the floor and legs extended.
  • Maintain a straight line from head to shoulder to hip to foot.
  • Hold this position and raise alternating legs up and down.
  • Keep the hip in line with the body as you lift the leg.

7. Switch

  • Stand and with a hop take the right leg forward and left backwards, then switch.
  • Keep alternating and move at a fast pace.

8. Swimming

  • Lie face down on your tummy.
  • Extend both your arms out in front of you.
  • Raise your upper body (till the chest comes off the floor), right arm and left leg, lower them and raise the left arm and right leg.
  • The movement mimics freestyle swimming. Go as fast as you can, alternating sides.
  • When you are done round off with some relaxing stretches.
  • Couple this workout with a low fat, well balanced diet and you are on your way to a slim and trim body!

> More Health features here

Lead image (used for representational purposes only): Calibe Thompson/Creative Commons

Illustrations: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

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Brinda Sapat