15 minutes, seven moves, and a set of dumbbells to blast fat

This short HIIT workout is designed to raise your heart rate, burn fat, and build muscle

Woman working out with a dumbbell
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Between long days at work, family commitments, and social events, it's not always easy to find time for an extended exercise session. Fortunately, if you're short on time, you can use this full-body HIIT routine to build muscle and burn fat in just 15 minutes.

You don't need a lot of equipment either, just a set of weights like the best adjustable dumbbells. These customizable weights combine several dumbbells in one, making them an ideal space-saving option for at-home training.

High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is a time-efficient way to exercise. The aim is to keep the intensity up throughout the short workout, exercising for 45 seconds, followed by a 15-second rest, before progressing to the next move.

This routine from Modern Fit Girl is designed to work your whole body, making good use of just seven compound exercises, moves that activate multiple muscle groups. You'll complete the seven-move round twice for a 15-minute fat-burning routine.

Watch The Modern Fit Girl's 15-minute dumbbell HIIT workout

HIIT workouts elevate your heart rate with very little recovery time between exercises, a technique that leads to fat-burning results, even for hours afterwards. Adding weights increases the load on your muscles to develop strength too.

If you're new to this training style, you can follow along with The Modern Fit Girl's YouTube video demonstrations. There's also a countdown timer for each exercise, so you don't need to worry about setting a stopwatch yourself.

Even if you're more familiar with HIIT workouts, it's still worth using the video to perfect your form. This helps you get the most from each exercise and enables you to avoid injury, a potential risk when exercising with weights.

While this short session is a great way to fit a workout into a packed schedule, for some variety and to train your lower body, you can also use this one kettlebell exercise to build core strength and stronger legs.

Like The Modern Fit Girl's routine, you don't need much equipment, only one of the best kettlebells and a bit of space. By adding these weights to your home gym, you'll be able to build lean muscle without leaving the house.

Whether you're just starting or an experienced exerciser, you'll probably feel some muscle soreness the day after your training. You can give yourself a gentle massage with one of the best foam rollers to relieve the pain and promote recovery.

James Frew
Fitness Editor

James is a London-based journalist and Fitness Editor at Fit&Well. He has over five years experience in fitness tech, including time spent as the Buyer’s Guide Editor and Staff Writer at technology publication MakeUseOf. In 2014 he was diagnosed with a chronic health condition, which spurred his interest in health, fitness, and lifestyle management.

In the years since, he has become a devoted meditator, experimented with workout styles and exercises, and used various gadgets to monitor his health. In recent times, James has been absorbed by the intersection between mental health, fitness, sustainability, and environmentalism. When not concerning himself with health and technology, James can be found excitedly checking out each week’s New Music Friday releases.