The At-Home HIIT Workout To Get Your Legs & Glutes In Shape
Your strong legs are more than just for show. Even the most fundamental daily actions, like walking and balancing, require leg strength. So, if you want to ensure the betterment of your physical health, you need to include leg exercises in your routine. And if you're looking for a HIIT workout to keep your legs in tip-top shape, we've got you covered. But first things first...
What Is a HITT Workout?
HIIT, also known as high-intensity interval training, is a type of interval training that entails short bursts of extremely intense exercise followed by rest intervals or periods of lower-intensity exercise. In just about five to 30 minutes, HIIT routines can be completed, with the intensity of the workout increasing with the length of time. With HIIT exercises, you can work up a sweat without paying for or traveling to a gym, and it is an incredibly quick and effective form of training.
HIIT workouts deliver the same health advantages as low- and moderate-intensity aerobic workouts in a lot less time and have been shown to increase metabolism and build strength. High-intensity interval training, has been proven to enhance metabolism and build strength, and it offers the same health benefits as low- and moderate-intensity aerobic exercises in a lot less time.
Pro Tip: For intense intervals, aim for a heart rate of 85 to 90 percent.
Determine your rest-to-work ratio:
- Week 1: 30-sec work/60-sec rest
- Week 2: 30-sec work/45-sec rest
- Week 3: 30-sec work/30-sec rest
- Week 4: 45-sec work/30-sec rest
Beginner Workout:
Squats
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- Point your toes forward and space your feet just wider than hip distance apart.
- To move your hips back, gently extend your knees while bending at the ankle and knee.
- Keep your shoulders back and your heels and toes firmly planted on the ground as you kneel.
- In order to be parallel, which should be the ultimate objective, the knees should be at a 90-degree angle.
- Set your heels down and lengthen your legs to stand up straight. Your knees shouldn’t go over your feet while squatting. Instead, they should be behind the toes.
Jumping Jacks
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- Holding your hands at your sides, stand straight with your back straight.
- Jump while kicking your feet wide and raising both of your arms.
- Repeat.
Forward and Backward Lunges
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1. Step forward while keeping your hips separated, then slowly stretch both knees until your back knee is barely off the ground.
2. Step backward with the leg you used to stand up, then bend both knees to crouch down with your back knee just above the floor.
3. Keep going. Change legs after the set is complete.
30-sec work/60-sec rest or preferred rest-to-week ratio.
High Knee Run
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- Start by jogging while keeping your knees elevated.
- Slowly advance while jogging with your knees raised and your arms pumping back and forth.
- Proceed for 30 more seconds.
Squat Side Step
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1. Start by assuming a straight posture and placing your feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Pushing your hips back, squat.
3. Get to your feet, move to the side, and squat down once more.
4. Go back to your starting posture and continue performing this side-to-side motion until the set is finished.
30-sec work/60-sec rest or preferred rest-to-week ratio.
Lunge Pulses
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1. From a standing start, advance like you would when lunging.
2. Partial lunge, similar to a standard lunge, about a fourth of the way down. This is where everything begins.
3. Start your workout by pulsating up and down, then perform a lunge by rising and descending by around three inches. Make sure you remain in the lunge stance the entire workout, never standing up.
30-sec work/60-sec rest or preferred rest-to-week ratio.
If you want to add more intensity to this workout, keep reading for intermediate and advanced modifications to suit your fitness needs.
Intermediate Workout: Alternating Jump Lunges
- Bend your knees and take a deep lunge to get ready to jump. As you contract your abdominal muscles, naturally gravitate forward. Throughout the exercise, your core muscles will continue to be engaged.
- Put your weight down swiftly, then drive both feet into the ground with explosive force, launching your body upward while fully extending your knees and hips.
- Bring your feet together quickly as you jump into the air, then switch feet as you start to land. As you do this, you should alternate your arms.
- Keep your feet in a balanced stance as you land. The front knee shouldn't go past the front foot. Try to softly land on your forward mid-foot, letting your heel make contact with the ground. Avoid staying on the forward foot's toes. Allow your hips and knees to bend fully to absorb the landing while keeping your hips back. Keep your knees from locking.
