Home Workout!

Dear readers,

Let’s get this straight: I’m no sports addict, even less a coach, and I don’t particularly like to workout at all as a matter of fact, but like everyone I know I need to do my share of workout to stay healthy (even though I’d rather stay on the couch and read a good book under a nice blanky with a cup of hot tea… and a cat). I’m also rather lazy and get bored pretty easily, so I need to change my workout plan regularly to keep the excitement of it fresh and to manage to motivate me.

I do go to the gym a few times a week if I manage, but sometimes you really don’t want to go out because it’s raining, it’s cold, the gym is too far, or simply because you can’t face seeing people (it happens to the best of us, don’t judge).

That’s why I tend to do some workout from home and here’s the ones I’ve tried, hated or loved (usually both at the same time when you’re all sweaty and hurting!). I don’t have a lot of space at home, so the ones below are good for little apartments like mine!

The 1000 calorie workout

You have to be at least a little bit intrigued by this, and so I was! 1000 calories in 1h26! What’s not to be excited about! If I manage to do this workout 2 or 3 times a week, surly I can eat whatever I want and not feel too guilty about it, right? Well, maybe if you actually manage to get to the end of it…

The principle is simple: 20 seconds of an exercise, then 10 seconds rest repeated 4 times. Then move on to the next exercise. The whole video is made up of: 5 minutes cardio warm-up, 36 minute HIIT routine, 20 minute total body strength training, 20 minutes abs, 6 minutes cool-down and stretch.

I was really excited when I started it, full of beans, cleared my living room, prepared plenty of water, and… I was dead after 17 minutes… I still managed to resist a bit longer, but had to stop after 30 minutes. Lame right? But THIS IS SO HARD!!! Of course it is if you want to burn 1000 calories in just 1h26! But still, it’s a killer! It’s funny because most of the exercises are pretty easy ones, but it’s the rhythm that you have to keep that is just really hard!

Anyways, I’ll probably try again once in a while as a personal challenge to see if I can cope a little bit longer every time, but this is definitely not a recurring one that I will use! (My calves hurt for 5 days afterwards…)

30 minutes Cardio Kickboxing

I looove punching and kicking, it’s an awesome stress reliever! And it makes you feel so amazingly strong! This workout follows the same kind of principle as the 1000 calorie workout: 40 seconds of an exercise then 10 seconds of rest. Here again the rhythm is hard to follow, but it’s still much more accessible if you’re not an advanced sports person like me. The fact that it’s only 30 minute long makes it much easier as well: to insert in your busy schedule for one thing, but also because you tend to keep it up better if you can see the end of it. Let me tell you that this is a great workout: it will train your entire body leaving you all sore the next day (but the good kind of sore!).

This girl, Joanna Soh, makes a lot of different health and beauty videos that are pretty good, and she seems to have as much room as I do in her home, which works perfectly for me!

Thumbs up for this one!

Body Combat

I’m addicted to Body Combat! Like I said above, I love punching and kicking, and the Les Mills Body Combat videos are the best! You have to find some with Rachael and Dan, they are great motivators and have a knack for explaining the moves really well (and they have super cute Australian accents as well)!

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find my favourite videos that I usually use on YouTube, but this video above gives you a good overview of how it works. So much energy! I usually go for a 30 minute or 45 minute Body Combat workout, but this 20 minute one is pretty good as well, and here again, if followed a few times a week, it really trains your whole body.

Les Mills have other really good workout videos, including Les Mills Body Jam for the ones who’d rather dance than throwing punches!

This is my definite all time favourite!

30 day Yoga Challenge

I am not flexible, not flexible AT ALL! And because I like punching more than stretching, breathing and staying in the same pose forever, yoga never really appealed to me. Until I fell upon this article and challenged myself to a 30 day yoga challenge!

First, I realised that yoga is not at all about breathing and posing like I thought it was (sorry dear yogi friends…), but it’s a true workout, and gosh it’s hard!

The principle of these videos is very simple here again: short videos (between 5 and 8 minutes each, so easy to do every day), starting with a sun salutation as a warm-up and then the yoga instructor takes us through only one pose per video. It’s not hard (well unless you’re flexible like a tree like I am) and it’s a pretty good stress reliever if done every day. It’s definitely for yoga beginners, so you’ll probably find it very boring if you’re more advanced. But it is perfect for me! I usually go through 1 or 2 videos on the days that I don’t have the time to do a longer workout (read it as I’m too lazy to…).

I’m not much more flexible yet, but who knows, maybe one day!

7 Minute Workout

It’s all over the internet, these new researches saying that we only need short high intensity workouts every day to stay fit and healthy, and to be honest, in our all so busy lives it’s so much easier to fit than 1h30 at the gym.

So I’ve tried it and downloaded the 7 Minute Workout app: 12 exercises, 30 seconds each and 10 seconds to rest, and you are sweating at the end of it let me tell you!

Like I said, it’s great if you don’t have much time, but it’s a bit of a shame that it’s the same exercises every day… As mentioned above, I get booored really easily and as sad as it sounds, I’d rather go for a new longer workout than do the same exact one every single day. But then again, it might suit others better!

This is just a sample of what I’ve tried in the workout-at-home department, but these are also the ones that I use the most often or the ones that struck me the most (hello 1000 Calorie Workout!) and I hope you’ve found it interesting. Once again, I’m not a coach, so this is just my personal feedback and not advice from a professional health instructor! You should really listen to what your body tells you and do stuff that you find fun and exciting and not just follow trends because everyone else does. If you have other videos, apps etc. that you love, are fun and that work well, please share!

Happy workout everyone!

Sarah