The Best HIIT Core Workout Routine with PDF

HIIT workouts are challenging, heart-pumping, and help you boost endurance and burn more calories. In this article, I’ll share the best HIIT core workout and routine (with PDF) that will help you enhance your aerobic and anaerobic fitness, burn more calories, tone abdominal muscles, build abs, and speed up weight loss.

HIgh-intensity interval training is a type of workout program where you have to perform a set of exercises in intervals.

For instance, If your HIIT included five exercises, you’ll have to do each workout as fast as possible for a suggested duration followed by the recovery period of the same, short, or long duration.

Here’s a sample for you that may help you understand.

1. Mountain Climbing: 30-sec work, 30-sec rest
2. Crunches: 20-sec work, 40-sec rest
3. Reverse Crunches: 40-sec work, 20-sec
4. Heel Touch Crunches: 30-sec work, 30-sec rest
5. Leg Raises: 20-sec work, 40-sec rest

Related: 30-min Full Body HIIT (No Equipment)

Whether you’re a beginner, intermediate, or advanced, you can download a HIIT core workout routine PDF for yourself based on your fitness level from the following ones:

• 10 minute hiit core workout routine for beginners
• 20 minute hiit core workout for Intermediate
• 30 minute advanced hiit core workout routine
• 15 minute HIIT core workout plan for general fitness

But before you move on to routines, let’s quickly see the ten best core exercises you can incorporate into your program.

Top 10 HIIT Core Exercises with no Equipment

Planks are isometric ab exercises that’s why I haven’t included them in this article. However, you can incorporate them when you design a HIIT ab workout routine for yourself.

1. Mountain Climbers

1. Get into the high plank position with your body straight from head to heels.
2. Brace your core and bring your knees alternatively toward your chest as fast as possible.
3. Don’t allow your elbows to be bend. Keep your arms straight below your shoulder throughout the movement.

2. Heel Touch Crunches

1. Begin with lying flat on the floor with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground.
2. Brace your core, lift your upper back off the floor and touch your heels with your hands.
3. Make sure your abs muscles are fully engaged during the movement.

3. Bicycle Crunches (Best Core Workout)

1. Lie on the floor on your back and hold your arms behind your head with your elbows bent.
2. Lift your legs off the floor and bring your right knee and left elbow toward each other.
3. Then return your right knee back to the starting position. And at the same time bring your left knee toward your right elbow (suppose you need to pedal them in the air as you ride the bicycle).
4. Keep your head in a neutral position (Don’t pull it forward).
5. Squeeze your abdominal muscles during the movement.

4. Leg Raise

1. Lie flat on the floor with your legs are straight.
2. Keep your arms straight under your hips for support.
3. Brace your core and raise your legs as high as possible while keeping your torso grounded.
4. Hold for a couple of seconds at top of the movement, and then slowly lower them down on the ground. Repeat for the maximum number of repetitions for 20 seconds.

5. Russian Twist

1. Start with sitting on the floor with your knees are bent and keep your feet slightly off the ground.
2. Slightly lean back so your upper body is at a 45-degree angle. Hold your arms close to each other near your stomach. This is your starting position.
3. Now, brace your core and twist your torso as far as you can in both directions (one at a time).
4. Squeeze your abdominal muscles as much as you can during the movement.

6. Toe touch crunches

1. Lie flat on your back and raise your legs toward the ceiling.
2. Try to touch your toes with your fingers so you can feel the contraction in your abs.
3. Hold for a second at top of the movement then return to the start.
4. Do as many reps as possible in 20 seconds.

7. Knee To Inside Elbow Mountain Climber

1. Get into a high plank position with your arms are straight just underneath your shoulders and body straight from head to heels.
2. Keep your core tight and bring your right knee toward the left elbow.
3. Return your right knee to the starting position. And as you return your right knee, bring your left knee toward the right elbow. Repeat these steps for the maximum number of repetitions in 20 seconds.
4. Make sure to squeeze your abdominal muscles as much as you can during the movement.

8. V-ups Crunches (One of the difficult Core Workout)

1. Lie flat on your back with your legs are straight.
2. Hold your arms straight behind your head.
3. Raise your legs and torso off the ground and bring them toward each other at the same time. And then reverse the movement and return to the lying position.
4. Do as many reps as possible in 20 seconds.

9. Flutter Kicks

1. Lie flat on your back with your legs are straight
2. Place your hands under your hips for support.
3. Lift your legs slightly off the floor and raise them like a scissors.
4. Do as many reps as possible in 20 seconds.

10. Reverse crunches

1. Lay down on the floor with your knees are bent and feet off the floor.
2. Keeping your core tight, bring your knees toward your chest as close as possible.
3. Extend your legs and then repeat for the maximum times in 20 to 30 seconds.

