Some days I just need a quick workout at the gym. I know I need to exercise for mental health as much as physical health and so the days when I am feeling not at the top of my mental/emotional health game, I am at a crossroads of needing to exercise and not being motivated to exercise.
If you have those days too, feel free to try my template that involves 4 or 6-minute movement segments using a Tabata format.
A Tabata is a form of exercise where you alternate short periods of exercise with shorter periods of rest. For a Tabata, I use 4 minutes of exercise consisting of 8 exercises, each done for 20 seconds, with 10 seconds of rest in between. There are lots of great Tabata timer apps for free and in general, I choose the 8 exercises to fit the pattern of lower legs, cardio, arms, side abs, middle abs, side abs, cardio, arms with legs combined
Get-It-Done-Workout
Block One: 6 minutes of cardio
For the first 6 minute block I like to do the elliptical at a steep incline and lower resistance for 1 minute, medium resistance for 1 minute, high resistance for 1 minute, and then repeat this resistance pattern at a medium incline. The goal is just to get your heart rate up for 6 minutes. You can run outside in intervals or even a consistant 6 minute run. You could jump rope in a pattern of 1 minute on and 15 seconds off for 6 minutes. Whatever you have available to do for 6 minutes
Rest 1 minute
Block Two: 2 Tabatas (8 minutes total) with 30 seconds of rest in between the first and second Tabata
Today I did the following 8 exercises: wide leg squats while holding hand weights, moutainclimbers, tricep dips, side plank with hip dips and lifts on left side, v-sit sit ups, side plank with hip dips and lifts on right side, jump lunges, legs together squats with both arm rows with handweights. I then rested 30 seconds and repeated this Tabata
Rest 1 minute
Block Three: 6 minutes of cardio
I did the same elliptical routine that I did in Block One, but sometimes I change it up and run on the treadmill, or run up and down some flights of stairs if they are available.
Rest 1 minute
Block 4: 2 Tabatas (8 minutes total) with 30 seconds of rest in between
You can repeat the same Tabata in Block Two for today I did 8 different exercises. I did wide leg squat with alternating side leg lifts, jumping jacks, straight front arm raises with weights, sitting russian twists holding a weight, dead bugs with weights, bicycle crunches, burpees, lateral arm flys with hand weights
This should get you a quick 30- 35 minute workout with plenty of variety to keep you entertained on the days that you just need to get it done!
