15 minutes. That’s all you need.
Dinners, travel and family and friend time make it hard to sqeeze in some gym time. The good news? In order to stay on track this Holiday Season, you do not need fancy equipment — just yourself. Here are some basic bodyweight workouts I have put together for you to do at home either by your bed, while watching tv or even one night with a friend for a little “friendly” competition. These workouts are “circuit style,” meaning that you do as many reps as you can for one minute, going right into the next exercise. Repeat the circuits as many times as you want; however if you want a total body burn, try to go through each circuit about three times. Don’t be afraid to play around, combining different exercises to complete one circuit or alternating circuits. A lot of these moves are plyometric moves (involving jumping) combined with basic strength exercises. Together, they not only burn fat and blast calories during the workout, but keep your metabolism revving for hours after. Grab your stopwatch and let’s get started!
Circuit 1: (complete each move for one minute)
1. ski jumps
2. push-up with leg lift
3. side plank with reach under
4. mountain climbers
Circuit 2:
1. burpee (try with push-up)
2. reverse lunge up to kick (do with same leg for 30-seconds, switching sides; should be one fluid motion)
3. plank twists (bringing opposite knee towards opposite shoulder, maintaining a flat back for the plank, alternating sides)
4. jumping jacks
Circuit 3:
1. Running high knees (focus on bringing knees up!)
2. practice boxing: 2 quick jabs with one arm, followed by 2 uppercuts from the opposite arm — stay in a squatted position!
3. bicycle crunch
4. alternating lunge jumps
MAKE SURE to begin with a five minute warm-up (i.e. dancing to a song, walk or a light jog) and ending with a cool-down (walk or jog) followed by stretching!! Have fun with these and there will be more coming your way!
