Game On! The Sweet 16 HIIT Workout

Put on your game face. It’s time for March Madness! Whether you’re rooting for the top seeded teams or cheering on the underdogs, it’s hard not to get pumped for the NCAA’s top hoops stars making history with double overtimes and buzzer beater shots. (And if you’re following our March Madness Workout Challenge, a buzzer beater is equal to five star jumps.)

What makes these athletes unbeatable? Exceptional agility. We’re talking fast feet, quick reflexes, flawless footwork and straight-up explosiveness. Agility is an incredibly important factor for every athlete because it allows the body to move quickly and easily while adapting to constantly changing circumstances, says Anja Garcia, former NCAA Division I athlete and DailyBurn 365 trainer.

RELATED: Daily Burn 365: New Workouts, 7 Days a Week

And luckily, you don’t need to be All-Conference material to reap the benefits of training like an athlete. We asked Garcia to design a workout to help anyone jump higher, run faster and move more efficiently. She’s bringing the burn, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) style.

By alternating between high-intensity, all-out efforts and brief rest periods, “the body’s demand for oxygen rises, creating a deficit and making the body ask for more during recovery,” says Garcia. Translation: Your body will continue to burn calories even after your sweat session in order to help regain its store of oxygen.

 

 

The March Madness Sweet 16 HIIT Workout

Ready to play? Just because this workout is only 16 minutes doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. Before you begin, warm up by alternating between jump rope, jumping jacks, and lateral lunges for five minutes. Then grab a basketball (or any lightweight ball) and follow along with the GIFs below. Perform each exercise for one minute, then take a 30-second rest after you’ve done all five. Repeat for two more rounds (that’s three rounds total). Ball’s in your court—so go bust a move!

Image: Life by Daily Burn

1. Squat, Shoot and Press
Targets: Quads, glutes, rotational movement, and core
How to: Stand in a neutral position with your feet hip-width apart, holding a basketball in front of your stomach. Lower into a squat position, making sure your core is engaged and your chest remains upright. Send your hips and bottom back (a). Explode through your heels, jumping straight up and bringing your arms and the basketball directly overhead (b). Land on the balls of your feet and bring the basketball back in front of your chest (c). Step your right foot out to the side, then rotate your upper and lower body so you are in a forward lunge with your right foot in front. Make sure both legs are at 90-degree angles, and quickly press the basketball out in front of you (c). Return to the starting position and repeat movement on the other side.

RELATED: The 5-Minute Ab Workout to Strengthen Your Core

Image: Life by Daily Burn

2. Basketball Push-Ups
Targets: Chest, shoulders, and core
How to: Start in a basic plank position with the ball under your left hand. Make sure your wrists are under your shoulders and your body is in a straight line from head to toe (a). Bend your elbows so your upper body descends to the ground. Then, press upwards back to the plank position (b). After completing the first push-up, roll the basketball under your body to your right hand (c). Perform another push-up with your right hand on the ball (d).

Image: Life by Daily Burn

3. Lunge Layup
Targets: Quads, glutes, and core
How to: Begin standing with your feet hip-width apart while holding the basketball in front of your stomach. Lunge back with your left leg, keeping your right shin perpendicular to the ground. At the same time, tap the basketball to the ground next to the inside of your front foot (a). Then, spring off your right foot while driving your left knee up. Pretend to do a layup with the ball as you jump up (b). Repeat as fast as you can for 30 seconds, then switch sides.

RELATED: The Barre Workout You Can Do at Home

4. Lateral Shuffle Shot
Targets: Quads, glutes, outer thigh, calves, shoulders, and core
How to: Balanced on the balls of your feet, start in a half-squat position. Hold the ball in front of your upper body (a). Quickly shuffle four steps to the right, keeping your upper body facing front, with the back straight and core engaged (b). Jump up and raise your arms and the basketball above your head (c). Shuffle to the left and take a shot (d). Repeat as fast as you can.

