Part 1
On the Road Again
You are one of those people who goes into withdrawals if you miss a couple of workouts, and your company sends you to a conference half-way across the country, putting you in a hotel that doesn’t even have a gym. You need your endorphin fix and you need it NOW. What are you to do? Relax, this circuit you are about to read is a small, simple routine that can exercise every body part and help you keep your tone and get that much-needed "rush." Granted, it’s not a replacement for free-weight resistance exercise, but every now and then it’s wise to give your body a break from that anyway. This will give you a good aerobic workout to boot.
This is also a good routine for "newbie" who is about to get on a weight-lifting program. It is not going to be so effective for long-term use. Don’t be misled… The models you see in magazines who have any kind of significant muscular development acquired it through regular weight lifting.
As with any exercise routine, always remember to stretch your body thoroughly before and after the routine (There is a stretching routine at the end of this post).
Let’s get started!
Running in place: It is always important to remember to warm up before working out. Do this exercise vigorously for a couple of minutes and you will raise your heart rate AND wake up the people in the room below you. An alternative is to run around the block a couple of times.
Jumping jacks: Alternating a few sets of calisthenics with an aerobic interval helps keep your heart rate elevated throughout the entire half-hour routine. After running in place for two minutes, immediately do 50 jumping jacks before moving on to the next exercise.
Basketball jumps: This is good for quad and glute and calf development, and will wear you out in a hurry. Stand with your feet hip-distance apart, arms at your sides. Bend your knees and squat low, then leap straight up, reaching toward the ceiling as if you were dunking a basketball. Land on the balls of your feet, squat and jump again. Repeat 10 times with no rests between jumps. To make this all the more effective, try to do this as fluidly as possible. Jump as high as you can but when you come down to the balls of your feet, absorb your weight using your legs like shock absorbers and smoothly go into the squat position. Jump from a deep squat position. One of the problems I have seen with this exercise is a person will either jump and land hard at a complete stop, and then he/she will dip into the squat position. The other mistake I see is not going deep enough. Unless you have a prohibitive injury, your legs should be parallel to the floor at the bottom of the motion. Do not go past the parallel position though, as that puts too much pressure on the knee. If you do this as smoothly as I have suggested, it will burn royally.
Door squat: This exercise will tone your hamstrings, quadriceps and butt. First, open a sturdy door (make sure it’s one that’s firmly hinged) and loop a bath towel around each knob. Hold the ends of both towels in your hands. Stand with your arms fully extended in from of you and your feet hip-distance apart. Keeping your back straight, squat until the tops of your thighs are parallel to the floor. Be sure to keep your weight firmly over your heels. Now rise to the standing position. That’s one repetition. Do a total of 20, then spread your feet slightly wider than hip-width, turning your feet so that they point slightly away from each other. Now do 20 more repetitions. These are a good follow up to basket ball jumps. Try doing them with the same non-stop fluidity as you used on the jumps. Don’t lock your legs at the top of the motion. Take about 3 seconds to do the negative portion of the motion, and do the positive part in 1-2 seconds. If you do these directly following jumps you should barely be able to stand at the end (assuming you have done them properly).
Shoulder circle: This is a great shoulder warm-up if you are getting ready to do military presses or power-cleans. Stand with your arms straight out from your sides, parallel to the floor. Slowly rotate both arms forward as if you were drawing 6-inch-diameter circles with your fingertips. Continue for 30 seconds, then draw backward circles for 30 seconds. I do an additional set by executing full rotations at two feet (in both directions).
Lateral raise: Unless you had the foresight to bring some small dumbbells you may need to use something like a heavy book for this exercise. If that is the case, just do one arm at a time. Stand straight with your arms at your side and a heavy book (a dictionary, the hotel-room bible, the yellow pages) in your left hand. Slowly lift your left arm out to the side until it is parallel to the floor. To give it that extra burn, when you get close to the top of the motion, start internally rotating the arm. Imagine you are holding a jug of water and when you get to the top of the motion you are "pouring the water out." Then hold it for a second or two, and slowly lower it to your side, returning to the original position. Repeat 12 to 20 times, then switch sides. Another variation of this is that is a bit more difficult is to find something that you can hold onto, like a rail, and lean out at about a 45 degree angle. At this angle, then do the exact same thing, raising the arm until it is parallel to the floor.
