Short of time and need a no-fuss workout to get the heart and muscles pumping? Need to hit some basic exercises hard rather than wasting time on complex movements with weights that keep your mind too busy to push as hard as possible? Devinder Bains, personal trainer and nutrition coach shares her no nonsense, at-home, HIIT-style cardio session…

Warm up

Head into the garden or make a space indoors that is large enough for you to step sideways, forwards and back without bumping into anything. Start by bending forward to touch your toes (bend knees as needed) and then reach up high with your arms above your head – repeat these toe touches ten times at a gentle pace. Next we’ll move on to side steps: stand with arms out to the side and step from side to side, take twenty lateral steps in total. Repeat both exercises another three times, increasing the pace each round until you feel your heart rate starting to quicken.

Workout

Now you’re nice and warm, it’s time to move things up a notch. For this next part you’ll need the stopwatch on your phone, carrying out each of the exercises below for 40 seconds followed by a 20 second rest, doing each exercise a total of five times. That’s five minutes per exercise - if you have a bit of extra time up it to ten minutes per exercise. Want to work even harder – up to 50 seconds of exercise with a 10 second rest only.

Exercise 1: High Knees

This is essentially running as fast as you can on the spot while bringing the knees as high up to the chest as possible. Use your arms to drive the speed and increase the intensity.

Exercise 2: Star jumps

Start with legs just further than shoulder width apart and arms stretched laterally out to the sides, then jump to bring the feet together and at the same time lift the arms so your hands meet above your head, jump back to the start position to complete one star jump. Keep going as fast as you can.

Exercise 3: Mountain climbers

Start in a full plank position with your hands and feet on the floor. Lift your right foot off the floor and bring the knee to the chest then return to start position and do the same on the left side. Continue alternating the legs and increasing speed as needed but make sure the back stays as flat as possible throughout.

*Please consult a GP before starting any new or strenuous exercise plan or workout with a personal trainer to make sure your technique is correct at all times