4 Quick, No-Equipment Workouts, to Add to Your Routine
At the studio, we commonly get asked for routines to do whilst away, while watching TV or just needing to add an extra day to the routine. We're here to please so today's post is all about no-equipment workouts.
Let's first address the question of "can you get a good workout in without equipment?" The answer to this question is a resounding YES! You can. Essentially, you'll be going a little faster and doing a few more reps than you normally would to ensure that we get the proper response from your body.
Whether you're looking for a more cardiovascular workout or a resistance training workout, you can get both without anything fancy--just your body and some effort.
Workout 1: Tabatas!
A Tabata workout is a style of training designed by Dr. Izumi Tabata and they are a great way to increase your aerobic and anaerobic capacities in VERY little time.
"Tabata and his team conducted research on two groups of athletes. The first group trained at a moderate intensity level while the second group trained at a high-intensity level. The moderate intensity group worked out five days a week for a total of six weeks; each workout lasted one hour. The high-intensity group worked out four days a week for six weeks; each workout lasted four minutes and 20 seconds (with 10 seconds of rest in between each set).
The results; Group 1 had increased their aerobic system (cardiovascular), but showed little or no results for their anaerobic system (muscle). Group 2 showed much more increase in their aerobic system than Group 1, and increased their anaerobic system by 28 percent" (active.com)
Tabata workouts are designed as 8 rounds of 20 seconds with 10 seconds rest in between each round. The goal is to work as close to your capacity as possible during those 20 seconds. Since our workouts today are without equipment and there isn't a good way to test your work without monitoring, we suggest doing at least 2 Tabata sets with some rest in between.
You can either alternate moves or do all of one move, then switch to another. Watch your form as you start to get tired--we don't want sloppy.
Exercises that are good for Tabatas: Sprints, squats, pushups, burpees, jumping lunges, sit-ups, 180* jump squats, ab bicycles
So, for example, you could do 8 rounds of 20 seconds work/10 seconds rest of squats, then pushups. Or you could alternate and do 1 round squat, 1 round pushup and repeat.
Workout #2: !
Remember the factorial symbol (! )in math class which took away everything you know about exclamation (because you definitely weren't excited...)?
Well, it's back.
In this workout you'll be doing 10! --meaning 10,9,8,7...2,1 reps of everything.
For this workout, we suggest choosing 3-4 exercises and doing them circuit style meaning that you do 10 reps of the first, then the second, third, fourth, then 9 reps, etc.
With this we suggest doing 2 legs, an arm and a core or a leg, arm and core to get a little bit of everything.
For example:
1. Lunges (10 each leg)
2. Squats
3. Plank up + downs (commando plank)
4. Scissor Kicks
Then, you'd do 10,10,10,10, 9,9,9,9 all the way down.
If you feel like you need more, you could always do the workout twice--either with the same moves or different ones.
Workout #3: The 45 second rule
Download a phone timer or use a compute timer such as Interval Timer that allows you to make your own intervals.
You'll want to create a timer that has 16-20 sets of 45 seconds work/45 seconds rest.
Here, you'll pick 4-5 exercises and complete 4 sets of each exercise before moving on to the next one.
Exercises Ideas: Lunges, squats, hip thrusts/glute bridges (either single or double legs), pushups, tricep pushups, bear crawls, tricep dips, supermans, planks, air punches/boxing, leg raises, sit-ups, shoulder taps
Workout #4: 5,10,15
In this workout, you'll do 10 total sets with 5 sets each of a different 5,10,15 split. What that means is you'll perform 5 reps of the first exercise, 10 of the second and 15 of the third--rest as long as you need to--then repeat. After performing 5 sets, you'll rest for 1 minute and begin the next five. You can also do 10 total sets of just one of the workouts instead of switching the exercises.
Workout 1:
1. 5-10-15: Pushups, Situps, Squats
2. 5-10-15: Burpees, Lunges (each leg), Up Down Planks
Workout 2:
1. 5-10-15: Inchworms, Tuck Jumps, Glute Bridges
2. 5-10-15: Tricep Pushups, Split Squats, Mountain Climbers
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All exercises can be found on YouTube--be sure to use proper form.
Let us know if you try any of them!