One-legged calf raise: If you can find something to do a calf raise on like the stairs in the hallway, do so. When people stop and stare just wave and tell them you are training for the Olympics, or that you are safety inspector testing the stairs. Stand with your left forefoot on the edge of the step so that your left heel hangs off the edge. Wrap your right foot around your left ankle and grab a railing or wall for balance. Rise onto your toes. When you squeeze at the top of the motion, flex the calf as hard as you can. Hold this for a couple seconds then slowly release, slowly lowering yourself until your heel falls slightly below the step. Get a deep stretch at the bottom of the motion. Repeat 15 to 20 times, then switch positions to work the right leg.
Reverse lunge: Stand straight with your hands on your hips. Take a step back with your right foot about 3 feet, lowering your right knee until it nearly touches the floor. Your left knee should automatically bend to a 90-degree angle. Lift your self back into the starting position, tightening your buttocks muscles as you go. Repeat 10 to 15 times with your right leg, then switch to work your left leg. This is a great exercise even if you have no weights. In fact, I sometimes integrate them into regular leg workouts in the gym. Be sure to keep your body in an upright position (shoulders above the hips). It is a common error to lean forward or even rest the chest on the front leg while doing this exercise. Your torso weight combined with the stretch this exercise places on the glutes is what works the muscle so deeply. Also, don’t bounce at the bottom of this motion… make your muscles do all the work. If you have trouble getting back up use your hands to push on your quad to give yourself a little boost.
Butt Blasters: If you are curious how this exercise got it’s name, try it and you will see why. This exercise targets the hamstrings and buttocks. Get down on your hands and knees. Slowly extend your right leg behind you until it’s straight and in line with your back. To get additional effect, squeeze at the top for a couple of seconds… Now slowly lower your leg back into the starting position. Do 20 repetitions with each leg. I guarantee satisfaction in the burn department.
Narrow pushup: This exercise will work your chest, shoulders and triceps. Assume the normal pushup position but move your hands close so your thumbs and index fingers touch. The space between your hands should form a diamond. This variation gives the triceps a better workout, but it’s also a lot tougher than the basic pushup, so don’t be surprised if it seems harder. Complete as many pushups as you can in one minute. If you feel wrist pain, move your hands 6 inches apart. When you do pushups with your hands close together, it is just like doing "close-grip bench press" for triceps. Here are a couple of tips to get more out of this exercise… First, at the bottom of the position, your lower chest or sternum should be directly over your hands. Second, try to keep your elbows in against your body. This will force the triceps to do most of the work. This may be hard on the wrists, but you can try not fully extending the arm to allay some of the pressure.
Crunches: There are many variations you can do for this, but a standard crunch is pretty much self-explanatory. Start with a basic crunch to work the upper abdominals: Lie on your back, knees bent, feet flat on the floor, arms lightly touching the back of your head, elbows out. Keeping your lower back pressed to the floor, slowly curl your head and shoulders up, then lower yourself. Do as many repetitions as you can in one minute. Next, add a twist to work the oblique muscles: As you lift, twist the upper body to the right knee, bringing your left shoulder toward your right knee. Then twist to the left, drawing your right shoulder toward your left knee. Alternate from side to side for as many repetitions as you can for one minute. Finish by working the lower abdominals with a reverse crunch: With your head and shoulders slightly raised, slowly lift your legs and pelvis so that your knees curl toward your chest. Lower again and repeat for one minute. An important thing to remember is to CONCENTRATE on the abs as you crunch. You can do this motion and not really get a burn in your abs, but if you really focus your attention to your abs and make sure they are doing all the work, it’s Burn City.