Image: Life by Daily Burn

5. Plyometric Lunges with Figure 8s
Targets: Quads, glutes, core and endurance
How to: Start with your right leg forward in a lunge position, with both knees at 90-degree angles. Your shoulders should be pulled back with your chest up, and hips facing forward. Hold the ball in front of your chest (a). With your left hand, pass the ball under your right thigh and transfer it to your right hand (b). Next, explode off the balls of your feet and launch yourself upwards. Midair, bring your right leg back and your left leg forward. Transfer the ball to your left hand, and keep your upper body relatively stable (c). Land in a lunge, with your left foot forward. Weave the ball under your left thigh and transfer it to your left hand (d). Repeat as fast as you can.

Want a full, no-equipment workout? Head to DailyBurn.com/365, free for 30 days.

Note to reader: The content in this article relates to the core service offered by Daily Burn. In the interest of editorial disclosure and integrity, the reader should know that this site is owned and operated by Daily Burn.

More from Daily Burn:

THIS Is How to Do the Perfect Push-Up

5 Better Ways to Sculpt a Stronger

3 Moves to Strengthen Your Core
This article originally appeared on Life by Daily Burn.

 

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This Heart-Pumping Jump Rope Workout Is the Cardio You’ve Been Missing

Kick your routine into high gear with these play-inspired moves.

How many times have you changed up your usual workout over the past year? Sure, you have to try new things to keep it interesting, but it can be tricky when you feel like you’ve run out of exercises to experiment with. Trainer Janine Delaney gets that, which is why she’s bringing you this pulse-pounding jump rope routine that’s unlike any other part of your usual regimen. These five moves that will give you a new appreciation for this intense form of cardio.

Twist

Each time your feet come off the ground, twist your body to face the opposite side of the room. To make it a little bit easier, jump twice facing each direction before switching.

RELATED: All You Need Are 2 Soup Cans to Do This 60-Second Arm Workout

Skier

While facing forward, jump slightly to the left and then slightly to the right each time your feet leave the ground.

Switch feet

Again, face forward, but each time your feet go into the air, alternate which foot is crossed in front of the other.

RELATED: Which Exercise Burns the Most Calories? Here’s What Science Says

Open-close

While skipping rope, do jumping jacks but without putting your hands over your head.

Crosscross

As you jump, cross and uncross both your arms and legs.

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The Quick Calisthenics Workout You Can Do Anywhere

This article originally appeared on DailyBurn.com.

The easiest way to squash excuses for skipping a workout? Find a routine that requires zero equipment, knocks out two training techniques in one (aka strength and cardio), and perhaps most importantly, makes sweating it out seriously fun. Check off all three with this quick bodyweight-only calisthenics workout, featuring moves from Daily Burn’s DB10 program. By moving up, down and side-to-side you’ll work your body in new, exciting ways. Plus, you’ll keep your mind focused, your muscles working efficiently and your heart rate revved. All you have to do is channel the energy of a school kid at recess. Then jump right in to a workout you’ll want to keep repeating.

RELATED: Got 10 Minutes? 3 Fat-Blasting Bodyweight Workouts

Your Fast, Calorie-Blasting Calisthenics Workout

Get on your feet — it’s time for some fitness-boosting fun. These six exercises will put your speed, strength and coordination to the test. Perform each move for 30 to 45 seconds each, resting for a max 30 seconds between moves. At the end of the circuit, rest for 30 to 60 seconds and repeat for as many rounds as possible.

GIFs: Daily Burn DB10

1. Quick Feet 180 Jump

How to: Stand with feet a little wider than hip width apart and start quickly stepping your feet (a). After about three seconds, push your hips back and drop your butt down for a squat. Touch the floor with your hand when you reach the bottom (b). As you explode up for a jump, do a 180-degree turn in the air (c). Land softly back on your feet, knees bent and lower into another squat, touching the floor with your opposite hand (d). Explode back up, performing another 180-degree jump back to the front (e). Land softly and immediately start buzzing your feet again (f). Repeat.

