If you want to completely take thinking out of home workouts, check out our Home Workout journals:
2. The Dumbbell Home Workout Journal - a home workout journal that requires only dumbbells.
Each journal is a 13-week HOME workout program to help you get the best home workouts of your life!
_________________________
Daily Workout Routines
No time? No equipment? No money for a gym membership?
No problem.
There are a number of different daily workout routines you can do anytime, any place to get the toned, fit look we all crave. The only things you need are a body, either a towel or t-shirt, and a timer.
Routine #1:
*Duration: *5-7 minutes per round; 4-5 rounds
*Consists of: *Warmup, simulated pull-ups, squats, crunches, high-knees, in and out push-ups, and plank.
Warmup:
Duration: 1 minute
Goal: Just to loosen your body up a little bit, take 30 seconds to just jump around and shake out any tension you may be having. The goal is to move around and get blood circulation flowing throughout the body to get it ready for the workout. After the 30 seconds is up, do jumping jacks for 30 seconds.
Simulated Pull-ups:
Duration: 30 seconds
Goal: Target upper back and arms (biceps).
- Grab your towel or a t-shirt.
- Stand up straight holding the towel high above your head with both hands.
- Try to literally rip the towel apart with your hands and maintain that flexing intensity throughout the exercise.
- Lower the towel down to your shoulders (hands as close to shoulders as possible) by bending your elbows as if you we’re doing an actual pull-up.
- Repeat the same motion upwards and downwards while trying to rip the towel apart.
*15-20 second rest
Squats:
Duration: 30 seconds
Goal: Target quads, hamstrings, and butt.
- Aim your toes straight ahead while standing shoulder-with apart (if you need to, spread your legs for comfort).
- Bend your knees down with your back straight.
- Your knees should ideally not pass beyond where your toes are located in front of your body. The motion is supposed to be straight up and down with your knees staying as bar behind your toes as possible.
- On the way down, get as low as you can without feeling any pain or discomfort.
- Repeat the motion up and down.
*15-20 second rest
Crunches:
Duration: 30 seconds
Goal: Target abdominal muscles
- Lie on the floor with your feet on the ground, knees off the ground.
- Put your hands behind your head.
- Bend upwards towards your knees without using your lower back for the motion.
- You really only want to be using your abdominal muscles by focusing on using the upper half of your upper body.
*15-20 second rest
In and Out Push-Ups:
Duration: 30 seconds
Goal: Target chest and shoulders
- Lay on the floor with your face and chest towards the ground.
- Lift yourself up off the floor with your hands so that they’re straight and holding your body off the ground.
- Make sure your entire body is in a straight line.
- Look straight ahead.
- Bend your arms so that your chest almost touches the floor, and push yourself back up.
- Alternate the push-ups with first a WIDE grip (hands very far apart from each other), and then a NARROW grip (hands very close to each other)
If doing ordinary push-ups is difficult for you, you can lay your knees on the ground and do the same upper body motion.
High Knees:
Duration: 30 seconds
Goal: Get your heart beat up
- Place your hands flat in front of you either at the level of your waist or a little bit higher than your waist.
- Pretend you’re running in place, with the goal of hitting your hands with your knees, one after the other.
*15-20 second rest
Plank:
Duration: 30 seconds – 1 minute
Goal: Target core
- Lie flat on the floor with your face towards the ground.
- Lift yourself up to a push-up position.
- Place both forearms on the ground so that your elbows and wrists are on the floor rather than your hands.
- Make sure your back is straight and aligned with the rest of your body.
- Hold the position for the duration of the exercise without letting your back cave in towards the floor, or bending upwards to the sky.
*1-2 minute rest and repeat the entire routine 2-4 more times
Routine #2:
Duration: 6-8 minutes per round; 3-4 rounds
*Consists of: *Warmup, towel-snatches, prayers (don’t laugh, it burns), jumps, one-armed planks, flexing your entire upper body, and pushups.
Warmup:
Duration: 1 minute
Goal: Just to loosen your body a little bit, take 30 seconds to just jump around a little bit and shake out any tension you may be having. The goal is to move around and get blood circulation flowing throughout the body to get it ready for the workout. After the 30 seconds is up, do jumping jacks for 30 seconds.
Towel-Snatches:
Duration: 30 seconds
Goal: Target shoulders and trapezius muscles
- Grab your towel or t-shirt.
- Get in a squat position – feet straight out in front of you with your knees bent and your back straight.
- Hold the towel in both hands, and pretend you’re trying to rip it apart throughout the exercise.
- Start with your knees bent, holding the towel at the level of your knees.
- EXPLODE upwards while trying to rip the towel apart and bringing your arms as high above your head as possible while holding them straight out. Don’t bend your elbows at all.
- Repeat the same explosive motion until time is up.
*15-20 second rest
Prayers: I know it sounds funny, but this one is an absolute killer.
Duration: 30 seconds
Goal: Target chest, shoulder and arms
- Stand up with your knees slightly bent.
- Put your hands together in a praying position with your elbows pointing out towards your sides.
- Throughout the exercise you want to be pushing your hands together as hard as you possibly can to really get the full burn.
- Slowly move your hands outward so that your arms straighten out while still together and pushing against each other as hard as possible.
- Bring your hands towards back towards your chest and repeat the same motion.
*15-20 second rest
Jumps:
Duration: 30 seconds
Goal: Get your heart beat up
- Jump for 30 seconds straight while trying to raise your legs as high off the ground as you possibly can.
One-armed planks:
Duration: 30 seconds – 1 minute
Goal: Target core
- Lie flat on the floor with your face towards the ground.
- Lift yourself up to a push-up position.
- Spread your legs apart so that they look like two equal sides of a triangle.
- Put one arm behind your back while leaving the other on the floor.
- Hold the position for 15-30 seconds.
- Switch arms, and hold the position for 15-30 seconds.
- This is a really hard one. If you’re having difficulty, stick with ordinary plank described above in Routine #1.
*15-20 second rest
Flex:
Duration: 30 seconds
Goal: Light your entire upper body on FIRE!
- Stand up with your knees slightly bent.
- Put your hands in a fist for purposes of intensity.
- Flex every muscle you have in your upper body – forearms, arms, shoulders, chest, abs, back all at the same time.
- Hold the intensity until time is up.
*15-20 second rest
Push-Ups:
Duration: Do as many as you can
Goal: Target chest and shoulders
- Lay on the floor with your face and chest towards the ground.
- Lift yourself up off the floor with your hands so that they’re straight and holding your body off the ground.
- Make sure your entire body is in a straight line.
- Look straight ahead.
- Bend your arms so that your chest almost touches the floor, and push yourself back up.
If doing ordinary push-ups is difficult for you, you can lay your knees on the ground and do the same upper body motion.
*1 minute rest and repeat the entire routine 2-3 more times
I guarantee that if you doing either of these routines, you will be sweating throughout, your muscles will be sore as hell and you’ll have done it all in under 40 minutes.
Have fun ;).