- As you get ready to begin the next jump lunge, lower yourself to a deep lunge stance.
- For the duration of your workout, repeat the jump-lunge motion.
Intermediate Workout: Rear Leg Lift
- Beginning on all fours, place your hands under your shoulders and your knees beneath your hips.
- Set one leg out in the back of you. Avoid crossing your legs over since doing so can make your lower back hurt. Instead…
- The leg should be raised to hip level and then slowly brought back down.
- Continue until the set is finished with the opposing leg.
Advanced Workout: One Leg Drop
- Lay on your back on a mat with your legs straight and parallel to the floor.
- Start the exercise by slowly lowering your right leg until it nearly reaches the floor while maintaining bent knees. To lower the leg, try to take three to five seconds. Raise your leg to the starting position after a brief pause.
- Continue as necessary with the right leg, then switch.
Advanced Workout: Pile Squat
- Place your feet wider than shoulder-width apart when standing. Make a 45-degree turn outward with your toes. If your flexibility allows, you can turn your feet out further. But make sure your hips, NOT your knees, are doing the moving. You should have a straight line from your toes to your knees.
- Straighten your spine, hold in your abs, and stand tall. For balance, you can also extend your arms in front of you or to the sides.
- Bend your legs, push your knees out, and lower yourself until your thighs are nearly parallel to the floor while maintaining your upright posture. Avoid bending forward and avoid letting your lower back round.
- Stand upright and repeat.
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Taysha Robinson is a writer and high school English teacher, based in metro-Atlanta. A self described philomath, you can find her reading books and articles of every genre, attending educational conferences, and hiking wherever the terrain will allow.
ItGirl 100 Honors Black Women Who Create Culture & Put On For Their Cities
As they say, create the change you want to see in this world, besties. That’s why xoNecole linked up with Hyundai for the inaugural ItGirl 100 List, a celebration of 100 Genzennial women who aren’t afraid to pull up their own seats to the table. Across regions and industries, these women embody the essence of discovering self-value through purpose, honey! They're fierce, they’re ultra-creative, and we know they make their cities proud.
VIEW THE FULL ITGIRL 100 LIST HERE.
Don’t forget to also check out the ItGirl Directory, featuring 50 Black-woman-owned marketing and branding agencies, photographers and videographers, publicists, and more.
THE ITGIRL MEMO
I. An ItGirl puts on for her city and masters her self-worth through purpose.
II. An ItGirl celebrates all the things that make her unique.
III. An ItGirl empowers others to become the best versions of themselves.
IV. An ItGirl leads by example, inspiring others through her actions and integrity.
V. An ItGirl paves the way for authenticity and diversity in all aspects of life.
VI. An ItGirl uses the power of her voice to advocate for positive change in the world.
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Not too long ago, while in an interview, someone asked me for a top complaint that I hear husbands say (first) and then wives state (second) as it relates to what goes down (or doesn’t go down) in the bedroom.
Ladies first: when it comes to women, I think what comes up more than anything might surprise some: it’s boredom. A lot of wives want there to be more spontaneity instead of taking the “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach from their partner. As for men? I mean, would anyone be shocked to hear that they wished their wife would initiate sex more often?
I’m telling you, over frequency, technique, and even dressing up more for bed (and yes, those things also come up quite a bit), hands down, what I hear that more men want is for their partner to show them that they are desired by taking the initial steps to make copulation happen…more often.
And so, since I’m all about doing whatever I can to reduce dissatisfaction and frustration in the bedroom department, let’s explore this very topic today — from a few angles. For starters, what it truly means to be a sexual initiator; two, why it’s so vitally important to be a sexual initiator, and three, why it could literally change the entire tone, energy, and outcome of your sex life with your partner — if you’d simply be open to initiating sex more often than you (probably already) do.
What It Means to Initiate Something. LITERALLY.
