First Things First
First things first, let me tell what and who this post is not for. If you’re reading this, you probably don’t run the risk of falling into one of these categories, but just for good measure: we’re not here to ‘bodybuild’ or ‘build muscle and burn fat’.
Granted, we will be doing exercises that keep your muscles active while reducing your belly, but that isn’t the primary focus of our workouts today and our training philosophy we’ll share with you later on.
All these ‘6 pack promises’ are for young, ambitious people who are primarily concerned with looking good – in other words: aesthetics.
We’ll be concerned with something entirely different: function.
Sure, as you stay active and mobile, you will inevitably look good, feel great and have youth radiate from your skin, but that should be a byproduct of our main focus – being functional, active and mobile.
As the old saying goes, if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it. That is why exercise is so important – its for you to use your muscles and ensure it doesn’t deteriorate with age. Also, it allows you to work and improve your joints as well as mental sharpness.
So with that frame of mind firmly set in place, let’s dive right into the rest of this post.
I’m An Evil Personal Trainer
As we said earlier, the reason most people fail to workout is due to the fact that they simply do not enjoy it enough to hold themselves accountable to it.
We’re going to easily counter this by making sure our workouts are fast (lasting a couple of minutes tops), constantly changing (novelty is a good way to make things interesting), but at the same time, intense (you can either choose to workout hard or long – we choose to workout harder but for a shorter time span.)
Everything we’ll be doing revolves around the idea of circuit training – a type of training that constantly puts you on the move, but can be done from anywhere in your home at any time you want.
No gym membership required for these workouts as well. So you have literally 0 excuses as to why you can’t workout. Ahh, I see all those hands raised from previous objections to exercising slowly being put down one-by-one. You literally have no excuses now folks.
‘No time’ is out the window, as the workouts typically range from 10 to 20 minutes max. ‘No motivation’ is also gone, as these workouts will be short, quick, but effectively fun. (Heck, sometimes you’ll actually want to workout, as you just feel so great after completing it.) Lastly, ‘no equipment’ / ‘not a fan of going to the gym’ has also disappeared – as you can do this with your own bodyweight even if you were in the middle of the Sahara desert.
I’ve got you all cornered people, and there’s nothing you can do about it *cracks evil laugh*.
Principles
All the exercises we’ll be doing are compound movements. If you’re not familiar with exercise terminology, compound movements are exercise movements that incorporate more than one muscle group at a time. Not only will this let you save time in your workouts, but they also prove to be much more effective for your body, as your body naturally prefers to function as a collective whole rather than just using individual parts. All the movements you’ll be doing will incorporate many muscle groups into one simple motion.
Take that birds, we’ve just killed you with only 1 stone.
Remember: we’re not aiming for aesthetics, but function. Aesthetics will then be a by-product of that.
Pro tip: if you can find a partner to do this with, do it! I’ve found from experience that you will actually do your workouts much more regularly if you’re being held accountable by someone else.
Although these exercises require no equipment, if you prefer more of a challenge, by all means, add some weight into your workouts.
Once again, your workouts will follow a circuit type training, meaning you’ll perform 1 exercise right after another with no rest in between. You are only allowed to rest after 1 entire ‘circuit’ is complete, after which you’ll dive right back into it. If you’re still unsure about this, don’t fret, you’ll understand it better once you see the workouts down below
Last but not least, don’t kill yourselves. Exercise is supposed to add to your life, not take anything away from it. Go at your own pace, but remember to always give yourself a challenge. If you need to take a breath, take it, just don’t find yourself sipping cocktails in between each set. Work still needs to be done. It’s called personal training, because it’s personal to you.
Workout
We’ll be working our body parts sequentially, starting with the lower body (with some basic squatting movements), followed by the upper body (with some basic pull or pushing movement), and then your stomach (with some essential core movements).
- Squats : 10 – 15 reps.
- Strengthens your leg muscles
- Provides added stability to your whole body as your legs are the literal ‘pillars’ for your upper body.
Stand with your feet hip-width apart. As you bend your knees, shift your weight back, and slowly lower down until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Remember: don’t rush this movement. You will only be cheating yourself if you do. For more stability, place your hands either out in front of you, on top of your head or holding on to something (a table etc) in front of you for added support (don’t put all your weight onto the table, it is only there to support your stability, not make the exercise less challenging.) Press through your heels to return back to the standing position. You’ve just completed 1 rep. For an added challenge, hold weights by your side for more resistance. After 10 reps have been completed, immediately proceed to exercise #2.
