The Perfect At-Home Workout

Author: Shannon Miller Lifestyle

Need to get a workout in at Home?

No need to go to the gym to get a good workout in! You only need a few things:

A good fitness mat
A chair
A wall

Once you grab those, you are ready to go!

Legs:

Plie Squat: Set your legs far apart with toes pointed out by 45 degrees. Lower your pelvis toward the floor until you make a 90 degree angle with your legs. Torso remains tall. As you raise back to the start, make a conscious effort to squeeze from the inner thighs. Do 12-15.

For more intensity, raise the heels as you lower, and set them down as you stand.
MORE? As you stand, lift one foot off the ground to a 45 degree leg lift.

Forward Lunges: Stand with feet together. Step far forward with one foot. While leaning slightly forward, bend the knee to make a 90 degree angle with the leg. Stand and push back to standing, the toe leaving the ground last. Switch legs. Perform 12-15 per leg.

For more intensity, lift the knee up high when returning to standing.
MORE? Walk those lunges. Keep the momentum moving forward as you walk around the house. When you turn corners, be mindful of the legs being in alignment. Never turn or twist from the knee or ankle joint while pushing body weight on it. (Yikes!)

Kick it out. Stand up tall. Pull one knee toward your chest. Push your foot forward, as if kicking a door open. Bring the knee back up and return to the floor. Switch legs. Perform 12-15 per leg.

For more intensity, do three kicks in a row per leg, imagining a door at three separate heights: low, middle, high. Return to start and repeat with the other leg.
MORE? Kick one leg forward, then raise the knee on the other leg but kick it backward while leaning the torso slightly forward. Continue on that side, even adding a hop between the kicks for 12-15 before switching sides.

Arms

Push-ups. Yeah, you’ve heard that before. But it’s true. Nothing is more comprehensive on the upper body than good old push-ups. Can’t do them yet? Yes, you can. See instructions for our modified pushups below. Do as many as you can, all in one set.

Beginner: Stand next to a wall. Put your hands against the wall and your feet back a little. Make your body straight from shoulders to heels. Lean into the wall while bending the elbows, and then push back up.
Intermediate: Get on all fours, making a box with your body on the floor. Hands are under shoulders. Lower and raise the upper body.
Slightly more than intermediate: Make a straight line from head to knees with the knees on the floor. Lower and raise the upper body.
Advanced: Hands and toes on the floor, with hands under the shoulders. Body is straight from head to heels. Lower and raise the entire body.

Tricep dips. What? That’s your other favorite? How did we know? Yep, do them for good, strong arms. Do as many as you can, all in one set.

Beginner: Sit on the floor. Put your hands behind your hips, fingers pointed toward your feet. Bend your knees and raise your rear off the floor. Lower and raise your body by bending your elbows. Try to not drop on the floor in between each rep.
Intermediate. Start by sitting in a sturdy chair (not too long!). Put your hands on the edge of the seat and slide your hiny off of the seat. Keep your feet flat on the floor. Lower and raise your body, bending from the elbows.
Advanced: Sit in that same chair. Extend your legs out almost straight, with only heels on the floor. Lower and raise your body by bending the elbows and straightening.

Punch it out! Even if you don’t have gloves and a bag, this is a great workout, and it’s fun.

Jab! Turn your body to face a corner, imagining that your opponent is right in front of you. Put your dukes up by your chin to protect your face. Using one arm only, jab quickly to the chin of the imaginary opponent, making sure to pull it back very quickly, never completely straightening out the elbow. Do 50 and then face the other corner, jabbing from the other side.
Punch! Facing that same corner, this time, use the arm that is away from your imaginary opponent. It has to cross your body to hit the person’s chin. As you punch, turn your body and that back toe to face in to the opponent. Return to the start position quickly. Do 50 and then turn around to go on the other side.
Protect yourself! Pretend someone is attacking you from behind. With your body straight forward and feet apart, pretend to use the side of your hand to strike the person behind you. So, your hands start at your chin. Your hand opens as your arm straightens to hit, and then returns quickly. It’s a plyometric bicep curl! Switching sides, perform 15-20 reps per arm.

Core

Surprise! You’ve been working your core all along, but let’s do some focus on it now with these bonuses to get you REALLY strong.

Standing twist. From that standing position with feet apart, twist side to side from the waist. Arms are in front of the torso, with fists by the chin. Exhale on every turn for maximum effort. Perform 12-15 per side.

Standing knee lift. Pretend you are pulling something down with your arms into your knee as your knee raises up to kick it. Concentrate on just one knee at a time, and keep the torso lifted. This is NOT a standing crunch.

The Clock. Get into plank pose or modified plank. This means on your hands and knees or into push up position. Pretend your body is moving around the clock, but your hands and feet must stay in a line. So, as the hands walk to 1:00, the feet walk to 7:00. Keep walking all the way around the clock. Stop, sit back into child’s pose, and then go around the clock the reverse way.

Rock the boat. Lie on your belly. Stretch your arms up and forward. Stretch your legs off the floor and out behind you. As you take quick exhales, rock back and forth, shifting your weight forward and back. Do only about 6.

STRETCH!

Feel free to use Shannon’s Stretching To-Go Book as Guidance for these stretching moves.

Go into child’s pose.
Ease into cat-cow.
Have a seat and fold forward to stretch the legs.
Go into runner’s lunge.
Raise the arms high and breathe.
Bring the arms in front of you and bend forward.