30 Min TOTAL Tabata Full Body HIIT Workout | EPIC Heat – Day 20

30 Minute Total Tabata Full Body HIIT Workout is Day 20 of Caroline Girvan‘s EPIC Heat program. This was a tough and intense workout! It kicked my butt. It appeared to really kick Caroline’s butt, too. At the end of the finisher she just laid on the ground like she was completely drained. I was doing the same thing. No equipment is needed for this workout. It is all bodyweight with lots of plank based moves and plyometrics. The good news is, if you don’t like to jump, Caroline included low impact modifications. I only modified the impact of one exercise in Tabata 7. From the kneeling position you jump into squat. No thanks. I did the low impact version of that but I did jump once I was in squat. The other modification was for a strength exercise. Instead of skull crusher push ups I just did tricep push ups. Everything else I did the full high impact version and it was very intense. This is a bodyweight strength + cardio workout. Caroline calls it full body but your back isn’t worked. Everything else is though, so it is close to full body.

As the title indicates, this workout is done tabata-style: each exercise is done for 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest. The exercises are paired together and each pair is repeated 4 times for a 4 minute tabata circuit. You get no rest other than those 10 seconds! That is 56 20/10 intervals. 20 or 30 seconds between each tabata circuit would have been nice. But no dice. Caroline gives low impact alternatives to all of the plyometric exercises. There is a timer in the upper left hand side of the screen, counting down your intervals and recoveries. Caroline previews the next exercise during the recovery. There is also a little bar at the bottom of the screen that counts down the entire workout time as a percentage. This workout is done to music with plenty of visual cues as well as “dings” to keep you on track.

30 Minute Total Tabata Full Body HIIT Workout is 34:41 minutes; 1:10 minute intro, no warm up and 3 minute stretch. Equipment: a fitness mat. I used Caroline’s EPIC Heat Full Body Warm Up and, since this was so short and I was so wiped out at the end, I add on Naomi Joy‘s 10 Minute Daily Stretching Routine.

Tabata 1:

1. Crouch to jump (deep narrow squat, hands touching the floor and glutes to heels, when you stand, jump; low impact alternative is fast deep narrow squats, touch the ground with hands and stand)
2. Crouch to extend (hinge forward and place hands on floor, bend knees into deep squat, glutes to heels, then straighten legs, keeping hands on floor the entire interval)
3. Repeat 1 & 2 three more times

Tabata 2:

1. Skull crusher/tricep push ups (do either a tricep push up or a skull crusher, which is a forearm plank, hands clasped, raise and lower elbows)
2. Burpees chest to floor (do a full burpee but rather than a push up, lower body all the way to the ground; low impact alternative is a step out burpee with no push up)
3. Repeat #1 & 2 three more times

Tabata 3:

1. Plank tucks (in straight arm plank, jump feet in under body then back out to plank)
2. Kick thrus (in straight arm plank, kick one leg under body, rotating torso and raising opposite hand off floor, alternate sides)
3. Repeat #1 & 2 three more times

Tabata 4:

1. Rolling to push up (start laying back on mat, swing bent legs up, bringing knees to chest, put feet on floor and bring torso forward, raising it off mat and placing hands on other end of mat, jump feet back to plank and do a push up, jump feet back in and reverse this movement)
2. Plank leg march (hold elbow plank and alternate raising legs)
3. Repeat #1 & 2 three more times

Tabata #5:

1. Burpee with x2 lunges/jumps (one burpee (no push up) + one alternating jump lunge; low impact alternative: alternating reverse lunge (one lunge each leg) + walk out to plank then back in)
2. Static lunge jump (in stationary lunge, jump up and down; low impact alternative: fast static/stationary lunges)
3. Repeat #1 & 2 three more times

Tabata #6:

1. Alternating pendulum tap (in forearm plank, alternate tapping legs out to side)
2. Pivot lunge jumps (start in lunge and, while keeping legs wide, jump while turning torso to face opposite direction (keeping legs wide the entire time), landing in lunge; low impact alternative–instead of jumping, you pivot side to side, lowering into lunge after each pivot)
3. Repeat #1 & 2 three more times

Tabata #7:

1. Plank ladder to push up (start in elbow plank, walk hands up to straight arm plank, do one push up then lower back to elbow plank)
2. Kneeling to squat jump (start kneeling on mat, jump from kneeling position to squat then jump, step back into kneeling one leg at a time–never use your hands; low impact alternative: start kneeling on mat, step one foot forward, then the other foot so you are in a squat, stand, then return to kneeling one leg at a time–never use your hands)
3. Repeat #1 & 2 three more times

30 second rest

Finisher: 60 seconds of plank burpees (no push up); low impact alternative: step out to plank then walk feet back into hands and stand

For more info on Caroline Girvan’s workouts and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.