Giphy
I’m word-literal — there’s no secret about that. So, when it comes to the topic of initiating sex, let’s start with what the word means. To initiate is “to begin, set going, or originate” and “to introduce into the knowledge of some art or subject.” Some synonyms for initiate include begin, open, set up, trigger, admit, introduce, and invest. And when it comes to all of the meanings of these words, between men and women, when it comes to sex specifically, guess who does it more? Men. BY A LONG SHOT TOO: a whopping 60 percent.
When it comes to why a lot of women are so comfortable with men initiating intimacy, many think that, just like men should pursue them for a relationship, it is also “the man’s role” to pursue sex in the bedroom; they literally think that it makes them look desperate or needy for them to be the initiator — yes, even as a wife. What in the world?
Listen, when two people sign up to be each other’s exclusive sex partner until death parts them, it means they are both saying that they desire each other so much that they are willing to make that kind of commitment — and so, there should be no “I don’t want to appear this way or that” when it comes to sexual activity.
So, with all of that ridiculous overthinking out of the way, that should make you want to “set up” some sex plans, “admit” to some sexual fantasies that you may have, and “introduce” some new ideas to your partner; especially since that’s exactly what so many men wish that their lady would do, to begin with.
So, with all of this said, if you’re someone who is hung up on not initiating, first spend some time really processing what the word means. Because when two people are eager to begin sex and invest in each other sexually, that is the recipe for a truly satisfying experience…over and over and over again.
C’mon. Who Doesn’t Want to Feel Wanted?
GiphyI remember once reading an article that said our brain processes rejection the same way that it does physical pain, and y’all, I don’t know about you, but if something is physically hurting me, my natural inclination is to get away from it. Along these lines, when it comes to relationships since research has proven that rejection can lead to things like jealousy, shame, anxiety, loneliness, and guilt — yes, it makes all of the common sense in the world that you would want to do all that you can to make your partner feel wanted…both in and outside of the bedroom because, just like no one wants to deal with physical pain, no one wants to keep dealing with rejection and all of the fallout that comes with it…either.
Actually, when it comes to this particular point, I think that an article that I once read on Psychology Today’s site said it best: “Not only does being needed help define your role in a relationship, but being needed can also influence how satisfied you feel in a relationship.” And before some of you say that “sex is not a need” — the hell you say? I mean, the only purpose of your clitoris is to provide sexual stimulation, so that alone should make us all deem sex (and sexual fulfillment) as pretty damn important.
Plus, by definition, a need is something that is deemed as being essential while also being something that is extremely necessary, and anyone who thinks that a romantic relationship doesn’t need physical intimacy? That’s someone who really needs to remain single because one of the top things that makes a relationship more than a friendship is there is intimacy that’s involved.
Besides, who doesn’t want to feel wanted by their partner — and I do mean, in every way? And when you make the decision to be in an exclusive relationship with someone else, you are declaring that they are someone who pleases you to the point where you don’t need to look for anyone else to do it; and, if that is indeed what you are saying, it doesn’t make sense that you wouldn’t initiate sex with them sometimes (and I do mean more than on their birthday).
One, because you choose them to “fill that role.” Two, because they are the source of your fulfillment in that area. Three, because it’s completely unfair (not to mention totally hypocritical) to expect them to make you feel wanted when you’re not being intentional about making them feel the same way in return. Not to mention the fact that initiating also helps to safeguard your relationship on a lot of levels too.
Since sex is important and rejection is detrimental on so many levels, it’s crucial to make your partner feel sexually wanted and desired by you. One way to definitely do that is to initiate sex.
What Initiating Sex Does for You
GiphySo, what does initiating sex do for the initiator? Something that I tell a lot of my women clients is it helps them to create an atmosphere that puts them in the mood. What I mean by that is, if their husband is perfectly content having sex on the couch during commercials (I’m kind of exaggerating to make a point…kind of…LOL) while they would like some candles, mood music, and rose petals — they can control that if they are the one who initiates.
