Intensity Overload No Equipment Required with Mindy Mylrea

Fartik, Tabata, Little—positive recovery, negative recovery—longer intervals, shorter intervals—so many options and so little time. Yes, that is right—SO LITTLE TIME. When intensity is in the mix workout time is shorter and rewards are greater. Trust Mindy to hold you hand and guide you through this amazing HIIT workouts. Experience research-based strategic HIIT training in less time yielding greater strength and fitness gains then ever before.

Choose one 10 minute workout and walk away assured that you have done enough for the day. Or challenge yourself to put a few workouts together for an over the top Intensity Overload. This DVD includes 6 varied workouts between 10-20 minutes, which can be used as stand alone routines, or mix and match for unlimited intensity cardio and strength variety.

30-20-10 is 12:30: the idea behind this one is 30 seconds of hard work, 20 seconds of harder work and 10 seconds you work the hardest. After the first interval, that 30 seconds “hard” is really your recovery. And she doesn’t go “hard” during that 30 seconds, btw–tho the intensity definitely picks up substantially during the last 30 seconds. 1. jog for 30 seconds, then high knee run for 20 seconds, then continue to high knee run for the last 10 seconds–just harder, bringing knees up higher. 2. low hopping for the first 30 seconds, then bigger hops the next 20 seconds, the last 10 seconds are your biggest hops. 3. two slow shallow lunge jumps alternated with 3 fast even shallower lunge jumps, then for each segment do the first two lunge jumps deeper and the 3 fast ones faster. 4. loaded lunge–alternating side lunges; done slow for the first 30 seconds, then faster for the next 20, then the last 10 seconds do them faster and with a hop in the middle. 5. Burpees–for the first 30 seconds when in the plank position you just step in and back, alternating legs, for the next 20 seconds you hop back but only stand at the top, for the last 10 seconds hop back and hop at the top. 6. squat for the first 30 seconds, then quarter turn hops the next 20 seconds, and the last 10 seconds is 180 jump turns. 7. out-in-out, in-out-in jacks–just do them faster and jump higher for each segment. 8. small side to side jumps (puddle jumps), next 20 seconds jump over the fence, or lateral jumps and final 10 seconds keep doing lateral jumps just higher. 9. shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, hop, hop, hop; next 20 seconds shuffle faster with one big hop–final 10 seconds the same, just shuffle faster and jump higher. 10. shallow alternating side lunges and back lunges; for next 20 seconds jump squat with shallow alternating jump lunges; for the final 10 seconds two jump squats with alternating deeper jump lunges.

30-30 Core is actually 13:30: the idea behind this one is all core work, 30 seconds hard, 30 seconds hardest. Again, Mindy’s “hard” is never really hard–it’s a recovery move. “Hardest” though is intense. This is another one that had awkward moves that I didn’t care for. 1. wood chops, 2. wood chops other side, 3. burpees (step out and back the first 30 seconds, jump out and back the last 30 seconds), 4. hold side plank for 30 seconds then lift top arm and leg and bring them in and out touching elbow to knee, 5. repeat #4 on other side of body, 6. road runner (mountain climbers)–do them slow first 30 seconds then fast the last 30 seconds, 7. V-sit with hands under knees for 30 seconds; last 30 seconds raise hands over head and raise legs a little higher, 8. in plank pull one knee in then turn body so leg that you pulled in is on the ground and raise the other leg, touching hand to foot–just do it faster the last 30 seconds, 9. #8 other leg, 10. table to L–start in table top then pull bottom through hands and just keep alternating, going faster the last 30 seconds, 11. push ups–first 30 seconds hold plank or do push ups on your knees, last 30 seconds do push ups on toes.

