The Hardest Workout You Can Get in 25 Minutes Is This Double HIIT Session

Studies show that even the shortest bout of exercise packs a powerful, healthy punch for your body and mind. These sweat-but-make-it-snappy, high-intensity workouts have characterized this month’s edition of Trainer of the Month Club led by Barry’s Bootcamp instructor Sashah Handal. So far, we’ve tried HIIT core and resistance band workouts. Now, it’s time to work every last muscle in your body with Handal’s bodyweight HIIT workout that will take you only 25 minutes.

“Today, I’ll be taking you through a 25-minute cardio session that is sure to leave you dripping in sweat,” says Handal. “You can do it from just about anywhere, and if you have a mat great. If you’ve got a towel, it might be handy, too.” Handal’s sweat sesh asks you to work hard for two-minute blocks so that your one minute rest feels like straight-up heaven. And if you’re worried about getting bored with repetitive workout moves… don’t worry.

Rather than sticking to one type of HIIT structure like every minute on the minute (EMOM) or Tabata, Handal rotates between two challenging (but very rewarding) types of high-intensity interval training: as many reps as possible (AMRAP) and ladders. As the name suggests, AMRAP asks you to complete as many reps as you can of a certain move or a certain pairing of moves until you run out the clock. Meanwhile, workout ladders are all about increasing the repetitions as you go on (or decreasing them, if you’re doing a descending ladder workout).

But wait! Alternative HIIT styles aren’t the only feature that makes this workout spicy. As Handal explains, she also uses both compound (like a burpee) and standard movements (like a squat), meaning that your muscles are being worked in various ways as the minutes wear on. “There are a lot of benefits of doing compound movements such as working more than one muscle at a time,” Andrea Somer, tier 3 trainer at Equinox in West Hollywood, previously told Well+Good. “Compound movements improve how all the muscles in the body work together to produce and control force and stability. They also involve more muscle tissue and require more oxygen, which ultimately allows you to burn more calories.”

At the same time, the more classic, traditional moves—like the shoulder taps, push-ups, and lunges in Handal’s sweat sesh—work on your mobility, or a joint’s ability to meet its full range of motion. That means all the boring things you do every day (sitting down and standing up, or reaching up above your head for the flour in your pantry) become easier than ever before. “One of the biggest factors to compromise mobility is poor posture from sitting all day, leading to muscle imbalance. Weak muscles from sitting too much can lead to compensations in the body which can prohibit mobility, and cause joint degeneration, tight muscles, and headaches,” said Emily Kiberd, DC, a New York City-based chiropractor.

Long story short, Handal’s workout is multitasking in more ways than one. But hey, you don’t have to think about any of this to enjoy your short, sweaty workout. Just press play.