.jpg)
In 12 minutes, we hit it all: fire up the core, wake up the upper body, strengthen the legs, and get the heart rate up. It's super simple and the only things you'll need are your timer, a chair, and an exercise ball, (if you have one). If you don't have a ball, you can use a pillow or nothing at all.
Set your timer or app for 12 rounds of 50 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest Use the 10 seconds of rest to set up for the next exercise. The timer app I use is the HIIT interval training timer.
If you would rather go for reps than time, ditch the timer and just pick a number. Do 10 (or 20, or 5) of each (each side, where applicable), rest for a minute, and then do it all again. You can repeat this sequence as many times as you like.
Think about form on every single exercise: spine alignment from your tailbone to the top of your head, belly button pulled up and in, and joint placement.
1. Plank with alternate knee pulls
eyes on the floor in front of you, hands under shoulders, straight line from heels to top of head
2. Crunch
finger tips lightly touching head (not laced), elbows out, eyes up, belly pulled in towards spine
only lower your limbs to the point of tension, keep low back pressed into floor through the entire range of movement
4. Hover side plank lifts, left
elbow under shoulder, hips, knees, and ankles stacked, press from floor to a straight line, then lower slowly and repeat
then flip over,
5. Hover side plank lifts, right
6. Ball pikes (if no ball, just place toes on floor)
lift hips as high as possible as you look under body and toward your toes, pull belly in hard, when you lower - don't drop hips, keep the straight line
7. Squats
weight is in the heels, knees are over toes but not in front of toes, squeeze your bum on the way up
8. Air squats
land softly and get a full squat, then propel yourself up as you jump
big step to the back as you reach toward the floor, kick slowly and with control, bring kicking leg straight back into lunge
then change legs,
10. Lunge kicks left
11.Chair triceps dips
keep hands narrow, fingers pointing forward, bend elbows behind you, belly pulled in, straighten legs more as you get stronger
12. High knees
it's all about heart rate, pump your arms, open your mouth and breathe