2 Travel HIIT Workout Routines You Can Do Anywhere

Sarah Olive Bergeson |

Sep 10, 2024

One of the hardest parts of traveling is having to give up your workout routines. But I’ve got you covered with these 2 intense HIIT workouts you can do absolutely anywhere. All you need is wifi!

Oh, the joys of traveling, especially this time of year! Forced to evacuate your comfy home and usual habits, schlepping your kids across the country, family tiffs and misunderstandings, forgetting your good pair of jeans: these are all fodder for stress-related freak-outs. The best way to run interference on those psychotic breaks is exercise, right? But how on earth are you gonna get that workout in while you’re traveling? The weather is freezing and icy, you can’t bring your weights, and there’s not room for a big aerobic dance party in your mother-in-law’s “sitting room.”

I designed these 2 HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) series specifically for the holiday traveler. You can run through these workout routines in a hotel room, a spare bedroom, a driveway, a hallway, a garage, a walk-in closet, anywhere you have about 3 feet of space and some privacy. On the day I wanted to film these, I couldn’t get five uninterrupted minutes without someone in my family running into the frame and telling me they “goed poo poos.” So I got creative and went up on the roof of my apartment building. When you’re a real warrior, you make it happen. #amiright???

These HIIT routines are organized in true Tabata form, meaning we’re doing 20 seconds of intense work and 10 seconds of rest in between each exercise. There are 8 exercises in each series, and the total running time is about 4 minutes long. You need to rest for a FULL MINUTE in between each series. It’s important to take your rest periods so you can catch your breath and recover enough to hit it hard again. If you do Series 1 and 2 back-to-back and take your full minute of rest in between, the running time is about 10 minutes. Use the 10 minute time period to build your workout. If you want to complete 30 minutes, run through both series 3 times. If you want one fierce hour, run through ’em 6 times. Don’t forget to breathe and sip water throughout.

These workout routines alternate cardio exercises with strength training moves for a total bod workout. We’re using body weight only and hitting as many muscle groups as possible. If you complete both series you’ll hit calves, quads, glutes, outer hips, upper and lower abs, obliques, low and upper back, biceps, shoulders, triceps, and chest. Whew! Don’t forget: when you build muscle mass, your body burns more fuel all day and night long, helping you to lose extra stored fat. Best of all, working at such a high intensity really torches calories, helping to ensure that you can hit up that New Year’s party feeling fab as Gwen Stefani in Chanel sequin hot pants.

Also, these videos don’t have any music, so you can rock your own sweet tunes. Pick something that really fires you up, like The Weeknd covering Dirty Diana (D.D.).

So let’s go to work! Remember to warm up before, cool down after, and always, ALWAYS get a good long stretch in. Stretching helps your body recover and protects you from injury.

HIIT Series 1