The best HIIT Workout for Fat Loss at Home

Don't Let the Pandemic Ruin Your Progress

By James Rial

It might be a little late to talk about the pandemic and the effects it had on our mental state. How it ultimately affected our daily lives with our healthy eating plans and gym routines. Maybe your financial state took a nosedive. The after-effects are still lingering and hell, they haven't even declared the damn thing over. So look, the pandemic blues are real and really knocked us down a peg and seem to keep coming for us. You have to be strong and keep your head up. When you're down, you need to find the strength within you to get back up and not let this pandemic kill your state of mind. In fact, you'll likely have to fight through many stressful events that could take you down and keep you down. You have to find reasons to keep moving, you're a survivor and you can find the will to survive. They are probably people who need you or depend on you. Maybe the stress has gotten them down as well. To break through this wall, you need to channel that anxiety and depression. Find an outlet that helps build you up and makes you stronger. One of the ways I have kept my shit together is through motivation and exercise. I cannot think of a better way to clear your mind and relieve tension. At the end of the day, I feel much stronger and more capable of taking control of my life and making rational decisions for myself and my family. 

After March of 2020 when the pandemic was first declared. The food disappeared off the shelves, kids were stuck homeschooling and the gyms closed. Can't forget the fight to get toilet paper. While everyone was grabbing TP, I made the b-line to the food section for the stuff we actually needed. Since I have a child with a congenital heart defect, I was a little more cautious than most. I wore my mask everywhere I went and did my best not to bring COVID-19 into our home. This meant no more gym sessions for a while. Now the gym had closed anyhow due to restrictions and for a few months, things would get really chaotic. Since my wife and I are both considered essential workers we never got the stay-at-home orders. My wife ended up taking a short leave because of our kids being out of school, so she did the homeschool thing during the day for a while. Again, this was short and once she went back to work it was evening school for all of us. 

Initially, we didn’t feel any financial difficulties, it was just tough getting some of the food items needed for our healthy diets, and with little time due to school and work ended up eating what we could. I tried several times to get a home routine put together but it was just impossible to keep it going through the nightly chaos. Our kids fought us tooth and nail doing school. Since they were out of the classroom it was impossible to get them to understand that they had to do schooling at home. They had the attitude that if I’m home I want to play, along with doing it at night when everyone is exhausted from the day. This new routine is just plain bullshit. 

By September of 2021, we were a little better off than we had started the pandemic. I mean school didn’t get much easier but the routine was a little easier for my wife and me to tolerate. We had our ups and downs throughout but we were starting to get our shit back on track mentally. The pandemic did throw a wrench into my previous health efforts. I started to put some of the weight back on that I had previously lost. I was trying to get back into healthy eating habits but it became a slow process to get back on track. Then at some point in September, I realized that I was definitely not going back to the gym for a while so I had to get a home routine to work. The problem with the home routine is multiple distractions, lack of space, time due to homeschooling, and still some mental fatigue. I just needed to get back that focus I had before the pandemic started and make something work. After some serious thought I decided, I was going to pick up a heavy bag at the local sporting goods store with all of the hangers and the accessories.

 

I cleared out some space in the basement and hung it from the rafters. Years ago I took martial arts as a youngster so I knew how to throw a punch, but was that enough to get going? Well, OK, let's have at it, or so I thought. About one minute in I was exhausted and even with wraps, my hands looked like they went through a meat grinder and my wrists were killing me. The lesson here is to buy the gloves and not the wraps at first, the wraps are nice once you train your knuckles for a while but mine were too soft much like fresh meat. I decided to pick up some cheapos on Amazon and boy what a difference. I had to take a week off to let my hands heal after the first couple of rounds but I started doing this as an occasional routine. I was, however, slightly discouraged by the bag at first because it would tire me out in like five minutes. I’d start pounding this thing and die out halfway through my routine. Two and a half minutes in I was struggling to punch the thing my arms were like dead weight. I can say the gloves having a built-in wrist wrap did help with the wrist pain and helped keep my wrists rigid. The bag is a beast, but even the short workouts seemed intense. 

Although, these two-minute workouts seemed intense they just weren’t long enough to kick my metabolism back into gear. I just wasn’t losing the weight like I did previously and I was getting discouraged. I started to lose my drive and motivation, missing workouts often. This was just an off-and-on battle until around the holidays when I declared war on fat. I was like this cannot happen to me, I fought hard to get healthy and re-shape my life. I had to make a home routine work for me. So I cleared out some space and moved the bag to a better location where I could punch and kick the thing. I picked up some decent bands and added some weights to my dumbbells and decided I was going to win this war. I worked on different types of routines for a few weeks until I got the right one down. I started with some old beach body videos, HIIT training, and different weight routines utilizing my dumbbells and bands. Low and behold, I designed the most intense workout I have ever put together. I am now back down to the weight I wanted to be at and I feel better than ever. I am 50 years old, will be 51 in June and I don’t feel a day over 30. 