30-30 Legs is actually 12 minutes. This one is the same as 30-30 Core, but the focus is on the lower body and I loved this one. It is intense, the moves are basic and easy to do, and I really felt it in my lower body. 1. squat, squat jumps, 2. plie squats, plie squat jumps, 3. Bulgarian lunges–first 30 seconds a static lunge, final 30 seconds jump lunges (do not alternate) and clap under and above front leg, 4. same as #3, other leg, 5. side-to-side squat, jump squat side-to-side, 6. Brazilian lunge–in lunge position, back leg is straight and weight is over front leg; first 30 seconds pushing forward and back over front leg, final 30 seconds, keep torso leaned over front leg and try to “jump” up that front leg only–you will feel this one!, 7. same as #6 but on other leg, 8. plie squats, tiny fast plie hops, 9. half squats–squat on one leg, the other toe rests lightly behind you for balance, final 30 seconds you jump squat on one leg (still using back leg for balance), 10. same as #9 but on other leg.

Little HIIT is 20 minutes. “Little” is the last name of the man who developed the protocol. I did not care for this one at all. It is 60 seconds of work followed by 75 seconds of recovery. But the moves were awkward and somewhat complicated. For the 75 second recovery you do the same move you do for the HIIT–you just do it at a very low intensity. 1. jog side to side and hop forward and back, 2. jacks and jump lunges, 3. in plank (plank on knees during recovery period) touch opposite shoulders twice then do 2 push ups, 4. V-sit–for recovery period feet are on ground and hands are under knees, for HIIT feet are up and you do all kinds of arm movements and at the end, bring your legs in and out, 5. Road Runner (mountain climbers), 6. do a side plank, lower to butt to ground and swing around and do a side plank on other side–keep alternating in that manner, 7. 2 basket ball jumps, run–repeat, then 2 basket ball jumps, squat side to side–repeat, 8. this last one is really weird and I really didn’t like it. You do this “cotton candy” thing with your arms, swinging them around like you’re rolling cotton candy; for the recovery period you do this while wide marching, for the HIIT you do two jumps between the cotton candies. She seemed to think it was fun. It was not. It was awkward.

Fartlek HIIT is 12 minutes. According to Mindy, Fartlek was developed in 1936 by the Germans. It is based on random HIITs and I really liked it. One random HIIT sequence consists of 30-10/20-20/10-30. The first number in those pairings is the recovery time and the second number is the HIIT time. For each sequence you will do one exercise; you will do it at a low intensity during the recovery period and then HIIT it hard for the intense phase. 1. split squats–for the recovery periods you will just change your foot position by changing which foot is forward in the stance; during the HIIT period you will jump (still alternating sides), 2. get into a lunge position then “lift and lower”–that is lift your front foot of the ground while leaning forward and kick it back toward your butt, 3. same as #2 but on the other leg, 4. skaters–during the HIIT phase touch your fingers to the ground, 5. push ups–during recovery phase just hold in plank.

12-8 is 12 minutes. This was my favorite of the 6 and I think the most intense. It is just what it looks like–12 seconds of recovery and 8 seconds of all out HIIT. You run through one exercise using this cycle 3 times. I LOVED it! BTW–The Firm Express is base on on the 12-8 protocol (and of course their signature metabolic weight training). I own The Firm Express but haven’t done it in years. I will have to revisit it now! Remember–you will run through each exercise cycle 3 times! 1. squat for 12 seconds, jump squat for 8 seconds, 2. jog for 12 seconds then high knee run for 8 seconds, 3. skaters 12 seconds low intensity and 8 seconds jump wide and touch the ground with fingers, 4. squat walk forward and back 12 seconds, deep squat jump forward and back (finger tips touch the ground between feet) for 8 seconds, 5. side-to-side out-out-in-in for 12 seconds, do it very fast for 8 seconds, 6. alternate legs forward and back for 12 seconds, jump lunge for 8 seconds, 7. moguls–small jumps for 12 seconds, big moguls for 8 seconds, 8. one leg squat (with back foot resting lightly on ground) for 12 seconds, oen leg jump squat (finger touch the ground) for 8 seconds, 9. same as #8 other leg. 10. jumping jacks or low jacks for 12 seconds, air jacks for 8 seconds.