The 15 Minute Work & Home Workout

by Matt Hodges
08 October 2013

I cant remember how many times I’ve heard people say to me something along the lines of ‘But I just don’t have time to do any exercise, I work all day’, and yet the majority of us still find the time to scrawl social media and You Tube at work. Yes you know who you are, you’ve been caught out! Stop making excuses, it’s time to step up to the plate and start moving.

In this article I’m going to give you some simple hints that you can attempt at home/work/playground/park. In fact it really doesn’t matter where you are you’ll still get fitter than a fiddle and it wont take much time AND it’ll cost you less than a fiver.

So here’s the deal. I’m going to give you two scenarios that most of us will find ourselves in (work & home). Take 10-15 minutes of your day (5 times a week) to get this done and I promise you’ll see some pretty good results. Now don’t get me wrong if you are a seasoned ‘lifter’ or already in pretty good shape, these next workouts will be a bit of a walk in the park for you so keep on doing what you’ve been doing and crack on with your own stuff. If you are one of those people giving out all manner of excuses why you don’t have time then please read on…..

The equipment you’ll need to buy:

Skipping rope (you can even borrow your kid’s one!)

Exercise Band (get one with handles)

So there you have it, you’ll need two pieces of equipment and the rest we can do with general day to day stuff, the environment and anything else around you that you think will suit (you’ll see what I mean later).

 

At Work

Generally most people work somewhere where they can use bits and pieces to integrate into their exercises. By this I mean chairs, tables, and anything that weighs a bit more than the average handbag (for example – try using a block of paper for the printer).

Like I mentioned earlier do this little workout once a day (10 mins each time), 5 days a week and you’ll see improvements in no time. Off we go…

Work Workout (Only take 2 mins rest at the end of the circuit. No rest between exercises)

	Exercise		Sets	Reps		Rest
A1	Press Ups		2	6-10		*****
A2	Squat & Cable Pull		2	15		*****
	Wrap your new band around a secure table leg, pull it so there is some resistance and then hold a squat in a deep position (imagine you are sitting on a low stool). Whilst you are holding this position pull both arms into the side of the body 15 times. Keep the body completely still whilst pulling).
A3	Split Squat		2	10 each side		*****
	Stand in a lunge position and drop the back knee near to the floor. Repeat 10 times on each leg.
A4	Standing Face Pulls		2	15		*****
	Stand up nice and straight. Wrap your cable around the table leg and pull both arms high towards the ears. Your hands should finish by your face.
A5	Squat With High Book		2	15		*****
	Holding onto a sheath of printer paper, squat down to your lowest depth with your arms out straight below you. When you get to the bottom point raise your arms so they are straight in front of you (almost like you are driving your car)
A6	On The Spot Cable Run		2	00:30		02:00
	Wrap the cable round a table leg, hold onto both handles and then jog on the spot. Whilst you jog pull the cable so that you are alternating between each arm. Do this fast or at the same tempo as your run.

Repeat Twice (aka 2 sets)

 

At Home

The added bonus of working out at home is that you have the luxury of no one looking at you so you can really get down to business. I’m also assuming that there is more readily available apparatus for the workout so I’m throwing in some slightly alternative exercises for the home workout.

	Exercise		Sets	Reps		Rest
A1	Press Ups (do on the stairs)		2	6-10		*****
A2	Skip		2	00:30		*****
A3	Dips On The Stairs		2	6-10		*****
A4	Sofa Pick Up		2	6-10		*****
	Only do this if your sofa is fairly easy to lift. Squat down with a straight back. Tense your stomach, pick the sofa up at the bottom and then stand up straight. Squeeze your bum at the top! No Sofa? Try loading up a Wheel Barrow and lift that instead.
A5	Stair Step Ups		2	10 each side		*****
	Choose a stair that is in line with your knee and step up with one leg. Return to the starting position as slow as you can. Repeat this 10 times on each leg.
A6	Stair Run Or Skip		2	10 times		02:00
	Run to the top, walk down and repeat this 10 times. Do 30 seconds fast and then slow for 30 seconds. Repeat 10 times.

Repeat Twice (aka 2 sets)

 

Bonus Bits

Shopping

I’ve always found people to have a pretty weak grip. A nice little trick we’ve found is when you are shopping. Once all the shopping is bagged up, try taking a good handful of your bags in both hands and start to walk with them. After a while the bags will start to feel heavy and they’ll feel like they are cutting into your hands. However if you squeeze your grip as hard as you can the bags wont hurt anymore and you have suddenly found that they don’t weigh as much as they did either. Add some of these ‘walks’ into your workout regime for stronger grip strength!

Staircases

Those of you who are Elevator fiends need to stop being lazy. Where there’s an elevator they’ll always be a set of stairs! Just doing 6 minutes of stairs can burn 100 calories according to My Fitness Pal.

Distance

If you are ever out and about driving and you park up. Why not intentionally park far away from the point of destination. This way you’ll be getting in some good walking/running time and you are more likely to find a car parking space!

This article was written by Matt Hodges, you can see all his articles here.