Follow these 10 steps for an awesome quickie workout.
You'll need:
- Jump rope
- Pair of 2- to 5-pound dumbbells
- Yoga mat
- Foam roller
Throughout these exercises, focus on keeping your transverse abdominis engaged (suck your belly button in), spine elongated, chest lifted, shoulders back, and traps, neck and jaw relaxed.
1. Sun salutations – 3 minutes
- Focus on inhaling and exhaling, slowly and deeply, moving with your breath
- Complete four cycles
- For more detailed instructions, check out Yoga Journal's breakdown of sun salutations
2. Jump rope – 3 minutes
- Land as softly as possible, absorbing the shock to protect your joints
3. Bodyweight squats – 1 minute
- Inhale as you lower your hips back and down, engaging your glutes, hamstrings, quads and calves for a smooth, controlled decent
- Keep your knees strong, without wobbling, and equidistant apart
- Exhale as you raise your hips, squeezing your glutes, hamstrings, quads and calves for a powerful ascent
4. Dumbbell reverse flys – 1 minute
- Focus on sliding your shoulder blades down your back and squeezing them together
- Flex your rhomboids (the muscles that move your shoulder blades), and lock your elbows at a slight bend, before you begin to move to help isolate those muscles
- The movement should come from your back muscles not your arms – keep your arms as relaxed as possible
- P. S. These flys, done in a squatting position, follow the bodyweight squats on purpose for the added leg work. Enjoy the burn.
5. Inchworm push ups – 1 minute
- Thanks to Katya Hayes, yoga and CrossFit instructor at Mountain Trek (an incredible hiking and wellness retreat I attended earlier this year near Nelson, BC), for showing me this one!
- Inchworm push ups are an awesome exercise that’s halfway between a knees-push up and a full-push up
6. Jump rope – 3 minutes
- See above
7. Bodyweight squats – 1 minute
- See above
8. Dumbbell reverse flys – 1 minute
- See above
9. Inchworm push ups – 1 minute
- See above
10. Stretch – 5 minutes
These are a few of my favourite stretches that focus on the chest, spine, hip flexors and hamstrings. Add a few of your favourites too, and spend about 45 seconds on each stretch.
Chest & shoulders
Chest & abdominals
Hip flexors (repeat on each side)
Hamstrings (repeat on each side)