The Body Weight Workout

Body weight workout

International summer is upon us!!  And that means the mass exodus of us foreigners living abroad, as we either relocate or merely flock to our home countries for a welcome dose of family, friends, and all things familiar.

Consequently, my bootcamps are wrapping up for the season, leaving me with a scary thought:

We will now be responsible for kicking our own heineys this summer!!!

It doesn’t matter if you’re an ex-pat looking at a 6-8 week “home leave” or a regular person living in your home country with kids on summer vacation… we’ve gotta acknowledge that long holidays bring a change in the routine, for better or for worse.  While things could go better given that we might theoretically have more time to exercise and eat right, the reality is that the chaos that often occurs during extended holidays can take its toll on our fitness level as we cater to everyone’s needs but our own.

Anyone listening?

I discovered that to maintain or even improve my fitness levels during the summer, I’ve had to work out my “system,” and it changes a bit every year as the kids grow.  When they were younger, my plan involved getting up early and getting my workout in before anyone could wander down the stairs looking for breakfast.  Now, they are older and perfectly capable of pouring their own Cap’n Crunch blending their own kale smoothie.  Another lovely blessing:  our summer revolves around spending the better part of 7 weeks in Colorado with my Pa.  Not only do my children and I simply adore him, but he thoughtfully chose a house that backs up to both a running trail and a fitness course with a pull-up bar.  That, combined with the fact that the temps in Denver during our visit will probably reach a high of 80-something F (28 C), when in Manila we are lucky to have that be our morning low… well, I am just in workout heaven.  I still wake up early to work out even though I don’t really need to, just because I love the quiet freshness of early mornings.

I have a pretty good idea of how I will train this summer: cardio will be mostly running, some longer distances at a slower pace, and some interval work to improve my overall speed.  For strength, I’ll train 2 or 3 times per week with either a body-weight circuit or a combination of kettle bells & dumbbells, similar to what we do in bootcamp.  And I’ll definitely be doing pull-up training, because I love pull-ups and because we pass the the pull-up bar every time we go to the park.  No excuse.

Today I want to share the Body Weight Circuit with you, because even if you have no access to a gym, weights, or even a jump rope, you can still work out. (Though I do highly recommend bringing a jump rope wherever you go- it’s light, plus it reminds you to work out!)  All you need for this workout is a towel to put down on the floor, and you are good to go!

I like body weight workouts because they are 1) portable, 2) versatile in intensity, and 3) low injury risk because you are just using your body weight.  You can do this workout 2 or 3 times per week with one rest day in between to give your muscles time to recover.  It takes about 45 minutes start to finish, with no extra time to drive to the gym!  How nice is that??  You could do it on the patio while your kids play in the yard… in the living room while they watch Barney… at the park while they have soccer practice… the possibilities are endless!

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Let me know if you try it and how it went.

How do you plan to stay fit this summer?

 

 

7 thoughts on “The Body Weight Workout”

  1. Karen Croshaw

    Thank you for posting this, I need to have the structure of an actual routine to follow otherwise I tend to do a couple of exercises then get ‘lost’

  2. I got this routine through my friend Anne. It is great but I only made it through twice! A new goal for the month. Thanks!

    1. Melanie, I’m so happy you tried it!! Keep doing it 2 or 3 times a week… you’ll notice your strength improving SO fast! Even doing 2 rounds of the circuit is awesome. 🙂 Thanks so much for commenting! 🙂

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