Ready for a New Workout? Here Are Four - The Wall Street Journal

By Jen Murphy

June 14, 2020 7:30 am ET

After months of home workouts, even fitness enthusiasts like myself are suffering plank and push-up fatigue. Luckily, as coronavirus lockdowns slowly lift, people have more options for exercise. If you aren’t ready to rush back to the gym, here are four fresh workouts that take advantage of small spaces and summer weather. With minor adjustments, they can all be done in a backyard or park. If you don’t have weights, get creative with household items.

During an agility workout, Ms. Murphy uses a skateboard for glute bridges. Credit: Amanda Beenen-Cantor

Samantha Campbell, owner of Deep Relief Peak Performance Athletic Training Center on Maui trains many of the island’s top athletes and mere mortals (including me). Complete two to three rounds of the workout with no rest between exercises and one minute of rest between each round.

Warm Up

Jog forward 20 feet or the width of two parking spaces, then backward, three times. Repeat doing a side shuffle and a grapevine, where you step your right foot in front of your left, step out to the side with your left foot, cross your right foot behind your left foot and step out again with your left and repeat.

Sumo Squats

With feet shoulder-width apart, reach arms overhead and drop into a deep squat. Push knees out with elbows and pull shoulders back. Hold feet with both hands and push hips to sky in a forward fold. Drop hips back into deep squat, then hold one foot and reach out with opposite arm. Repeat other side. Repeat three times.

Plank Rotations

Start in a plank. Reach one arm out sideways to the sky, keeping your hips high. Switch sides slowly. Repeat 12 times. Too easy? Place a skateboard underneath your hands or feet. A wider stance will be more stable.

Glute Bridge Walk Outs

Lie on your back with feet flat on the ground, knees bent. Lift your hips off the floor until your body forms a straight line from your knees to your shoulders. Take mini steps to walk your feet forward until your rear end touches the ground. Don’t let your hips drop. Walk back to bridge pose. Repeat six times. Make it more challenging by placing your feet on the nose of a skateboard and lifting your hips into bridge pose. Slowly roll the skateboard away, keeping hips high and pull the skateboard back in.

Skaters

Stand on one foot with knee slightly bent. Jump laterally and land on the other foot. Stick the landing and hold for two seconds. Increase speed. Perform 12 times.

Curtsy Lunge with Water Bottle Rotation

Balance on your right foot as you lift your left leg so your thigh is parallel to the ground, knee bent at 90 degrees and toes pulled up towards shin. Hold a water bottle straight out in front of your chest with both hands. Step your left foot back and diagonally behind you, reaching water bottle out to your left side. Stand back up as your bring the water bottle back out in front of your chest. Do six on each side.

Line Drills

Stand behind the line of a parking space. Starting with your right foot, step each foot in front of the line then behind as you move down the line as fast as possible. Reverse leading with the left foot. Repeat two times.

Step laterally over the line with both feet, then back to the other side working down the line and up again. Repeat two times.

Stand in a squat stance, knees bent. Facing away from the line, jump 180 degrees and land on the other side of the line facing away. Continue jumping down the length of the line and back up. Repeat two times.

Ms. Murphy performs a rear foot elevated split squat as part of a lower body workout.

Andrew Jagim, director of sports medicine research at Mayo Clinic Health System in La Crosse, Wis., says lack of equipment shouldn’t limit you to body- weight exercises. He suggests using bags of fertilizer, mulch or dog food for heavier weights and gallon water jugs, laundry detergent or soup cans for lighter weights. For this workout, rest 90 seconds between sets and one to three minutes between exercises. For a higher-intensity, circuit-style workout, move from one exercise to the next, rest 90 seconds between exercises, and aim for two to three rounds, he says.

Goblet Squats

Stand shoulder-width apart, toes slightly angled out. Hold weight close to chest. Break at the hips first and focus on sitting back to an imaginary chair then bend your knees. Try to squat down to 90 degrees or below and focus on pushing the floor away from you while driving back up through the heels of your feet. Return to start. Repeat four sets of 10 reps for each leg.

Reverse Alternating Lunges

Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, weights in each hand at your sides, optional. Step back with your left leg. Sink down into a lunge so your right knee forms a 90-degree angle. Step back to the starting position then lunge back with the opposite leg. Repeat three sets of 10 reps.

