Part 2 of our gym alternatives. A little more complex than the last two sessions the following are designed to help you create your own full-body workout. Of course, they use completely no equipment but don't let that fool you into thinking you are getting off lightly here.
3.) Try P.A.U.L bodyweight circuits.
Bodyweight circuits are a great way to develop cardiovascular fitness and muscular endurance, all at the same time. The P.A.U.L system is an easy way to design your own bodyweight circuit and be sure you are hitting all body parts.P.A.U.L stands for;
Plyometric
Abs
Upper Body
Lower body
TO PERFORM:
Begin your workout by choosing an exercise for each of the 4 categories (letters). Perform each exercise one after the other for 45sec ON not resting until you complete all 4 (total time of 3minutes). Rest 1-2 minutes before going through again. Try and complete 3-5 rounds for a full workout!
I have laid out some example workouts for you below.
- Squat jumps
- Crunches
- Push-ups
- Lunges
- Jumping lunges
- V-sits
- Pull-ups
- Step-ups
- Jumping jacks
- Russian twists
- Chair dips
- Reverse lunges
4.) Take a gamble on the deck of cards workout.
This cardio/muscular endurance workout is like having a personal trainer in the palm of your hand. All you need is a deck of regular playing cards and a willingness to put your workout in the hands of fate!
Before you begin, you will need to allocate an exercise to each suit. Make sure you choose exercises that are dissimilar for each suit to avoid overloading any one muscle group, (you could even use the P.A.U.L approach outlined above).
For example:
Hearts = squat jumps
Diamonds = sit-ups
Spades = push-ups
Clubs = pull-ups
If you are leaving the jokers in, give them an exercise too, e.g., 20 burpees
TO PERFORM:
Shuffle your deck and place it face down. Turn over the first card and perform the exercise specified (chosen earlier) for the value of the card. So, for example, if you turn over the nine of diamonds, do nine sit-ups, if you get a two of spades, do two pushups. Once complete, turn over the next card and do the exercise specified for the value shown. Work your way through the entire deck. Your workout is finished when all cards are complete.
For picture cards, do the following reps:
Jacks – 11 reps
Queens – 12 reps
Kings – 13 reps
What happens if you get a run of similar cards? Say three picture cards from the same suit? Bad luck! Just chip away at the reps until you are ready to turn over the next card, and maybe try and shuffle your cards better next time!
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