High Intensity Workouts for Women

High intensity workouts for women have numerous benefits:

• One is that they improve cardiovascular fitness. In other words, they can help you to not pass out after you’ve chased your friend up a huge flight of stairs.

• Another is that they increase your metabolism. High intensity workouts go along way in making that dream body shape, a dream come true.

• And perhaps the most valuable benefit for our busy lives is that they don’t take up a lot of time. A high intensity workout doesn’t need to go longer than 20 minutes, excluding the warm-up. Remember that as a general rule, the more intense a workout is the shorter it should be.

Yes, you read that right. I want you to make your workouts shorter. High intensity workouts push your body into an extreme mode of adaptation and it doesn't take very long for this to happen. Trust me, you're going to need that recovery period.

If you find that doing this workout all the way through is too exhausting, stop and rest for 30 to 60 seconds. Although, you don't want to rest for too long. You know your body, you know how difficult the workout is for you. Be honest with yourself, and challenge yourself to do a little bit more than you think you can.

Before you look at the workout, remember that proper form is your friend. When doing a high intensity workout, it's easy to sacrifice form in order to keep up with the workout. If you're using form that is potentially dangerous, it's not worth being able to keep up. Take a rest when you need to.

This workout includes 3 different levels. They are beginner, intermediate and advanced. It’s a circuit training routine so one set of each exercise should be performed with little to no rest in between and then you repeat that. The number listed under each level is the number of reps for the exercise. Each exercise is repeated four times for a total of 5 sets of each exercise.

Warm-up Yoga Breathing Stretches - 3 reps

Circuit - 3 sets (the first two at a moderate pace, and the third at a fast pace)

Jumping Jacks - 30 seconds

High Knees - 30 seconds

Butt Kickers - 30 seconds

Side Shuffle Lunge Reaches - 5 reps

The Workout Circuit - 3 sets Level 1 2 3 - Move as fast as possible with each set

Squats 10 20 30

Push-ups 5 10 15

Front Kicks 5 10 15

One Two Punches 5 10 15

Side Bend Punches 5 10 15

Bicycles 20 sec 30 sec 40 sec

Plank 5 sec 10 sec 15 sec