It can feel hard for some to find the time to workout, usually working that 9 to 5 shift (or longer), meetings, travel, family life… and the list goes on.
Fitness can find itself relegated to last position on your priority list, particularly when travel time is factored in. Unfortunately, your body doesn’t care much for your busy schedule and in fact may even punish you for this.
It doesn’t have to be this way! There are workouts you can be doing in and around your current schedule that doesn’t require a gym or any equipment and you don’t even need to leave your office.
This 30 minute circuit which we will go through allows time for a warm-up and warm-down. It’s a total body workout that uses compound movements, so you will have multiple muscle groups working simultaneously which is the most efficient use of your time.
What you will need:
• Small space (roughly 5ft x 5ft)
• Yourself
Well that was easy!
What to do:
You will need to perform each exercise for 1 minute and take a 1 minute rest in-between (1 minute on, 1 minute off), then repeat once and be back to work before anyone even noticed you was gone.
All examples of these exercises are readily available on YouTube.
1. Squats
Targeted muscles incudes: Quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes
Do: Feet shoulder width apart, tense abs, look straight ahead, stand tall, 1st movement should be ‘sit back’, weight should move back into your heels, knees in line with toes, keep heels on the floor, push from your heels.
Don’t: Start from your knees, let your knees cave inwards, hunch your back, look down, lift your heels off the floor
2. Plank
Targeted muscles includes: Abdominals, trunk muscles and lower back
Do: hands directly under shoulders, stabilise toes on the floor, tuck pelvis under, squeeze glutes, neutral (straight) back position, head in-line with back
Don’t: have glutes (bum) in the air, have a saggy mid-section and drop your hips, hyperextend your neck or your knees
3. Reverse Lunge with overhead reach
Targeted muscles incudes: Quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings, abdominals
Do: Keep your back straight, focus on going down in a straight line
Don’t: Let knees cross your toes, jump too high, bang knee(s) on the ground
4. Push-up
Targeted muscles includes: Chest, shoulders, triceps, torso
Do: place your hands slightly wider than shoulder width apart, keep your feet in a comfortable position, keep body in one straight line, engage your core, keep arms straight when at the top, tuck elbows near body upon descent
Don’t: look straight down - chin should be the first part of the head to touch the floor, not the nose, let upper and lower body move as separates, cheat and do a half repetition
5. Burpee
Targeted muscles includes: *Full Body* including cardio vascular system.
Do: Activate your core muscles, keep elbows in close to your sides, pace yourself, land on your heels
Don’t: Drop your head, be sloppy with your plank position, hunch your back, do ‘full’ push-ups (your arms will inevitably fatigue much quicker than your legs), land on the balls of your feet, forget to clap, forget to breathe.
