Whenever I'm off from work, I tend to fall out of my daily routine. I sleep in, I don't have any meetings to attend, the day is my oyster! I still like to get my sweat on so I don't feel totally lazy but ain't no way I'm waking up at 5:45am for my usual workout class when I don't have anything else on my plate that day. If my day off is usually a run day, I still go on my run, but if it's a workout class day, I make up a workout to do at home.
I have a pretty solid home gym, but some of my favorite workouts are ones that require minimal equipment. They require zero set up, and I can take them with me wherever I go (hotel gym, my parents' house, pretty much anywhere).
So the other day when I had off from work, I put together this 5 move workout inspired by my crossfit days. It left me totally drenched, so of course, I want you to share in the sweat.
Warm up with a 10 minute run at an easy pace.
Then, do as many rounds of the following as possible in 10 minutes:
50 air squats 40 dumbbell swings 30 v-ups 20 bear cub complexs 400 m run (.25 miles)Rest one minute.
Repeat wherever you left off from the last round, making your way through as many rounds as possible in 10 minutes.
1. Air Squat - Stand with your feet about hip width apart, toes pointing ahead (1). Send your hips back and drop down into a squat as low as you can go, keeping your torso upright and making sure your knees don't fall inward (2). You don't have to stop at 90 degrees if you have the mobility to drop down further. Stand back up to starting position, squeezing your booty at the top, and repeat.
2. Dumbbell Swing - Stand with your feet hip-width apart. To begin, soften the knees, shift your weight into your heels, send your butt back and keep your chest upright. Grip the dumbbell (which should be in line with the middle of your feet) lengthwise by gripping underneath one of the weight plates (1). Then drive through your heels, explode through the hips, and swing the dumbbell up to shoulder height with the arms extended (2). Squeeze your booty at the top. Allow the weight of the dumbbell to help bring you back to the starting position and swing back between your legs. Keep moving vs. stopping to reset each time and choose a weight that allows you to swing with good technique while still feeling a bit challenging.
3. V-Ups - Lay on the floor with your legs extended out in front of you and arms extended on the floor overhead (1). Keep your feet together and your legs straight as you lift the legs up and raise the upper body, reaching for the toes with your hands and creating a "V" shape with your body (2). Keep the core engaged at all times. Lower back down, but try to keep your legs and arms off the floor (1). If this is too difficult, you can bend at the knees and lower your arms and legs all the way to the floor between reps.
4. Bear Cub Complex - This move is typically performed with a barbell and called the Bear Complex, but since I'm using dumbbells, I created the Bear Complex's baby brother move: the Bear Cub Complex.
Start with a burpee: Jump or step feet back and drop your hands under your shoulders (so you land in a plank position). Do a push-up, lowering the chest all the way to the floor (1). Push back up to plank, jump your feet in (2) and hop back up to stand, clapping your hands overhead as you do so (3).
Then do a deadlift: grab your weights (you can keep them positioned in front of you while you do the burpee) and with feet hip-width apart, hold them just above your ankles in front of your shins (4). Your butt should be pushed back so that you feel a stretch in your hamstrings. Slowly hinge back up, keeping the weights as close to your legs as possible until they are in front of your thighs (5)
Time for a clean and press: From the top of your deadlift, bend forward at the hips and return to the start of your deadlift position, weights just about the ankles in front of your shins (6). Begin to pull the weights up (7) by moving your hips forward, hopping a bit and shrugging your shoulders (8). Use the momentum from your movement to pull the weights up. As the weights start to reach your shoulders, squat down underneath them (9), landing in a squat position just as they reach shoulder height. Stand to full height (10) and press the weights overhead (11).
That was one rep! Carefully place your weights in front of you and repeat from the burpee.
5. Run - Run 400m. Sprint if you can.
If you make it through the whole round, start again with air squats until time is up.
The rest one minute and start again wherever you left off.
Based on your fitness level, you may make it through half a round in 10 minutes. You may make it through 2 full rounds. After the workout, write down how many rounds + reps you made it through (i.e. 1 round + 90 reps if you make it through one full round, the air squats and the dumbbell swings). Do the workout again in a month to see how you've progressed.
Let's Chat:
Do you stick with your workout routine when you have off from work?
