15 Min Home Workout (No Equipment)
This morning I found myself in desperate need of two things: hitting some pretty hairy media deadlines, as well as needing a good workout! With no time to even get to my own gym or bootcamp for a session, a home workout was my only option – no travel time or equipment required!In case you ever find yourself in the same position, below is the 13-exercise workout I did, complete with exercise descriptions. Simply complete the suggested repetitions for each exercise for a speedy home workout requiring zero equipment but more than a little stamina.Push yourself hard and don’t rest ‘til the very end to get max benefits. Need a bigger/badder workout? Take 30-60s rest at the end, then do another round… or two!
Bulgarian Split Squatx 15 (per leg)
Elevate one leg on the couch behind you, or on any raised surface (chair, bench, box), the other leg slightly in front of you on the ground. Lower yourself down, weight in your front leg, until your back knee is almost touching the ground. Return to start position and that’s one rep.
Wide-to-Close Pushupsx 15
Perform one pushup with your hands and feet both positioned wider than your shoulders, then walk your hands and feet in so they’re about a hand span apart and perform one tricep pushup, squeezing your elbows in under your ribs. Keep alternating until you hit your rep count.
1-Leg Couch Squatsx 15 (per leg)
Sit on the couch (easy, right?). Place one foot flat on the ground in front of you and raise the other one off the ground. Push up to a standing position on just the one leg. Stay on that one leg as you slowly lower yourself back down so your butt is lightly touching the couch. Repeat for 15 reps each side.
Tricep Dipsx 15
Again start sitting on the couch, with your hands positioned right underneath you on the edge of the seat. Slide your butt off the couch and straighten your legs, then bend your elbows behind you and lower your body down until your butt nearly touches the floor. Push up through your hands back to your start position.
Lunge Jumpsx 15 (per leg)
You know the drill! Start standing up with one leg in front and one behind you. Lower down into a lunge, then jump in the air and switch legs. Each time you do two jumps (left in front, right in front), that counts as one rep.
Lateral Stork Lungesx 15 (per leg)
Start standing up straight with your feet together. Step out to the side with your right foot and bend your knee to lower yourself down into a side lunge, low enough so you can touch the ground with your opposite hand. Now push off your right foot, back to a standing position so that you’re balanced on your left leg and immediately repeat on the same side. Your left leg should remain straight throughout each squat. Complete 15 reps before you switch to the other side.
Burpees with Side-Hop Squatsx 12
Complete a normal burpee, but instead of jumping straight up in the air, launch yourself to your right and land in a 1-legged squat. Now push off that same leg to jump back to the middle, where you’ll land on both feet and complete another standard burpee before jumping to the left to land on your left leg, again in a 1-leg squat position.
Step-Upsx 12 (per leg)
Find a chair, bench or table that will take your weight and place one foot up on it, the other remaining on the ground. Put all your weight into the elevated foot and step up on to the bench, bringing your other knee up in front of you as you do. Complete 12 of these as quickly as you can on one side, then change legs. Make sure you don’t land heavily on the ground when you come down after each step-up, your weight needs to stay in your front leg.
Inside-Outside Elevated Climbersx 12
Facing the floor, put your feet up on the couch/chair behind you and place your hands on the floor under your shoulders, so you’re in a high plank position with your feet elevated. Bring your left, then right knee off the couch and up towards your chest, then do the same thing but instead of bringing your knees up underneath your body, send them wide up towards your elbows. When you’ve done one round of inside-outside, that’s a full rep.
Squat Jumpsx 12
You’re all familiar with these bad boys! If not, Google ‘em.
Handstand Hold or Pulsesx 12
Find a wall, do a handstand up against it and smile – it’s like going back to school all over again! Either hold that position for as long as you can, or perform 12 x small pulses, bending your elbows and bringing your head a little closer to the ground.
V-Sit to Bicyclex 12
Start lying on your back, hands flat behind you/over your head. Keeping legs and arms as straight as possible, engage your core and raise both your hands and legs up to meet each other, so your body is in a “V” position. Lower yourself back down but stop when your feet are a few inches off the floor and perform 2 bicycle crunches, bringing your left knee to your right elbow, then right knee to left elbow. Straighten your limbs out again and you’re back to the beginning.
1-leg Hip Raisesx 12 (per leg)
Get yourself into an ‘opposite crawl’ or ‘bridge’ position, so your hands and feet are flat on the ground but your chest is facing upwards to the ceiling, instead of the floor. Lift one leg off the ground, then push through the heel of the other foot to drive your hips up towards the ceiling, then down low until your butt is nearly touching the ground. Perform the full 12 reps before switching to the other side.And there you have it – a full body, functional workout that takes less than 15 minutes but gets your heart rate up and really boosts your metabolism for the day. Winner all round!Happy sweating… Lib xx