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Women are busy these days. Between working, hitting the books, and keeping up with friends and family, most women simply don’t have time to squeeze in an hour-long workout five times a week. That’s where small bouts of exercise known as “high-intensity interval training” (HIIT) come in handy. With HIIT workouts, you get a great cardio session in just a few minutes and you can do them almost anywhere (well, almost). The benefits of HIIT for women are numerous: It torches more fat than steady-state cardio activities like jogging or stationary cycling, it helps improve your VO2 max (i.e., your body’s ability to take in and process oxygen), and it forces the body to grow new mitochondria—which is good because growing new mitochondria is what helps our bodies get fitter and increase its ability to burn fat as fuel instead of sugar.

What is HIIT?

• HIIT stands for high-intensity interval training, and it’s a great way to squeeze a lot of cardio into a small amount of time. Research has shown that HIIT workouts can burn as many calories as long, steady-state cardio workouts (like jogging or cycling), but in much less time. HIIT workouts rely on short bursts of high-intensity activity followed by short periods of low-intensity activity. So, for example, you might do a series of 30-second sprints on the treadmill followed by 60 seconds of laid-back walking.

• HIIT workouts can be done with many different types of exercise, including cardio (running, cycling, etc.), weightlifting, and even certain types of yoga. It’s important to note that HIIT isn’t just for the super-fit. People of all fitness levels can do HIIT workouts; you just need to adjust the length and intensity of your intervals as needed. If you’re really out of shape, for example, you may want to start with 10-second sprints followed by 10 seconds of slower walking. As you get fitter, you can ramp up the intensity and decrease the rest time as needed.

Why is HIIT so good for women?

A lot of research has been done on the effects of HIIT on health and fitness. Some of those studies have focused on women specifically, and here are a few of the takeaways: Women tend to have lower aerobic capacity than men, which means they have a harder time taking in and processing oxygen, which is a big part of the exercise. HIIT can help boost women’s VO2 max, helping them to exercise more efficiently and get better results with less effort.

Women tend to store more fat in their bellies, and HIIT workouts can help fight against that. Combining HIIT with a healthy diet can help boost women’s fat-burning capacity and help them get rid of that stubborn belly fat. HIIT can be safer for women than longer steady-state cardio workouts. Steady-state cardio can put a lot of stress on joints and lead to injuries like the runner’s knee and IT band syndrome. HIIT workouts are usually gentler on the body and joints.

How to make HIIT work for you

There are a lot of different HIIT exercises you can do. Here are some of the most famous. (And keep in mind that the examples below are just suggestions. You don’t have to do the same workouts as the examples; you can come up with your own variations.) Run/walk intervals: This one is super popular. You do an interval of walking/running, followed by an interval of walking/running. For example, you might do a 3-minute walking interval followed by a 1-minute running interval.

When you finish that set, you walk for 3 minutes and then do another 1-minute running interval. You can do this with any kind of cardio workout. Treadmill sprints: This one is simple: You just do as many sprints as you can on the treadmill (or, if you don’t have access to a treadmill, you can do sprints on a track or an open field). Weight circuits: This is one of the easiest HIIT workouts for beginners.

For this one, you do a set of squats, a set of push-ups, a set of crunches, and a set of lunges. You do this circuit three times, each time with a 30-second high-intensity interval followed by a 60-second low-intensity interval. This is usually done with dumbbells, but you can also do it with resistance bands.

Three ways to incorporate HIIT into your routine

1. Classic Cardio: If you want to get the full cardiovascular benefits of HIIT workouts, you’ll want to find a way to do some steady-state cardio. Running, jogging, cycling, and swimming are all great options. These workouts will help you torch calories and build cardiovascular endurance.
2. Weightlifting: If you want to build muscle, you’ll want to add weightlifting to your routine. Weights are actually a great way to add HIIT workouts to your routine since they force your muscles to work harder than they normally would, which is what causes muscles to grow. A few great weightlifting workouts include squats, deadlifts, and goblet squats.
3. Mixed routine: You don’t have to choose between HIIT and weightlifting; you can do both. You just have to structure your workouts correctly. For example, you can perform a HIIT workout for your lower body one day, and then do a HIIT workout for your upper body the next day.

Bottom line

HIIT workouts are great for women because they help you get fit faster than longer cardio workouts. And, since the workouts are shorter, you don’t have to find as much time in your schedule to do them. So, if you’ve been looking for an excuse to start exercising, these high-intensity workouts are a great place to start. Keep in mind that these workouts are intense. We don’t recommend them for beginners. If you’re new to exercise, you’d be better off easing into things with lower-impact workouts like walking or yoga.