10 Minute Workout

I read of an interesting workout from Craig Ballantyne, C.S.C.S. on the Men’s Health website. The workout is, according to the website, designed to get our body off to the right start first thing in the morning in order for us to burn fat. This is a short, explosive workout! The workout comprises 5 exercises and requires NO equipment at all. I really like the idea of this workout and, after completing it a few times myself now, it really does work the body in this short space of time. This is why I wish to share it.

1. The first exercise is 20 repetitions of jumping jacks (star jumps). To do this we begin with our feet slightly apart and hands by the side. We jump, spreading our legs shoulder-width apart, whilst at the same time raise our hands above heads, before jumping again bringing the arms down and the feet back together.

2. The second exercise in the workout is prisoner squats. To do a prisoner squat we stand with our chest out and our hands behind our head. We sit back at the hips and lower the body as far as possible by bending the knees, without moving the back. We then push back up. We should aim to complete 12 repetitions of this exercise.

3. The third exercise is one of my favourite exercises; push ups. To complete push ups we get our legs straight with our backs and rest on our hands that are beneath our shoulders. We bend our arms, maintaining the straight line from feet to head, until the chest reaches the ground, and then we push back up. This exercise requires 15 reps.

4. The fourth exercise of the workout is forward lunges. These are quite difficult to master but are beneficial. From our standing position we step forward with one leg. We bend both knees until the front leg is parallel to the floor and we hold this position briefly before returning to the standing position. The aim here is to complete 12 reps with each leg.

5. The final exercise of the workout is one that I had not come across before and is known as stickups. We stand with our back to the wall and feet slightly off the wall. We then place the back of our arms against the wall with the upper arms parallel to the floor and the elbow bent at 90 degrees. We keep the arms against the wall at all times while raising them above our head and slowly returning to the start position. We aim to complete 10 repetitions.

So this is the workout and it really is effective. I would suggest trying this out first thing on a morning once of twice a week and see what results you get from it. I would also suggest adjusting the number of repetitions to suit your needs.