It can be tough to find motivation to workout at home. When our homes become our living and working spaces, it can be even more challenging to find a healthy routine. Check out our no equipment workouts for abs, legs and cardio that offer quick and easy ways to stay active right in front of your couch. These make great quarantine workouts, but can also be used to break up trips to the gym when your area re-opens. Now turn on your favorite music, and let’s get moving.
AB WORKOUTS AT HOME
Working out your core is essential for maintaining strength and balance, and there are a number of moves you can do at home. Try doing these ab workouts for 30 seconds each, and repeating that circuit three times with a 10 second rest in between each set. This will create a simple five-minute workout that you can add to any session and will get you to sweat in no time. For a full 10 to 20 minute ab workout and to learn how to engage your core, check out our in-depth guide to ab workouts at home.
1. Plank
A classic core exercise, the plank gets harder the longer you hold it with correct form. Keep your core engaged by squeezing your glutes and pulling your belly button in toward your spine. This move can be done with straight arms or with your forearms on the ground, keeping your elbows in line with your shoulders. For an extra challenge, work your obliques with a side plank —shift your weight onto one hand and stack your feet to create a straight diagonal line with your body. Remember to keep breathing, you’ve got this.
2. Three-legged Dog to Tiger Curl
This dynamic yoga inspired movement is great for core strength, as well as hip and shoulder mobility. Start on all fours with your hands shoulder-width apart. Press your palms into the mat, exhale and lift your knees up and back until your legs are as straight as possible. Raise one leg up straight and exhale as you bring your knee to your nose.
Tuck your belly button into your spine as much as possible and really try to get your knee forward to a point where it could touch your chin. Repeat this movement and go slowly to feel your core light up.
The three-legged dog to tiger curl move is a common yoga flow. Yoga is another great way to not only get an ab workout through full body workouts at home, but also to reduce stress and anxiety. Check out our Yoga at Home article for more information, or try our Yoga for Runners video for a 30 minute flow, which is great if you are new to the practice or have been doing yoga for years.
LEG WORKOUTS AT HOME
Leg workouts are a great way to boost your energy throughout the day. Whether you do 30 squats during a TV commercial break or a whole circuit session to a workout playlist, a quick hit of endorphins can help you feel invigorated and motivated. Watch our video below for simple yet effective leg workouts you can do while streaming a show or listening to a podcast. If you don’t have a kettlebell, you can do these moves with bodyweight or a household object like a waterbottle or textbook.
ARM WORKOUTS AT HOME
Upper body strength is important for overall health and fitness. It can improve posture and help your flexibility and range of motion in every aspect of your life. Even with leg-dominant exercises like running or cycling, developing upper body strength can help you become a more well-rounded athlete and benefit your performance. Weights are handy, but if you don’t have any, you can use filled waterbottles.
1. Push Ups
For arm workouts at home, bodyweight exercises are extremely effective and can be modified to meet your fitness level or turn the heat up on your workout. Any form of push up is great for developing upper body strength. Try these push ups with your elbows close to your body to feel the burn in your triceps. This move can be modified by keeping your knees on the ground.
2. Shoulder Press
Shoulder presses are easy to incorporate into any home workout routine. Lift your weights above your head and lower your elbows in front of you until they are bent between 45 and 90 degrees. Push your arms back up overhead and repeat this motion to work your shoulders and biceps.
3. Tricep Dips
If you don’t have any equipment, tricep dips are an easy way to get an arm workout in. Facing away from a sturdy chair, place each hand on the edge of the seat. Dip your body toward the ground until your elbows are bent between 45 and 90 degrees, being careful not to go below 90 degrees to protect your shoulders.
CARDIO WORKOUTS AT HOME
Get your heartrate up with this no equipment workout. You don’t need to run outside or have a spin bike to get a good sweat going; just follow these HIIT moves. For longer workouts, combine this cardio session with our other exercises above to create your own circuit for challenging full body workouts at home. For another complete no equipment workout, try the 15 minute circuit in our in-depth guide to bodyweight workouts at home.
MINDFULNESS AND MEDITATION
Now that you’ve worked out, add a guided meditation to your cool down routine. Meditation is great for stress reduction and clearing the mind. New to the practice? Learn how to get started with our meditation for beginners article, which has a few meditation exercises you can easily add to the end of a workout or throughout your day. If you’re ready to try, here’s a ten-minute guided meditation to get you started.
Stretching is also an essential part of cooling down. Try these eight stretches to recover after your workout.