One of the things I figured out while sampling different ideas for my routines was that roundhouse kicks, kick ass. Especially with some good flexibility. If you can get these kicks up high, oh the intensity. Now if you can learn a few boxing techniques and how to throw a real punch. This bag will bring some super intense workouts your way. You just have to realize that time is your friend and that over time with proper technique you will build up endurance, stamina, and the strength to beat the heavy bag to a pulp. I mean I have literally broken this thing off its hinges a few times and had to replace the rings. My wrists are now strong enough that I can hold them rigid without bending during a punch, I can actually decimate a complete session on this bag without bloody knuckles and my core is tighter than ever. Not to mention punching this bag is exhilarating and probably one of the best natural stress reducers I have come across in my lifetime.

 

To intensify the sessions I added in some other exercises that I feel create the ultimate 42-minute workout that will kick your ass into shape. Since I tried different HIIT methods found online and in books, these really just never did it for me. I decided I would develop my own HIIT style. I found an interval timer that I either put on the computer next to my gym area in the basement or I use my tablet. They both work and I can use the same timer. Below is the logo of the timer I use, it can be found in the Microsoft app store and on android. Also for this routine, you need to purchase a jump rope (Amazon $10-$12) is all that is needed. 

Note: If I am being truly honest, I may never go back to the gym again. I have turned my home workouts into such intense sessions that going to the gym may just prove to be a waste of time. In the end, if you can make the home option work, you may also save a few bucks as well. 

Now you can set the intervals any way you like. I would recommend either only three intervals for a beginner or dropping the time between intervals for the exercises. You can also change up the exercises to fit your needs. The ones I am listing below in my training session, I have found to bring on the intensity as well as a target of just about every muscle group in my body.

Warm-up for 3 to 5 minutes (jog in place, jumping jacks, hot tires, or just some exercise to keep you moving) I do try to avoid warming up with the same exercises I will be doing in the routine. 

Stretch by doing side bends, hamstring stretches, waist stretching, quad stretches as well as upper body stretches. I also incorporate a couple of power yoga moves that help stretch and warm up the muscles

1. Heavy Bag: 2 minutes (punches and kicks, especially roundhouse kicks)

1. Mountain Climbers: 1 minute

1. Front Kicks: 30 Seconds for each leg (1 minute)

1. Jump Rope: 1 Minute

1. Burpees: 30 seconds

1. High Knees: 30 seconds

Start the routine by setting the timer (I normally pre-set this before stretching and warming up)

Prep Time: 1 minute

Work Time: 6 minutes

Rest Time: 1 minute

Check the box that says: Prevent Screen Lock

Prep time gives you time to put your gloves on and make sure your shoes are tied. You will not get a chime during the intervals during work time so pay attention to the timer.

When the timer begins I perform punches and kicks as intensely as I can on the bag for 2 minutes. So follow the below plan for 6 minutes until rest:

Rest: 1 minute (move a bit here maybe lightly kicking legs out and drinking tiny sips of water) 

After 1 minute of rest, the next round begins (interval begins)

Keep pushing yourself through all six intervals until the chime for the final rest. Then cool down by moving and breathing, kicking your legs out, or a light jog. Finally, stretch your body. After completing this routine I finish it off with my abs routine which consists of 7 abs exercises 20 reps each. I perform this routine twice per week as my cardio routine along with three days of an intense lifting routine. I have been doing this for three months with great results. I have lost about 30 pounds and I feel great. The six intervals are intense and don’t get discouraged if you fail at only two intervals at first, I did. When I first started I just set the timer up for three intervals. It took me a few weeks to improve working my way up to the now six intervals. 

The bottom line is that you’re going to run into setbacks sometimes in life. The pandemic was one big setback with all of the uncertainties and obstacles it brought in its wake. To keep motivated you have to push yourself to your max sometimes. You have to strive for improvement and you cannot let life's curveballs bring you down. When it comes to healthy eating and exercise, where there is a will there will be away. Find something that works for you and make the adjustments necessary when it comes to your health. I've offered you some tools here that worked for me. They may or may not be right for you. The point is to get back up when you're down and fight. Nothing can beat a healthy mind and body.