Another perk that comes with being the initiator is you have more “control” over how the sex goes. The kind of foreplay you want, how fast or slow things go, how intercourse begins — all of this, you have more of a say so in if you’re the one who is initiating intimacy. Why? Well, think about when your bae initiates — doesn’t it seem like you tend to follow his lead more when he’s the one who is first to get the ball rolling?
Oftentimes, when a couple comes to me about being sexually dissatisfied, and I recommend that the one who doesn’t initiate takes more initiative, the one on the receiving end likes the fact that their partner is “running the show” — and the initiator likes “being in charge” more than they thought that they would. As a result, both end up experiencing far more pleasure.
The initiator shows what they want more of while the receiver feels desired in the process. A win/win for everyone.
What Initiating Sex Does for Him
sexy black and white GIFGiphyA couple of weeks ago, while in a session with a client, he was joking about how much he has “too much of a good thing” when it comes to his wife’s libido. Although science says that the fact that men have a higher amount of testosterone in their system, and it is the reason why they typically have a higher sex drive, don’t sleep on a lot of women out there who want to get it in more than their husband does. His wife is one of them. Since she’s a client of mine too (oftentimes, we do our sessions separately), it’s interesting that he’s fine with having sex a couple of times a month while she would like to a couple of times a week.
So, is he denying her when she wants it more often? Nope. The reason why they’re not having more sex is that even though her drive is higher, she still waits for him to initiate. Why? Because she thinks that’s what “the man should do”; not only that but “being wooed” turns her on more.
As I’ve been working on helping them to find a middle ground (because if marriage ain’t about compromise, I don’t know what is), he says that he feels like because he plans a lot of the dates, he wishes that she would initiate more: “I don’t think a lot of women get how hard it is to be a Black man out here. Nothing feels better than knowing that if no one else is thrilled by your presence, your woman is. For us, initiating isn’t just about sex. It’s about feeling wanted as a whole. And when we feel like our woman adores us, there is no greater turn-on.”
I’m not sure what y’all heard, but what it sounds like to me is when we, as women, initiate sex, men feel holistically special and cherished. That makes sense, too, because if we were to put our feet in their shoes, we would probably say the same thing. That’s just one more reason to pull the “gender roles” out of this topic; men and women both want to feel like they are the best thing on the planet by their sex partners. And again, initiating helps us all to feel that way.
What Initiating Ultimately Does for Your Relationship As a Whole
Issa Rae Love GIF by Insecure on HBOGiphyPersonally, I can only imagine how much better sex would be for everyone (who is in a sexual relationship) if people simply initiated copulation whenever they wanted to have it. That way, everyone would feel desired — and what could possibly be wrong with that? Especially if both individuals factored in some of the definitions for initiated that I already shared. Just think about if you rushed home tonight because you read about something that you want to introduce to your man or there’s a fantasy that you have that you want to admit.
The mere conversations alone will help to bring the two of you closer together because, after all, deep intimacy is about minds, bodies, and spirits getting as close as possible…right? And so, yes, by initiating sex, it can bring more closeness and stability to the relationship as a whole.
And what if you initiate and your partner isn’t interested at the time? Or what if you’re shy about initiating due to having a fear of rejection? That’s a fair and legitimate concern. One day, I’ll need to pen an article on how couples should handle situations like that with grace (on both ends) while applying the golden rule of “doing unto others as you would have them do unto you.” For now, I’ll just say that if this is your greatest point of concern, share that with your partner as well.
After all, it’s pretty unrealistic to expect them to always want it when you do (although it’s been my experience and observation that men are almost always far easier to convince…LOL); just know that not wanting sex at the exact moment that you do doesn’t mean that they don’t want you altogether. Besides, oftentimes, a nap or a night of sleep can rectify that issue. Trust me.
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Rihanna was actually once quoted as saying, “To me, sex is power. It’s empowering to do it because you want to do it.” I personally think that’s a great way to bring this to a close. Make your partner feel wonderful, empower yourself, and strengthen your relationship by initiating sex more often. I can’t think of one reason why it’s not a wise move. Can you?
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