RELATED: Burn Calories Fast with This 10-Minute Plyometrics Workout

2. Push-Up Punch

How to: Start in an extended arm plank position, with feet a little wider than your hips to broaden your base of support (a). Perform one push-up (b). When you reach the top, punch your left arm straight out in front of you, bicep by your ear (c). Place your hand back down and perform another push-up (d). Then perform the punch with your right arm (e). Continue alternating punches, with one push-up between each punch.

3. Lunge Switch

How to: Start standing. Step your right foot forward and bend both knees to 90 degrees to perform a lunge (a). Push off your right front foot, bring your knee up toward your chest and then step it back behind you. Drop down to perform a reverse lunge (b). Then, push off your feet to explode up in the air, switching your stance and landing back down in a lunge with your right foot forward (c). Step your left foot up, in front of your right, to perform a forward lunge (d). Repeat the reverse lunge and plyo lunge on the opposite site (e). Continue alternating lunges, doing one forward, then backward and then a plyo.

RELATED: 6 Plyometric Exercises for a No-Running Cardio Workout

4. Plank-Up Diagonal Hop

How to: Start in an extended arm plank position (a). Bend your right elbow to place your forearm on the mat, then your left to hit a forearm plank (b). Next, straighten your right elbow and then your left to get back into a high plank (c). Jump both feet to the outside of your right hand, then back to plank position (d). Jump both feet to the outside of your left hand, then back to plank position (e). Repeat the high-low plank, then the diagonal hops.

5. Burpee Skater

How to: Start standing with feet about hip-width apart (a). Perform one burpee by placing your hands on the ground and jumping your feet back to a plank. Then, quickly jump them back up to your hands and explode up at the top to perform another hop (b). Next, hop your left foot out to the side and bring your right foot behind your left leg (c). Push of your left foot and hop to the right side, bringing your left foot behind your right leg (d). Perform another skater to each side, then repeat the burpee (e). Continue alternating between one burpee and two skaters.

RELATED: 7 New Burpee Variations to Test Your Strength

6. Rolling Squat Jump

How to: Start standing with feet about hip-width apart (a). Drop down into a squat all the way to the ground so your butt touches the mat (b). Place your hands straight down by your sides and roll on your back so your feet come overhead (c). Roll back up coming up to a squat and jump up at the top (d). Repeat the roll and squat jump.

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Best Yoga Gifts for Yoga Lovers

We all have at least one fit friend in our lives who loves to get her “om” on. As a yogi, she’s totally flexible, but when it comes to gifts, she’d definitely prefer some presents over other. To help you choose from the countless yoga gifts on the market, we’ve rounded up some gifts for yoga lovers that your friend will go heels-over-head for (in a headstand, of course). Whether it’s a pretty yoga mat, a stylish yoga bag, trendy yoga pants, delicate yoga jewelry, or even just a little stocking stuffer, we have you covered.

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Katie Austin’s 60-Second Bodyweight – Health

Get your blood pumping with Katie Austin in this quickie workout.

Maybe you’re bored at work, or stuck in the airport—and you get a serious urge to move your body. What can you do? Fitness influencer Katie Austin has the answer: use your own weight for a pick-me-up workout. That’s right, you can get your heart rate up and strength train using nothing more than, well, yourself. In video above, Austin demonstrates her three go-to moves for a quickie sweat sesh.

Standing obliques

With your feet a little wider than shoulder-width apart, and your hands next to your ears so your elbows are sticking out to the sides, raise your right knee up as you bring your right elbow down. Continue for 10 seconds, with your abdomen engaged. Then switch sides.

RELATED: All You Need Are 2 Soup Cans to Do This 60-Second Arm Workout

Squat and booty lift

With your feet shoulder-width apart, lower into a squat. Then push off of your heels, and as you stand, straighten your left leg behind you. Return to standing and repeat, this time straightening your right leg behind you. Continue alternating legs for 30 seconds.

RELATED: Spartan Race Founder Joe De Sena Does This Body-Weight Workout Every Morning

One-legged knee push-up

Lower your body into a push-up position with your knees on the ground. Raise one leg up, extending it in a straight line behind you. Bend your elbows, and lower your chest to the ground. Push yourself back up, and repeat. Do this 10 seconds on each side.

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