While many of us have turned to at-home workouts over the past few years, heading outside to exercise is a great way to stay active and protect your mind, especially with this 20-minute equipment-free routine.
You’ll only need a pair of the best cross training shoes to support you through the fast-paced movements. Enjoy listening to music during workouts? Then pick up a set of the best workout earbuds too.
Whether you prefer exercising at home or the gym, there are plenty of reasons to train outdoors occasionally. According to research published in the journal Extreme Physiology & Medicine (opens in new tab), exercising outdoors increases our enjoyment of and motivation to exercise, making us more likely to keep doing it.
But what type of exercise should you do? According to fitness expert Marvin Ambrosius (opens in new tab), high-intensity interval training (HIIT) is the most time-efficient way to exercise and see results. His recommendations are backed up by science, too.
A study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (opens in new tab) found that HIIT workouts can burn more calories than other, more traditional, steady-state exercises. Meanwhile, research in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism (opens in new tab) in 2017 (opens in new tab) also showed that interval training increases your resting metabolic rate.
To get you started, Ambrosius has put together a 20-minute, no-equipment HIIT routine that is designed for the outdoors. As he says, the workout will “help you become fitter, leaner and become the best version of yourself.”
Watch Marvin Ambrosius’ 20-minute HIIT workout
The workout can be followed anywhere—in your garden, the local park, or while traveling—and whether you have access to outdoor gym equipment or not.
The session lasts 20 minutes, has six bodyweight moves in total, and includes a warm-up and cool down to help your muscles prepare and recover, avoiding injury and getting the most from your workout.
To pack plenty of fat-burning, muscle-building exercise into 20 minutes, you’ll do three sets of the six-move routine. And to keep the intensity high, you’ll do each exercise for 20 seconds, then take a 10-second rest.
Warm-up (5 minutes)
20-minute HIIT workout
- Jogging on the spot
- Mountain climbers
- Squats
- High knee walks
- Forward and back
- High plank
Cooldown
- Side pulse lunges
- Quad stretches
- Hip openers
- Shoulder stretches
- Tricep stretches
- Neck stretches