Continued on next post
On the Road Again
You are one of those people who goes into withdrawals if you miss a couple of workouts, and your company sends you to a conference half-way across the country, putting you in a hotel that doesn’t even have a gym. You need your endorphin fix and you need it NOW. What are you to do? Relax, this circuit you are about to read is a small, simple routine that can exercise every body part and help you keep your tone and get that much-needed "rush." Granted, it’s not a replacement for free-weight resistance exercise, but every now and then it’s wise to give your body a break from that anyway. This will give you a good aerobic workout to boot.
This is also a good routine for "newbie" who is about to get on a weight-lifting program. It is not going to be so effective for long-term use. Don’t be misled… The models you see in magazines who have any kind of significant muscular development acquired it through regular weight lifting.
As with any exercise routine, always remember to stretch your body thoroughly before and after the routine (There is a stretching routine at the end of this post).
Let’s get started!
Running in place: It is always important to remember to warm up before working out. Do this exercise vigorously for a couple of minutes and you will raise your heart rate AND wake up the people in the room below you. An alternative is to run around the block a couple of times.
Jumping jacks: Alternating a few sets of calisthenics with an aerobic interval helps keep your heart rate elevated throughout the entire half-hour routine. After running in place for two minutes, immediately do 50 jumping jacks before moving on to the next exercise.
Basketball jumps: This is good for quad and glute and calf development, and will wear you out in a hurry. Stand with your feet hip-distance apart, arms at your sides. Bend your knees and squat low, then leap straight up, reaching toward the ceiling as if you were dunking a basketball. Land on the balls of your feet, squat and jump again. Repeat 10 times with no rests between jumps. To make this all the more effective, try to do this as fluidly as possible. Jump as high as you can but when you come down to the balls of your feet, absorb your weight using your legs like shock absorbers and smoothly go into the squat position. Jump from a deep squat position. One of the problems I have seen with this exercise is a person will either jump and land hard at a complete stop, and then he/she will dip into the squat position. The other mistake I see is not going deep enough. Unless you have a prohibitive injury, your legs should be parallel to the floor at the bottom of the motion. Do not go past the parallel position though, as that puts too much pressure on the knee. If you do this as smoothly as I have suggested, it will burn royally.
Door squat: This exercise will tone your hamstrings, quadriceps and butt. First, open a sturdy door (make sure it’s one that’s firmly hinged) and loop a bath towel around each knob. Hold the ends of both towels in your hands. Stand with your arms fully extended in from of you and your feet hip-distance apart. Keeping your back straight, squat until the tops of your thighs are parallel to the floor. Be sure to keep your weight firmly over your heels. Now rise to the standing position. That’s one repetition. Do a total of 20, then spread your feet slightly wider than hip-width, turning your feet so that they point slightly away from each other. Now do 20 more repetitions. These are a good follow up to basket ball jumps. Try doing them with the same non-stop fluidity as you used on the jumps. Don’t lock your legs at the top of the motion. Take about 3 seconds to do the negative portion of the motion, and do the positive part in 1-2 seconds. If you do these directly following jumps you should barely be able to stand at the end (assuming you have done them properly).
Shoulder circle: This is a great shoulder warm-up if you are getting ready to do military presses or power-cleans. Stand with your arms straight out from your sides, parallel to the floor. Slowly rotate both arms forward as if you were drawing 6-inch-diameter circles with your fingertips. Continue for 30 seconds, then draw backward circles for 30 seconds. I do an additional set by executing full rotations at two feet (in both directions).
Lateral raise: Unless you had the foresight to bring some small dumbbells you may need to use something like a heavy book for this exercise. If that is the case, just do one arm at a time. Stand straight with your arms at your side and a heavy book (a dictionary, the hotel-room bible, the yellow pages) in your left hand. Slowly lift your left arm out to the side until it is parallel to the floor. To give it that extra burn, when you get close to the top of the motion, start internally rotating the arm. Imagine you are holding a jug of water and when you get to the top of the motion you are "pouring the water out." Then hold it for a second or two, and slowly lower it to your side, returning to the original position. Repeat 12 to 20 times, then switch sides. Another variation of this is that is a bit more difficult is to find something that you can hold onto, like a rail, and lean out at about a 45 degree angle. At this angle, then do the exact same thing, raising the arm until it is parallel to the floor.
