How do I start HIIT at home?
Go 1 part hard to 3 parts easy. Try 15 seconds of high knees, then 45 of marching. Skip the famous 4-minute Tabata for now. It was tested flat out on a lab bike.
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What is HIIT training at home?
HIIT means high intensity interval training. The NHS calls it short bursts of maximum effort broken up with rest. You need floor space and a timer.
Hard means you can only say a few words before you pause for breath. Easy means marching or walking on the spot until you’re ready to go again.
| Weeks | Hard, then easy | Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| 1 and 2 | 15 seconds hard, 45 seconds easy. | 1 to 3 |
| 3 and 4 | 20 seconds hard, 40 seconds easy. | 1 to 2 |
| 5 and 6 | 30 seconds hard, 30 seconds easy. | 1 to 1 |
The ratios come from a small 2025 study. 14 inactive adults with obesity followed YouTube workout videos, 18 times over 6 weeks. They moved from 1 to 3 up to 1 to 1, every 2 weeks.
Their leg strength rose 12.5% and their fitness 4.2%. The authors called the effects small to moderate. Start with weeks 1 and 2 this week.
HIIT exercise list for home
The video study used high knees, squat jumps, scissor jacks, jumping lunges and burpees. Live in a flat, or want less impact? Most swaps come from a beginner routine by ACE, a US fitness training body.
| Move | How to do it | No-jump swap |
|---|---|---|
| High knees | Run on the spot, knees up to hip height. | March fast, lifting each knee high. |
| Squat jumps | Squat down, then jump straight up. | Bodyweight squat, standing up fast. |
| Jumping lunges | Lunge, jump and swap legs in the air. | Step back into a lunge, one leg at a time. |
| Burpees | Squat, jump your feet back, jump them in, stand. | Plank, driving one knee to your chest, then the other. |
| Jumping jacks | Jump feet wide, arms overhead, then back. | Side lunges, stepping left, then right. |
Sources: Bellissimo 2025; ACE: basic HIIT routine
A no-jump move still counts as hard if you push until you can only say a few words. Pick 4 moves you can do with good form.
CrossFit-style home workouts mix bursts like these with strength moves. The NHS counts circuit training (moving quickly from one exercise to the next) as HIIT. For strength moves, see strength training at home.
15 min HIIT workout for beginners
15 minutes: warm up, 8 rounds, cool down
- 1
Warm up, 6 minutes
March on the spot, then lift your knees. The NHS says at least 6 minutes.
- 2
Rounds 1 to 4
One move per round: 15 seconds hard, then 45 seconds easy marching.
- 3
Rounds 5 to 8
Same 4 moves again, in the same order.
- 4
Cool down, 1 minute
Walk slowly on the spot until your breathing settles.
Sources: NHS: how to warm up; Gillen 2016
Only 2 minutes here are hard. Is that enough? In a 12-week trial, inactive men did 10-minute bike sessions with 1 minute flat out, 3 times a week.
Their fitness rose 19%. So did fitness in men who cycled steadily for 50 minutes a session.
It was a bike, not a living room. Their hard minute was all-out sprinting, harder than your first bursts, and only 19 men trained.
As the weeks pass, swap in the longer hard times from the plan above. ACE notes there’s no set rule on which interval times work best.
Is Tabata a good HIIT workout at home?
Not as a first step. Tabata is 20 seconds on, 10 off, 7 to 8 times. It comes from a 1996 lab study in 7 people.
| Tabata study | Your first weeks | |
|---|---|---|
| Hard | 20 seconds, flat out, to exhaustion. | 15 seconds, a few words only. |
| Rest | 10 seconds. | 45 seconds of marching. |
| Days | 5 a week for 6 weeks. | 3 a week. |
| Where | A lab bike. | Your living room. |
Sources: Tabata 1996; Bellissimo 2025
The bursts were about 1.7 times the effort that maxes out your heart and lungs. That flat-out pace is why Tabata isn’t where you start.
Finish the 6-week plan first. Then try one Tabata block at the end of a session.
How often should you do HIIT at home?
Three times a week is what the video study and the bike trial used. The NHS says several short sessions of very vigorous activity can meet your weekly target. Add strength work on at least 2 days.
Hoping to lose fat? A review of 13 trials in adults aged 18 to 45 with overweight or obesity found HIIT and steady exercise worked about the same. Fat loss was modest, with no change in body weight.
Your HIIT week at home
- Do the 15-minute workout 3 times a week.
- Warm up for at least 6 minutes every time.
- Push each hard burst until you can only say a few words.
- Add strength work on at least 2 days a week.
- Add hard time every 2 weeks, from 15 seconds up to 30.
- Stop at once if you feel any pain or become unwell.
Sources: NHS: physical activity guidelines; NHS: how to warm up; Bellissimo 2025
Prefer a heart rate guide to the talk test? See max heart rate and exercise zones. For longer steady cardio, try cardio at home.
When to speak to a GP
Speak to a GP before you start if:
- You have not exercised for some time, or you have medical conditions or concerns.
- You have a health problem, an injury, any symptoms or feel unwell, or had a recent heart attack or operation, or any other concerns about your health.
- You’re pregnant or recently gave birth. The NHS says not to start a new vigorous activity in pregnancy, and to stop if you feel uncomfortable, too hot or unwell. After birth, the NHS says vigorous activity is not recommended if you were inactive before pregnancy.
- You have chest pain that comes and goes, or that goes away quickly but you’re still worried.
Have heart disease? HIIT is used in supervised heart rehab, where serious events were rare. Ask your heart team before you try it at home.
Stop at once if you feel any pain or become unwell. Call 111 if symptoms worry you or don’t go away.
Call 999 for sudden chest pain or discomfort that doesn’t go away. It can feel like squeezing, pressure, burning or indigestion.
Call too for pain spreading to either arm, or your neck, jaw, stomach or back. Also call for chest pain with sweating, feeling sick, light-headed or short of breath.