Hi! Can you believe the weather yesterday? I had to cancel bootcamp because it was so awful in Wakefield and we didn’t want to be caught in another storm. Thankfully I worked out during my lunch break otherwise it would’ve been really hard to get myself to the gym after work! Speaking of my bootcamp, today’s workout is another workout I did with my bootcampers a few weeks ago. Everyone loved it and one person even told me she did it with her roommate last week, so I figured I should probably share it with you, too!

This workout is great because:

• you don’t need any equipment besides a timer
• it can be done anywhere
• it works everything: upper, lower, core, cardio
• it’s always changing so you won’t get bored

I’ve mentioned before that I don’t really like 60 second intervals of work. I do them, but mostly when we are going right from one thing to the next because I know time will get wasted in the transitions. I prefer 45 seconds of work because I think you get a much more effective blast of work in 45 seconds rather than 60 seconds and you reduce the risk of losing form and slacking off.

For this workout, I call it a progression because every station focuses on one particular move or exercise and you progress up to more intense variations of it. By the 3rd exercise in each station, you’re really feeling the burn- trust me! I’ve shortened the workout for the purposes of this post (I feel like the shorter workouts tend to be more popular than the longer ones on here), but will also let you know what additional stations we did at the end in case you have more time when you try this out.

Most of these are fairly basic moves, but here are some reminders/tips/explanations:

• One: remember to keep the weight in your heels, chest open, back straight and knees in line with toes when squatting. For the jump squats you can either go slower and touch hands to ground each time or keep them at your waist and do fast jumps. For the pulses, stay low and make baby moves up and down, keeping the contraction the whole time- don’t let yourself bend forward at the waist, either! Stay up tall.
• Two: Push-ups can be done on your knees or toes, but make sure you’re getting your chest close to the ground and try to keep your elbows tucked tighter to your sides rather than goal post arms. Head, neck and spine all in line. For the push-up hold, simple go down halfway and hold it for 2 counts, then come back up.
• Three & Four: You’re going to do all the work on the right leg and then do it all again on the left leg. Stay up tall, head, neck and spine in line and bend both knees to a 90* angle, making sure you’re not hinging forward at the waist over the front leg. For the jumps, you’re going to do jumping lunges, but only on one leg at a time- it’s killer! Pulses are going to be tiny movements up and down, similar to the squat pulses.
• Five: You’re progressing to a burpee in this station. Check out this post for the frog stamps (love this move!), and then finish with a burpee.
• Six: Lying on your back in a starfish position, you’re going to use your core to lift yourself up so that your right hand touches your left foot, and continue to alternate. Make sure you’re keeping your chest lifted and open and your back straight. For the regular v-sits, you’re going to lift both legs and reach your arms to them, so that your body forms a “V” when you’re at the top position. Keep your gaze neutral and don’t forget to breathe. For the hold, you’re simply going to hold in the “V” position. Want more? Add a pulse 😉

We also did a station with triceps dips, crab walks and triceps pulses, which they all hated! The last one we did was single leg deadlifts right and left and then jumping jacks.

I hope you give this a try if you’re looking for a workout but either don’t have equipment or don’t want to go to the gym because this is the perfect one to do that 🙂

Questions for you: What’s your least favorite exercise? (other than burpees!) Do you get friends to workout with you when you’re traveling?