By the second week of February, more than 80 percent of New Year's Resolutions will have failed. (The most common resolutions people make involve diet and exercise.) As awful as that statistic sounds, I don't find it to be hopeless. It just reminds me that we all tend to bite off more than we can chew in an attempt to make positive changes in the new year.
That's where today's workout comes in. If you are needing a workout to keep your new fitness program going or if you are trying to get back into an exercise routine, give this workout a try. It is actually created to be hip and knee-friendly, so it should be a reasonable workout for everyone.
This workout is designed to be a body-weight workout, but if you have dumbbells and want to make it more challenging, use them! Options for lower-impact movements are listed next to each workout move.
Circuit #1:
AMRAP in 10 minutes. (Set your timer for 10 minutes and complete as many rounds of this circuit as possible in that time frame.)
5 Plank Walkouts (Option - add in a push-up once you have "walked out" into a plank position.)
10 Single Arm Extensions while Planking (Option: plank on your knees and tap the opposite shoulder with your hand.)
10 Standing Single-Leg Circles Clockwise and Counterclockwise (per leg)
10 Lat Raises with Single-Leg Abduction - Arms come out into a "T" position while one leg goes out to the side. Bring arms back down to your side and leg back in. That's one repetition. Complete 10 reps per side. If you have healthy knees, you are welcome to start in a squat position before coming up into a lat raise with a leg abduction.
10 Supermen
Circuit #2:
AMRAP in 10 minutes. Same as the first circuit - complete as many rounds as possible in 10 minutes.
5 Side Planks with Leg Raises (Your top leg raises up and down while you are in a side plank.) This is a pretty challenging move, so you have the option of planking with the bottom knee on the ground while the top leg continues lifting and lowering. Another option is to turn it into a side plank hold or side leg lift.
10 Single-leg Hamstring Bridges per leg (Option: if your hamstrings need more support, switch to 10 regular bridges.)
10 Seated Straight Leg Raises (per leg)
10 Standing Knee to Elbow Oblique Crunches (per side)
10 Tricep Dips on a Chair or Bench
10 Jumping Jacks or Modified Jumping Jacks