You may also like: The Ultimate Pros And Cons Of HIIT Workout

10 minute HIIT Core Workout Routine for Beginners

A 10-min HIIT core workout session will be excellent for a beginner to start with.

It will be effective and help you scale up for a 15 to 20 minutes session.

There will be ten exercises in this 10-min session and each exercise will be done at a fast pace.

20 minute HIIT Core Workout Routine for Intermediate

This 20-min high-intensity workout will forge your core, tone abdominal muscles, boost metabolism, and help you develop six-pack abs.

You’ll have to do four circuits of five exercises each to complete the twenty minutes session.

Duration of each exercise: 30-sec

The interval between exercises: 30-sec

30 minute Advanced HIIT Core Workout Routine

This 30-min HIIT core workout is for advanced fitness enthusiasts who are desperately trying to lose weight.

It will be challenging but help you burn plenty of calories, build a sturdy core, tone abdominal muscles, enhance aerobic and anaerobic fitness, and speed up weight loss.

In this routine, you’ll do a total of five rounds of six exercises each. And each workout will be of 20-sec followed by 40-sec rest.

15 minute HIIT Core Home Workout Plan for All

Round: Two

• Mountain Climbers– 20 seconds, 15 seconds Rest
• Heel Touch Crunches– 20 seconds, 15 seconds Rest
• Bicycle Crunches – 20 seconds, 15 seconds Rest
• Leg Raise – 20 seconds, 15 seconds Rest
• Russian Twist– 20 seconds, 20 seconds Rest
• Toe touch crunch – 20 seconds, 20 seconds Rest
• Plank – 45 Seconds Hold, 15 seconds Rest
• Knee To Inside Elbow Crunches – 20 seconds, 20 seconds Rest
• Side Plank– 30 Seconds Each Side then 30 seconds rest
• V-ups Crunches– 20 Seconds, 20 seconds rest
• Knee To Outside Elbow Plank – 20 Seconds

This 15-minute HIIT core workout can be done anywhere you want; like at home, at the gym, on the ground, or on the street. All it’s require your mindset and energy.

HIIT Abs Workout Routine PDF

How often should you HIIT Core Workout?

If you’re a beginner, one time a week is sufficient; if you want to thicken abs muscles and build six-pack abs, you can do two days a week, and you can do three times a week if you want to burn more calories, speed up weight loss, and increase core strength at the same time.

Final Words

Having a strong core has various advantages. For example, it reduces back pain and risk of injuries¹ Kline JB, Krauss JR, Maher SF, Qu X. Core strength training using a combination of home exercises and a dynamic sling system for the management of low back pain in pre-professional ballet dancers: a case series. J Dance Med Sci. 2013;17(1):24-33, improve running performance² Tong TK, Wu S, Nie J, Baker JS, Lin H. The occurrence of core muscle fatigue during high-intensity running exercise and its limitation to performance: the role of respiratory work. J Sports Sci Med. 2014 May 1;13(2):244-51. PMID: 24790475–³Cavaggioni L, Ongaro L, Zannin E, Iaia FM, Alberti G. Effects of different core exercises on respiratory parameters and abdominal strength. J Phys Ther Sci. 2015 Oct;27(10):3249-53, and muscular endurance⁴ Vispute SS, Smith JD, LeCheminant JD, Hurley KS. The effect of abdominal exercise on abdominal fat. J Strength Cond Res. 2011 Sep;25(9):2559-64.

Consistency, diet, as well as a lifestyle all matter. All have a direct impact on your fitness result. And if you can manage everything, you will surely see the best result in a short amount of time.

So, do one HIIT core workout routine at home for a couple of months and notice the changes. If it works, continue with this and if it won’t, try something else.

Related Articles:

• HIIT Vs Steady-State Cardio (All You Need To Know)

• Best HIIT Exercises And Workout Plan

• The Best Dumbbell HIIT Workout Plan (With PDF)

• Best Weekly HIIT Workout Plan For Newbie & Pro

References

• 1
  Kline JB, Krauss JR, Maher SF, Qu X. Core strength training using a combination of home exercises and a dynamic sling system for the management of low back pain in pre-professional ballet dancers: a case series. J Dance Med Sci. 2013;17(1):24-33
• 2
  Tong TK, Wu S, Nie J, Baker JS, Lin H. The occurrence of core muscle fatigue during high-intensity running exercise and its limitation to performance: the role of respiratory work. J Sports Sci Med. 2014 May 1;13(2):244-51. PMID: 24790475
• 3
  Cavaggioni L, Ongaro L, Zannin E, Iaia FM, Alberti G. Effects of different core exercises on respiratory parameters and abdominal strength. J Phys Ther Sci. 2015 Oct;27(10):3249-53
• 4
  Vispute SS, Smith JD, LeCheminant JD, Hurley KS. The effect of abdominal exercise on abdominal fat. J Strength Cond Res. 2011 Sep;25(9):2559-64