Like most college students, I always start off my semester with the best of intentions of going to the gym three or four times a week and getting in shape. I plan out my schedule, lay out my workout clothes, and am pretty consistent for the first few weeks of classes. Then, classes begin to get into full swing. Papers, projects, and presentations are on the rise, and my dreams of the perfect bikini body are pushed to the backburner. The time when I would usually go to the gym has now been replaced with homework and studying. Please tell me I’m not the only one who has their fitness dreams crushed by the college craziness. However, I think I may have found a solution!
One thing that I started doing freshman year was exercising for ten minutes before I showered at night. I mean, we can all sacrifice ten minutes! Even just this short amount of time was enough to make me still sore in the morning! It seems like magic, right? Well try it for yourself!
Here is one of my favorite workouts in less than ten minutes!
Russian Twists
First, start off by doing 100 Russian twists. Sit on your bottom with your feet up and move side to side making sure to touch the ground with your hands. You can hold anything from weights, if you have them, to a water bottle or just clasp your hands together. The further back and slower you go, the more you will feel the burn.
Plank
Next, do a plank for one minute. Make sure to keep your back flat and tighten your abs. Sometimes I will watch a YouTube video or listen to music to make the time go by faster!
Toe Touches
After you’ve crushed your plank, it’s time for toe touches. Lay with your back on the ground and legs straight up in the air. Reach up and touch the opposite sides of your ankles. (Right arm reaches to touch outside of left ankle and vice versa). Repeat this 30 times (15 of each arm).
Wall Sit
Next, do a wall sit for one minute. You can also lift weights over your head or do some arm exercising during this. I find this helps distract me from the burning in my thighs! One time my sister read a book out loud while we were doing wall sits to get our minds off the pain! I would highly recommend!
Plank Push Ups
Now to incorporate some arm workouts. One of my personal favorites is what I call “army push-ups” or “plank push-ups.” Start off in a plank position resting your weight on your palms with arms straight and a flat back. Next, starting with your right arm, shift the weight down to your forearms with your right arm then your left (in typical plank position). Now push back up to the starting position. Try switching which arm goes first halfway through to get the most out of this exercise. Do these twenty times (10 starting down on your right arm and 10 starting down on your left).
Photo Courtsey of Ayo Ogunseinde
Mountain Climbers
Now for some light cardio. Do 30 seconds of mountain climbers, making sure to keep your back straight so that you do not injure yourself. In s lank position with straight arms, bring your knees up to your chest. Go as fast as you can while still maintaining controlled movements. This will ensure that you are actually working the muscles.
High Knees
Then do thirty seconds of high knees. I usually hold up my hands and touch my knees to them just to make sure that I’m getting the most out of this exercise. Try to raise your knees as high as you can and tighten your abs. This is a cardio move as well as core strengthening.
Three-Way Squat Jumps
After you have your heart rate up, you can go right into thirty seconds of three-way jumping squats. These are a personal favorite of mine and something that I always do ever since I saw them in a Jillian Michaels workout DVD in high school. You do normal squats but turn each time you do them in three directions. (If you were to go in a complete circle, you would just be using momentum and not working your major muscle groups). Try to not sit in the squat for too long. Pretend you are a spring and have to bounce right back up into the next direction.
Photo Courtesy of Mark Adriane
Lunges
After those squat jumps, let’s progress into a cool down with thirty seconds of lunges. Don’t let your knee go past your foot. Keep your knee at a 90 degree angle.
Push Ups
Next, go into some good old-fashioned push-ups. Do as many as you can for one minute straight. This is a good one to start showing your progress. With each day that you do it, you’ll notice you can do more and more. The important thing is that you keep trying and pushing yourself!
Stretch
And finally, close your workout with a one minute stretch session. Touch your toes, do some yoga poses (corpse pose is my personal favorite!), or stretch whatever you feel you need to.
Photo Courtesy of Matthew LeJune
Great job! You are awesome! Hopefully this workout will prove that it doesn’t take a lot of time to fit in a good workout. I hope you also gain an appreciation for taking a little bit of time to better yourself after a long, busy day because you deserve it!