Most women find it hard to invest time and money into a gym membership. Now, gym is your best pick if you want to improve and totally change the look of your physique and musculature.
However, if your goal is simply losing weight, slimming down a bit and getting into an overall healthier state of being, you don’t really need weights. In this article, we’re going to give you a simple workout routine, which only requires your body-weight, a sort of elevated surface (box, bench) and pretty much nothing else.
Breathing
Due to the fact this workout is demanding for both the musculature and the cardio-vascular system, it is of prime importance to supply your body with the needed oxygen throughout the whole duration of each set.
Correct breathing
Eccentric part- Inhale- Take a deep (not excessive) breath on the part of the movement, where no strength is applied (eccentric part of the movement).
Concentric part- When you’re applying strength (concentric part) exhale. The harder the movement gets, the more oxygen your body needs. A powerful exhalation on the hardest part of the movement will make it easier.
Now let’s get to it.
The workout
As always, before jumping into the essential part of the workout, make sure to PREPARE your body for it- Warm up your joints, stretch and contract the musculature and optionally, include some form of really light cardio to get the blood flow going.
| Exercises | Sets | Repetitions |
|---|---|---|
| Push-ups (kneeling) | 5 | 10+ |
| Sit-Ups | 5 | 15+ and increasing with each workout. 30 reps per set max. |
| High-knee step-up | 5 | 15 per leg |
| Jumping jacks | 5 | 25 |
| Box jumps | 4 | 12 |
| Reverse lunge kick | 4 | 12 per leg |
| Hip thrust | 5 | 15 |
As you can see by the table, this workout barely targets the upper body, as it is designed for women, who usually look to prioritize their lower body development, namely the thighs, hamstrings, glutes and calves.
There are no specific, isolated calf exercises to this workout, but the amount of jumping movements should place a significant stress upon the calves.
Exercise map
Push-ups
Execution
- Get into a push up position with arms placed on the ground at shoulder width or wider
- Keep your knees on the floor to make the movement easier
- Look forward and go down slowly, until your chest touches the floor
- Push up explosively, without locking out the elbow
Sit-ups
Execution
- Lie down on your back
- Place hands behind your head
- Lift your legs up in the air
- Sit up, contracting the abdomen
- Hold the contraction for a split second and return to original position- legs remain lifted
High-knee step-up
Execution
- Pick an appropriately elevated surface to do this exercise on
- Keep body straight and step up on the surface
- Push yourself up explosively and lift the opposite knee high, contracting the abdomen
- Step down and proceed to the opposite leg
Jumping jacks
Execution
- Stand up straight with feet close and arms by the sides of your legs
- Jump up slightly and step wide, opening your arms and getting them together up top
- And vice versa- Jump up and return to the initial position
- Repeat
Box jump
Execution
- Choose an appropriately elevated surface
- Place feet at shoulder width and toes opened out slightly
- Keep arms together
- Squat down (not fully, just enough to give you jumping explosiveness)
- Jump up explosively, landing on the box in the same quarter-squat position
- Get off the box and repeat
Reverse lunge leg kick
Execution
- Stand up straight and place arms on your hips
- Keep body straight and step back
- Go down slowly, without letting your knee touch the ground
- Push up explosively and kick forward with the leg you stepped back with
- Return to original position and proceed to the opposite leg
Hip thrusts
Execution
- Lie on your shoulder line/upper back portion, on the side of a bench
- Place feet forward and let your hips hang, having them lifted slightly off of the floor
- Thrust up with your hips explosively, contracting the glutes
- Hold the contraction for a full second up top
- Let hips down slowly, without touching the ground
- Repeat
How often should you do this workout?
It is good to know that it is completely unnecessary and not recommended to do this workout every day, as it will only lead to exhaustion. Acknowledge the fact that you need recovery time in-between workouts.
That recovery time window is individual for everyone, as some people recover faster than others. However, you should take a minimum of 30 hours of rest before doing the workout again, to allow your body to adapt and be prepared for the next workout.
What next?
At one point this workout may feel like a not-so exhausting routine. If that happens, start changing up- Do full push ups instead of kneeling push-ups. Add more reps for the sit-ups, decrease time for rest between exercises and even add weight for some of the exercises like the hip thrusts and lunges.
All of these tiny improvements and variations will lead to a greater outcome.
Conclusion
This workout is especially viable for you if you are looking to lose weight, but find it hard to spend time in the gym. What you can do instead, is take this home workout and do it 3 to 4 times a week, while combining it with a PROPER diet plan, suited for your goals.
You can even totally exclude exercising and stick to a diet plan and still lose weight. HOWEVER, that is not recommended, as training during a fat loss phase always accounts for better progress, both visually and mentally.
Stay balanced and don’t hesitate to let us know if you are having difficulty with building your diet plan and staying consistent with it!