- Pushups: 10 reps
- The classic, but nevertheless vital exercise
- Engages your chest, shoulders and triceps all in 1 succint movement.
- Firms up your upper body, while engaging your core at the same time.
Come into a straight-arm plank with your wrists directly below your shoulders, and your feet hip-width apart. Bend your elbows to lower your body until you’re hovering above the ground. Press back up into a straight-arm plank, keeping your legs engaged the entire time. If you are unable to support your bodyweight in this form, don’t sweat it! (pun intended). Simply place your knees on the floor for an added support to educe the resistance of the exercise making it much easier to do. Perform 10 reps.
- Back Extensions: 10 – 15 reps
- Often overlooked, but just as important.
- To balance out the load and stress being placed on the front part of your body from the pushups, your back needs to be worked on.
- Firms up the 2nd largest muscle group in your entire body, 2nd to only your legs.
Lie face-down on your mat, arms straight by your sides, palms up, forehead facing the floor. The tops of your feet should be flat against the floor.
Slowly lift your head and shoulders off the floor, lifitng your arms, squeezing your shoulder blades together and hold for five seconds. You’ve just completed 1 rep. Lower to start position and do one to two sets of 15 repetitions each.
This innovative and unique exercise has immense benefits for your overall back health, working both the lower and upper portions of your back which can help protect or reduce your risk of injury to vertibral discs.
- Lunges: 10 – 15 reps (each leg)
Another leg exercise?!? Yep, they do make up half of your body after all, and you rely on them to carry and support your upper body each and every day – which is why extra attention is given to them. Thanks legs, we’re ever so grateful for you.
Stand upright with your legs shoulder-width apart. Step forward with one foot, with the toes of both your feet facing straight ahead.
(Make sure your legs are aligned – your front knee should be aligned with the foot.)
Slowly lower your back knee towards the floor as your front thigh moves parallel to the ground. Push back up to the starting position.
Concentrate on squeezing your buttocks to push yourself up, and keeping your abdominals tight and the lower back in a neutral position.
Throughout the exercise, maintain the body in an upright position and avoid leaning forward. Your knees should not exceed or move past your toes throughout this movement.
- Plank (30 seconds to 1 minute)
- Firms up your core.
- Gives you a nice, solid mid section.
- The essential piece to any long lasting, functional physique – everything you do stems from your core one way or another.
Start by getting into a push up position, but then bend your elbows and rest your weight ono your forearms instead of your hands. Your body should form a straight line from shoulders to ankles. Remember to suck your belly button into your spine to engage your core – the whole point of this exercise in the first place. Hold this position for the prescribed time.
For an easier variation:
Place your hands on top of a bench or step and come into a straight-arm plank with your hands directly below your shoulders, feet hip-width apart. Your body should form a straight line from your head to your ankles. Draw your belly button up and in while keeping your legs and butt engaged.
- Rest, then repeat entire circuit 2 more times.
Conclusion
Well there you have it. 5 of the most basic exercises that you can start doing literally right this second. Some of you may not even be reading this by now and are already on the ground putting in the sweat and hard work. (Just kidding, I know you’re still eating yesterday’s cake as you’re reading this.)
Either way, this post is aimed to help you see just how simple, and engaging ‘working’ out can actually be. If you do these exercises right, at the right tempo with the right attitude, you’ll be done with them in just a matter of minutes, having had a good sweat and feeling your muscles being sufficiently engaged.
As a general rule of thumb: you do not want to annihiliate your muscles, you want to stimulate them – and this workout does just the right amount of stimulating depending on your own fitness level.
Of course, this is just one of thousands of workout variations available. Don’t get hung up on the details of the workout, understand the core (another pun intended, wow, I’m on a roll today) principles behind the exercises and the order they’re being put in – and the actual movements/order themselves become a mere triviality. The workout we’ve given you is simply for those of you who are too lazy to go on and formulate your own workouts from these principles.
So put down that cake and get sweating! Don’t worry, we’ll finish up the rest for you 🙂
