You are busy! You travel. You have less cartilage in your knees or you have stiff hips. You don’t have equipment. You aren’t comfortable at a gym. You don’t know what to do.
These are real obstacles to exercise for anyone any age. This time of year you’re recommitting to exercise. I’m going to give you my simple 5-step template for creating your own workout on-the-go in a hotel room or in your own living room just because you may prefer home exercise.
A few weeks before Thanksgiving I did some live videos on Facebook of the very workout I had to do as I prepared to travel, then while I was traveling. They were wildly popular, I suspect because we all relate: I want to workout, I know I need it, but I just don’t have time. Walking on the treadmill – or trying to get one in the hotel – doesn’t seem very effective. What else does a girl do?
Here’s a simple example of a workout I used during that crazy couple of weeks. No doubt I’m doing something similar during the busy weeks of January too! In fact, I’m featuring live videos for my Café members live weekly – it’s like me delivering personal training in your own private home gym.
I’m sharing below how I put together sequences to make them most effective and on purpose. That’s the number one error I see women make at the gym. They’re randomly moving from exercise to exercise but don’t have a “why.” The exercise sequence is less effective if there is no reason why.
- Lose any old thoughts that a workout has to be an hour. Moving at all is better than not moving. You will benefit in many ways from 10 minutes. Shorter the workouts do need to be more intense to give comparable results to the longer exercise sessions you may have done, shorter moderate sessions are also going to be better than nothing.
- Choose a time frame that’s reasonable. Do you have seven minutes? Do you have 20 or 30? I like to choose 10 minutes or less and create an exercise set once to fit that time. Then if you have more time you can repeat the sequence you created once or twice.
I love seven minutes, for one – and this is a big one, because it feels doable! Once you’re done, repeating that seven minutes is more likely to happen!
- Choose exercises that alternate upper and lower body emphasis to keep your heart rate elevated. While it’s not as stimulating for heart rate as doing a constant run, bike, or elliptical for instance, it will definitely boost your heart rate at least as much as a brisk walk level. For example, a squat followed by a push up, followed by a lunge would be lower body, upper body, lower body.
- Make sequencing your exercises simple. Create two lists of exercises that are appropriate for you. Lower body exercises that work for you if you have knee issues might be knee lifts in place, bridges on the floor or ball, or hamstring curls on a ball. If you have to work around a shoulder issue, choose upper body exercises that you can do safely and pain free. Pushups may be out but there’s something you can do. How about boxing drills like a jab, or a jab-cross? You can create lists that are no-equipment required in case you’re traveling. Create a list that uses the equipment you have in your home gym for other busy days.
Lower Body Exercises
- Squats
- Squats – Plie
- Lunges – rear
- Lunges – side
- Lunges – walking
- Lunges to a kick
- Front kicks – singles or ladder
- Side kicks – singles or repeats
- Knee lifts
- Hamstring curls – standing
- Bridge on the floor – floor or ball
- Hamstring curls (ball)
- Side step (band)
Upper Body Exercises
- Chest Press
- Push Up
- Renegade Row
- Bent Over Row
- Bent Arm Pullover
- Scapular Push Ups
- Retraction from prone
- Reverse Fly
- Chest Fly
- Shoulder Press
- Triceps Press
- Biceps Curl
- Create your own 7-minute workout, list either 7 or 14 exercises going back and forth between your upper and lower body exercise list. You’ll do them either one minute each (7 exercises) or just 30-seconds each (14 exercises). You could insert some core exercises into the routine, but I actually prefer to save the core until the end since your heart rate is going to drop significantly during core exercise.
Use this simple system any time to make your own workout. Include a warm up and cool down by reducing intensity on the first and last few exercises or adding a few minutes of walking pre and post. Add two or three core exercises or repeats of a single core exercise to complete the workout. On a busy, busy day you may have to leave this out. You’ve done the hardest and most important thing about exercise.
You have stayed consistent even on your busiest of days.
One of the best ways to see how short workouts pay off best for hormone balance is the Flipping 50 28-Day Kickstart. The next Kickstart begins in April 4. You still have time to get all the materials you need and the pre-program recordings to help you be more successful.
Early early bird bonus NOW through !
Still some pre-program bonuses through March 28th!
Start Now!! This is NOT a download…this is LIVE coaching for 4 weeks with Debra for personal support, and answers to your questions.
