No Weights, No Excuses Exercises Post-Christmas

easy at home fitness

Whether you’re busy, travelling, don’t have access to a gym, or feeling unmotivated. It’s very easy to come up with excuses to not do your exercises.

Gyms can be intimidating, especially if you don’t know what you’re doing when exercising, or don’t go in there with a plan.

What’s more, gyms can be expensive and sometimes they just aren’t accessible. However, sometimes it can feel like your only exercise option if you don’t go to a gym or a fitness studio is long runs – and running isn’t for everyone either.

That is where weightless HIIT circuits come in. Gone are the days of slogging it on the treadmill, HIIT is about working hard and getting out, making it the perfect workout for busy people. As a HIIT instructor myself, I know and have seen the benefits of HIIT in my own body and the fitness of the people that take my classes.

You don’t need any equipment and all you need is 25 minutes and then you can get on with whatever else you need to do – so really there is no excuse not to do it.

Building a successful and challenging HIIT workout is as easy as counting to five. What’s more, depending on the desired training location can be tailored to a bedroom or park. 

This particular HIIT session will be a full-body conditioning workout. How does it work?

Five exercises, each exercise will be performed for 40 seconds at 85%+ of VO2 or Max Heart Rate (i.e. as hard as you can). This interval of high intensity is followed by 20 seconds of rest. This ratio is used for all five exercises and then the total circuit is repeated three more times. 

In brief, the workout will be comprised of: a 5 minute warm-up. 5 exercises. 40 seconds on, 20 seconds off. The circuit is repeated a total of 4 times. 5 minute cool down.

Jump lunges

Using explosive movements, step forward into a lunge. Ensure that both the front and the back legs are bent at right angles and that the chest stays upright and doesn’t fall forward over the knees. To help with this keep the eye gaze forwards and directly in front of you. If you have injured/ sensitive knees or have problems with your pelvic floor, you can remove the jumps and just step back into a reverse lunge.

Mountain climbers

Set up in a high plank position so that the elbows are stacked directly under the shoulders and above the wrists. Start by bringing the right knee (bent) towards your left elbow and then bring the foot back so the leg is straight again. Do the same thing with the other leg. You may want to start off slow and controlled to really crunch the abdominals or speed the movement up to increase the cardio component of the move.

Tricep push up

This exercise can be done either from the knees or from the toes depending on pre-existing strength. This movement is just like a regular push up, however, the elbows stay tucked into the side of the chest so that the triceps are targeted more than the chest.

Glute bridges

Set up by lying on your back with your knees bent and feet slightly in front of your glutes. Press your heels into the floor and lift the hips up, squeezing the glutes together at the top. It may help to imagine you have a $50 note in between each bum cheek – when you thrust up and squeeze your glutes, imagine you don’t want that money to fall out. 

Plank hip dips

Start in a regular plank position – on your forearms. Ensure that your back is flat and that the bum doesn’t creep up into the air or sink down too low so that you sag through your lower back. It is also important to ensure that the shoulders are stacked directly on top of the elbows so that you do not hold tension in your neck. Keep your feet together to provide a pivot point, as you rotate through the obliques (side abs) to bring the hip down to the ground.

Tara Mckenzie

Like many of Bondi Beauty's readers, Tara has two main passions; health and beauty. As a group fitness instructor you'll either find her dripping in sweat during a HIIT class or with a full face of bronze makeup. If you meet Tara in person be prepared to act excited as she tells you all about your star sign and why you should start carrying a rose quartz around in your purse.

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