One-legged calf raise: If you can find something to do a calf raise on like the stairs in the hallway, do so. When people stop and stare just wave and tell them you are training for the Olympics, or that you are safety inspector testing the stairs. Stand with your left forefoot on the edge of the step so that your left heel hangs off the edge. Wrap your right foot around your left ankle and grab a railing or wall for balance. Rise onto your toes. When you squeeze at the top of the motion, flex the calf as hard as you can. Hold this for a couple seconds then slowly release, slowly lowering yourself until your heel falls slightly below the step. Get a deep stretch at the bottom of the motion. Repeat 15 to 20 times, then switch positions to work the right leg.
Reverse lunge: Stand straight with your hands on your hips. Take a step back with your right foot about 3 feet, lowering your right knee until it nearly touches the floor. Your left knee should automatically bend to a 90-degree angle. Lift your self back into the starting position, tightening your buttocks muscles as you go. Repeat 10 to 15 times with your right leg, then switch to work your left leg. This is a great exercise even if you have no weights. In fact, I sometimes integrate them into regular leg workouts in the gym. Be sure to keep your body in an upright position (shoulders above the hips). It is a common error to lean forward or even rest the chest on the front leg while doing this exercise. Your torso weight combined with the stretch this exercise places on the glutes is what works the muscle so deeply. Also, don’t bounce at the bottom of this motion… make your muscles do all the work. If you have trouble getting back up use your hands to push on your quad to give yourself a little boost.
Butt Blasters: If you are curious how this exercise got it’s name, try it and you will see why. This exercise targets the hamstrings and buttocks. Get down on your hands and knees. Slowly extend your right leg behind you until it’s straight and in line with your back. To get additional effect, squeeze at the top for a couple of seconds… Now slowly lower your leg back into the starting position. Do 20 repetitions with each leg. I guarantee satisfaction in the burn department.
Narrow pushup: This exercise will work your chest, shoulders and triceps. Assume the normal pushup position but move your hands close so your thumbs and index fingers touch. The space between your hands should form a diamond. This variation gives the triceps a better workout, but it’s also a lot tougher than the basic pushup, so don’t be surprised if it seems harder. Complete as many pushups as you can in one minute. If you feel wrist pain, move your hands 6 inches apart. When you do pushups with your hands close together, it is just like doing "close-grip bench press" for triceps. Here are a couple of tips to get more out of this exercise… First, at the bottom of the position, your lower chest or sternum should be directly over your hands. Second, try to keep your elbows in against your body. This will force the triceps to do most of the work. This may be hard on the wrists, but you can try not fully extending the arm to allay some of the pressure.
Crunches: There are many variations you can do for this, but a standard crunch is pretty much self-explanatory. Start with a basic crunch to work the upper abdominals: Lie on your back, knees bent, feet flat on the floor, arms lightly touching the back of your head, elbows out. Keeping your lower back pressed to the floor, slowly curl your head and shoulders up, then lower yourself. Do as many repetitions as you can in one minute. Next, add a twist to work the oblique muscles: As you lift, twist the upper body to the right knee, bringing your left shoulder toward your right knee. Then twist to the left, drawing your right shoulder toward your left knee. Alternate from side to side for as many repetitions as you can for one minute. Finish by working the lower abdominals with a reverse crunch: With your head and shoulders slightly raised, slowly lift your legs and pelvis so that your knees curl toward your chest. Lower again and repeat for one minute. An important thing to remember is to CONCENTRATE on the abs as you crunch. You can do this motion and not really get a burn in your abs, but if you really focus your attention to your abs and make sure they are doing all the work, it’s Burn City.
Continued on next post
Last edited:
