By Chris Freytag Brought to you by ACE
For many trainers, the holidays can be a frustrating time. While there’s nothing better than going home for the holidays and spending time with loved ones, this time of year can put a wrench in your clients’ workout routines. Many of you have spent a significant amount of time helping your clients work toward their health and fitness goals, and when they travel for the holidays, it can be hard for them to maintain the same amount of dedication and self-control as they do the rest of the year. The solution? A circuit workout.
Share this workout with your clients before the holiday season to help them burn off those extra calories while getting a total-body challenge. All that is needed for this 20-minute at-home body-weight circuit is a little space in the family room, basement or hotel room.
How-to: Perform each of the following exercises for one minute, resting for 30 seconds in between each exercise. Once you complete each exercise once, take one minute to drink some water and catch your breath. Then go through the entire set once more for a total of 20 minutes.
Warm-up: Begin by jogging lightly for one minute.
1. Pass-through Lunge
Stand with feet hip-distance apart. Step the right foot behind and lower slowly to a lunge until both legs are at a 90-degree angle.
Lift the right leg up and let it float slowly to the front, lowering again to 90-degrees.
Push the right foot up again and float it behind you as you did the first time.
Perform for one minute—30 seconds with the right leg, 30 seconds with the left leg; rest for 30 seconds.
2. Globe Hops
Start standing with feet a few inches apart, arms in guard position at the chest and knees slightly bent.
Jump forward, back, right and then left (like the directions on a globe: north, south, east, west). Continue jumping NSEW for 30 seconds and then switch directions to NSWE or front, back, left, right for the next 30 seconds.
Jump for one minute and then rest for 30 seconds.
3. Shoulder Tap Push-up
Begin in a plank position with the hands directly under the shoulders and feet hip-width apart. Keep the abdominals and legs tight as you slowly lower the chest toward the ground with the elbows bending and pointing behind you.
Exhale as you push back up to lengthen the arms into high-plank position. Lift the right hand to tap your left shoulder at the top and then repeat with the other arm.
Do as many repetitions as you can for one minute and then rest for 30 seconds.
4. Burpees
Start in a plank position with arms and legs long, and hands shoulder-distance apart.
Walk or jump both feet between your hands, coming into a low squat position. Jump straight up as high as possible, land, and come back to your plank position.
Do as many burpees as you can for one minute and then rest for 30 seconds.
5. Side Squat
Start standing with feet hip-distance apart and sit back into a squat position by bending the knees.
Keep your abs tight and back straight. Step to one side, staying in your squat position. Return to your starting position and then side squat in the other direction, using all your lower-body muscles.
Perform for one minute and then rest for 30 seconds.
Begin in a plank position with your shoulders over your wrists, feet together and your body in a straight line.
Bend your left arm and then your right to assume forearm plank position.
Lift your left hand and place it on the mat directly below your shoulder as you push through your palm to lift back up into plank position.
As you reach the top, place your right palm on the floor under your right shoulder and push back into a full plank. Repeat, leading with the right arm.
Perform for one minute, leading first with the left arm for 30 seconds and then with the right for the remaining 30 seconds. Rest for 30 seconds.
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About the Author
Chris Freytag is an accomplished blogger, author, speaker, and the ACE senior consultant for health and fitness. A long-time ACE Certified Professional, she has been training and teaching fitness classes for over 20 years. Chris is the founder of GetHealthyU.com, a fast-growing digital publishing company within the healthy living space and is a contributing editor for Prevention Magazine.
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