People who say they don’t have time for a workout or to spend exercising are generally lying to themselves. The majority of us have time to fit most things in to our day. It’s whether or not you WANT to fit it in to your day or not. With that in mind, here is a 20 minute , quick and effective home workout you can with no equipment and in the smallest of spaces. All you need for this workout is some music to get you pumped up.
Lunges
x10 in each direction with the same leg before changing to the other leg and doing the same again.
So, x10 forward lunges (image2) , x10 lunges to the side (image3), then x10 reverse lunges (image4). To make this harder, hold the lunge half way down for 3 seconds before going all the way down to complete the lunge.
Sit ups
x100 sit ups – x25 for each set, then rest for 15 seconds before starting again (x4 rounds total). Keep your head straight and not pushed forwards. make sure you are looking past the tops of your knees whilst doing this exercise. You don’t need to go all the way to your legs, go about half way before going back down. To make this harder, lift your feet off the ground.
Russian Twist Ups
x4 sets of 20 reps with 30 seconds rest between sets. Make sure whilst doing this exercise you keep your stomach muscles engaged throughout (tense your stomach muscles).
To make this harder you can hold a weight with both hands or if you don’t have weights, hold a full water bottle.
Donkey Kickbacks
x6 sets, 20 times on each leg. For this exercise, do x5 normal kick backs with your leg behind you, then on the next 5 hold it fully extended behind you and pulse your leg slightly in the fully extended position. To make this harder you can add ankle weights. To make it easier, take out the pulses.
Oblique Crunches
x4 sets of 20. Do 20 on one side then turn over and do 20 on the authorised. Alternating will ensure you have time to rest each side before starting the next set.
Bicycle Crunches
This exercise is quite similar to the last one as it focuses on your obliques (the side muscles of your stomach).
You want to kick your legs as though you were on a bicycle so one backwards whilst the other is going forwards…etc. Then you want to have your right arm reaching for your left leg as it comes towards you (pictured below).
V-Ups
Starting off in the lying down position you want to bring yourself to a ‘V’ shape then go back down and start again. I aim to do around 10 reps for x4 sets. To make this harder you can add more reps to each set. To make it easier, bend your legs instead of keeping them straight.
Glute Bridges
You don’t need to put anything between your knees for tis one but if you feel it’s more comfortable to do so you could put a small pillow between your knees. For this exercise I do 20 reps for x4 sets. Again with this one I will do x5 normal reps, then I will do x5 where I hold it at the top and pulse it out before lowering back to the ground and doing the next x5.
Plank Twists
For this exercise you want to either wear trainers or have bare feet. However, doing it with bare feet can leave you with sore toes. Start in position 2 (image below) then rock your body from side to side (image1 & 3).
Do this 20 times in each set. X4 sets in total with 30 seconds rest between sets. To make this harder just add more reps to each set.
Scissor Kicks
Leaving the best (or hardest) until last is the air scissor kicks. I find this one the worst of them all as I don’t yet have a strong core. The idea is that you keep your legs perfectly straight and off the floor at all times and kick them in the air as though you were swimming. You don’t want to lift your legs much higher than pictured below and keep your head flat on the floor. To make this harder add more reps or add ankle weights.
If you try this workout please do let me know, I’d love to know how you got on. If you are finding any exercise too hard or too easy, just add/remove reps from each set and build as you go. You can make this workout to suit you and can easily track how you are getting on. Maybe each week add on an extra 2 reps to each set, or add some weights if you have any lying around.
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