Have 20 Minutes?

Most of my posts cover healthy eating, but what about exercise? Regular exercise is such an important part of living a healthy lifestyle. Exercising a minimum of 3 times per week can benefit your health in so many ways. To name a few:

-Sweating rids your body of toxins
-Regular exercise releases endorphins that boost our mood. It makes us happy & positive and can act as a natural anti-depressant
-Relieves stress: putting your built-up stressful energy into working out relieves you of it, and prevents stress from negatively affecting your health (ie. excess tummy fat, lowered immune system, poor digestion, etc.)
-Gives us more energy
-Burns fat & builds lean muscle mass (the more lean muscle you have, the more calories you burn while at rest!)
-Weight loss

I could on & on, but you get the point. The best part is that you don’t need to have a gym membership to exercise. While travelling I only had access to a gym for 2 out of the 7 months, and it didn’t make a difference. My workout routine is as follows:

Monday: 30-minute jog (I ran 6000 ft above sea level in Colombia, in busy downtown Buenos Aires, on the beach in Uruguay, through the parks of Santiago & along the boardwalk in Barbados)
Tuesday: 20-30 minute weight training circuit – see below (just using my body weight!)
Wednesday: Rest or yoga
Thursday: 30-minute jog
Friday: 20-30 minute circuit

This is the circuit I did while travelling. It’s simple, spikes your heart rate (which is important for cardiovascular health & fat burn), and maintains lean muscle mass. Have 20 minutes?

Weight Training Circuit

5-minute Warm-up: jumping jacks, knee lifts, running on spot, quick jog down the street

20 push-ups (as many as you can from feet, switch to knees if necessary)
24 stationary lunges (12 on each side), 12 plyometric or jumping lunges*
20 tricep dips (use chair)**

Abs: 40 bicycles (lying on your back alternate opposite knee to opposite elbow)

20 push-ups (as many as you can from feet, switch to knees if necessary)
24 stationary lunges (12 on each side), 12 plyometric or jumping lunges
20 tricep dips (use chair)

Abs: 3-minute plank: 1 minute on front, 1 minute on each side (challenge: when on your side, lift one leg in the air)

20 push-ups (as many as you can from feet, switch to knees if necessary)
24 stationary lunges (12 on each side), 12 plyometric or jumping lunges
20 tricep dips (use chair)

Abs: 30 leg drops (lying on your back, lift & lower your heels to the floor – bend your knees if necessary)

5-minute Stretch

Options:
*Squats: 24 stationary squats, 12 jumping squats
**Triceps: 15 tricep push-ups