Express Exercise
By: Jess Stewart - Women's Health & Fitness Magazine
Still dreaming about your ultimate bikini body? Think you’re too busy to train? Think again. There’s no need to spend hours in the gym, just spend the time you have wisely. Research suggests a good 10-minute workout can burn more calories and build more muscle, than an hour cruising at the gym. Jess Stewart offers you 14 express workouts that will comfortably slip into the busiest of schedules.
10 MINUTE POWER WORKOUTS
1. Skip to complete body toning
- One minute skipping
- 10 squats
- 10 push-ups
- 10 crunches
Repeat four to five times
2. Thigh buster
- 24 dynamic lunges
- 24 squats
- 12 power lunges: Jump in and out of the lunge position
- 12 power squats: Jump in and out of the squat position
Perform three to four sets
3. Cardio and weights
- Two minutes running on-the-spot
- One minute of squats with shoulder press: Use a weight or medicine ball if you have one, otherwise any five to ten kilo weight will work
- Two minutes of jumping jacks (star jumps)
- 15 tricep dips
- 15 push-ups on a bench or table
- Two minutes of fast pace, lateral jumps: Side-to-side over an imaginary line
- Desk pull-ups: Sit beneath a dining room table, grabbing the outside with an underhand grip, using your arms, pull you body up and toward the table
- One minute of the abdominal cycle: Fast paced diagonal situps, where the alternate elbow and knee touch
4. Intense cardio
- One minute of step jumps: Use a low step to jump up and down from
- One minute of butt-kickers: Running on-the-spot, with heels tapping your butt with each move
- One minute of upper cuts
- One minute of alternate arm punches
- One minute of cross jumps: Jump in an imaginary cross, forwards, backwards and to either side, return to the centre after each jump
5. All over body weights
- 10 narrow push-ups
- One minute (on each side) bridge with underarm tuck
- 20 sumo (wide leg) squats
- 10 wide push-ups
- 20 static lunges on each leg
Make each exercise last one minute, before moving onto the next
20 MINUTE EXPRESS WORKOUTS
1. Stairs
- Two minutes of stair running
- One minute bridge
- 20 sit-ups
Repeat five times
2. Running sprints
- Alternate intervals (one to three minutes) of your usual running speed with a sprint running speed: Your sprint pace should be two speeds faster than your usual pace (i.e. if you usually run at pace 10 on the treadmill, your sprint pace will be 12)
3. Bike intervals
Divide 30 minutes into eight and 12 second blocks, then sprint for eight seconds and rest for twelve. Don't be taken back by the arithmetic, it's simple. Start each sprint at the beginning of each minute and the times will run as such:
- 0:00-0:08 Sprint: As fast as you can go
- 0:08-0:20 12-second recovery: Cycle at a lower intensity
- 0:20-0:28 Sprint
- 0:28-0:40 12-second recovery
- 0:40-0:48 Sprint
- 0:48-1:00 12-second recovery
Get ready to begin the next cycle, which will run in the same time intervals.
4. Run and Lunge
- Five minute run
- 40 walking lunges: 20 each leg
Repeat as many times as possible in 20 minutes
5. Skip, hop and jump
- One minute skipping: Jumping with both feet together
- One minute skipping on left foot
- One minute skipping on right foot
- One minute of bell jumps: Place the skipping rope on the floor and jump backwards and forwards over it
- Repeat three minutes of skipping
- One minute of ski jumps: This time jump left to right over the rope
Repeat as many times as you can in 20 minutes
30 MINUTE COMPLETE WORKOUTS
1. Outdoor full body circuit
- Five minute warm up jog: Do as many laps around a park or oval as required
- Two minutes of bench step-ups: As fast as you can alternating legs each step
- 12-15 bench dips
- 12-15 on the monkey bars or pull-ups
- 30 second abdominal hold
- 40 walking lunges: 20 steps in one direction, then turn around and lunge back
- 12-15 bench push-ups
Repeat as many times as possible, including the five minute run between sets
2. Gym full body circuit
- Five minutes on the bike
- 20 power squats: As fast as you can
- Five minute rower sprint
- 20 push-ups: Starting on your toes, dropping to your knees if needed
- Six minute treadmill sprint
- Stomach super-sets: 15 full sit-ups followed by 15 small crunches
3. Push/pull leg cardio
- Four minute sprint on your choice of cardio: Cross-trainer, treadmill, bike, etc
- 10 chest presses or push-ups
- 10 tricep dips
- 10 bicep curls: With a bar or dumbbells
Repeat two to three sets of all of the weights: Take no more than six minutes in total.
- Five minutes sprint on cardio machine of choice
- 20 squats
- 20 lunges
- 20 situps
Again, aim for two to three sets in six minutes
- Four minute sprint on machine of choice
- 12-15 lat pull-down or seated row
- 30 second abdominal bridge
Aim for two to three sets of these resistance training exercises
4. All over body cardio and weights
- 250 skips
- 12-15 squats to calf raises: Do this by extending the upwards phase of the squat and rolling up onto the balls of your feet into a calf raise
- 250 running step-ups: use a small step, no higher than one foot
- 10 moving planks: Begin by holding an abdominal bridge for 20 seconds. Push off your elbows onto your hands into a push-up position. Stay off the floor on your toes. Then return to the push-up position and repeat
- 20 burpies: Start in a squatted position on the ground. First, push off from the arms, stretching out your legs behind you. Then, quickly jump back into the starting position and immediately jump up, stretching your arms above your head. When you land, go directly back into the squat position and repeat.
- 20 crunches: With hands behind your head and feet off the floor
Repeat as many times as possible in 30 minutes: Keep rest intervals short and push yourself to the limits. It doesn't have to be a long workout, just an intense one.
