Fitness expert Libby Babet from Bottoms Up Fitness offers some simple bodyweight workouts and ideas to keep your your body in top shape over the summer.
"Try to do at least 2 but ideally 3-4 sessions per week," she says. "Start with your resistance circuit and then follow with ten minutes of cardio. Remember to always squeeze in a good warm-up, complete with dynamic stretching, plus a solid ten minutes of static stretching at the end of your sessions."
Bodyweight Resistance Circuit #1 (functional)
- 20 x Deep Squats (feet just wider than shoulder width apart)
- 20 x Push Ups (come right down to an inch off the floor)
Maximum Plank Hold
- 20 x Walking Lunges
- 20 x Back Extensions (where you're lying on your stomach with your hands out in front of you and then you lift your arms/chest and legs/hips up off the ground, then slowly lower back down)
- 10 x High Squat Jumps
Rest for 1min, then repeat 3-4 times
Bodyweight Resistance Circuit #2 (dynamic)
- 15 x Squat-Press (use anything from cans to your your handbag or books for weight. Slowly lower yourself for about three counts, then stand up quickly, shooting your weights overhead)
- 20 x Mountain Climbers (butt down girls!)
- 15 x Tricep Dips (use a park bench or set of stairs!)
- 10 x Burpees
- As many Chin-Up Negatives as you can get out (find a bar or a strong tree branch and jump up off the ground into the top of a chin-up position, then lower yourself down as slowly as you can. If you can't find a bar/branch, go for superman moves again, with opposing arms/legs moving this time)
- 20 x Squat Jumps, alternating between wide feet/close feet.
Rest for 1min, then repeat 3-4 times
Cardio HIIT Style (that's High Intensity Interval Training)
Choose any of the below:
- 10 x Short Burst Sprints; mark out your distance (at least 50m, ideally closer to 100m) and get set, then GO as fast as you can 'til you hit the finish line. Walk back to the start nice and slowly to catch your breath, then GO again! Repeat until you've finished all 10 sprints.
- 10 x Super-Speedy Stair Climbs; same principal as the above sprint drill, only with an impressive set of stairs.
- 10 x Hill Sprints with Squats/Squat Jumps to pre-exhaust your leg muscles (fun!); position yourself at the bottom of your nearest hill and do 5 deep squats, followed directly by 5 big squat jumps, followed directly by a hill sprint. Jog back down to the bottom, rest for 20 seconds, then go again!
- 5km speed run; mark out a 5km run you'd like to complete but instead of jogging the entire way, try going as fast as you possibly can for as long as you possibly can, then when you're exhausted drop it down to a veerrryyyy slow jog until you feel you've completely recovered, then go hard again. Continue 'til your 5km is up!
Home