Rear Foot Elevated Split Squats

Stand in a lunge with the ball of your back foot elevated on the edge of a bench or stair between 12- to 24-inches high. Bend your front knee to lower into a lunge position until your thigh is parallel to the ground. Keep your front knee behind your toes. Extend your hip and knee to drive up to starting position. Complete three sets of 10 per leg. Weights optional.

Stationary Side-Lunges

Stand with legs shoulder width-apart and step your right leg laterally while sitting back and downward into a side-lunge position. Keep your torso upright with a slight forward lean. Push off your right leg to return back to the starting position. Hold a weight for more of a challenge. Complete three sets of 10 per leg.

Romanian Deadlifts

Hold water bottles in each hand resting on top of your thighs. Stand hip-width apart, knees slightly bent. Hinge at hips and keep weights close to body. Focus on sticking your rear end back and driving your hamstrings backward. Complete three sets of 12.

Single-Leg Hip Thrusts

Lie on your back. Rest the heel of your right foot on a bench or patio step, knee bent about 90 degrees, arms at your sides. Extend your left leg straight to the sky. Rest most of your weight on your shoulders and upper back as you press through your right heel and raise your hips as high as possible, keeping your left foot in the air. Slowly lower your hips back down. Do three sets of 12 for each leg.

Ms. Murphy does a figure 8 drill as part of a beach boot camp workout on land. Credit: Amanda Beenen-Cantor

Any exercise, even walking, becomes more challenging when you take it to the beach. Sand shifts as you move so your body needs to recruit small stabilizing muscles you might not typically use on land, says Chris Vlaun, a Miami-based personal trainer and co-founder of V-Art of Wellness. “Exercising barefoot on sand also imposes less impact on the joints,” Mr. Vlaun says. If you don’t live near the beach, you can do this routine in your backyard or driveway. Mr. Vlaun suggests starting with two rounds of the workout.

Fan Squat and Sky Cartwheel

Stand feet hip-width apart, arms by your sides. Drop into a squat and with palms facing down, scoop your arms forward and up to the sky. Fan them back down to your sides ten times. Step your feet out just beyond hip width. Reach both hands toward your right foot. Cartwheel them up and overhead and back down to the left foot. Repeat side to side ten times.

Exaggerated Walking Lunge

Place your hands behind your head, elbows wide and chest lifted with a neutral spine. Take a big step with your right foot, lifting your right knee above hip height. Sink into a lunge deep enough to get a good stretch without allowing your back knee to touch the ground. As you come up, transition to lead with the left foot. Continue for 20 yards. This is extra challenging in soft sand.

Figure 8s

Place two cones or two sandals just past shoulder-width apart. Start in the center and weave around the cones by taking quick steps in a figure 8 pattern. Try intervals of 40 to 60 seconds. Repeat three times.

Walk Out to Knee Drive

From a standing position, bend at the hips and walk your hands out to a plank position. Drive your right knee forward, then your left. Walk your hands back to your feet and return to standing. Repeat 10 to 15 times. Make it harder by adding a push-up after the knee drives.

The Boxing Ring

Place four cones in a square about 5 yards apart. Stand in a boxer’s stance with core engaged, hands up at the cheek bones. Side shuffle while throwing punches at the same pace as the shuffle. Avoid crossing the feet. Pivot at every cone while leading with the opposite hand. Try this for two minutes.

Broad Jump to Bear Crawl

Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Lower your hips into the beginning of a squat position, bring your arms back and use the momentum of your arms swinging forward to jump forward and land in a squat position. Bring your hands to the ground under your shoulders and hover your knees just off the ground so you are in a modified tabletop position. Crawl backward to the start of your jump, keeping knees off the ground and back flat. Repeat four to six times.

Ms. Murphy uses a park bench to do a triceps dip as part of a small space, high intensity workout. A couch or chair could also work. Credit: Amanda Beenen-Cantor

Heather Harrington, co-owner of Compass Fitness in Denver, created this workout for people who can’t get outdoors easily and have limited indoor space. Place a chair at one end of a room and a belt at the other. Have two dish towels or two paper plates beside the chair.

Squat to Lunge

Sit on the chair. Stand up and lunge forward with your right leg. Step back and sit down. Alternate with right and left forward lunges. To make things more challenging, hover in a squat position above the chair instead of sitting down. For an added challenge, perform a jump squat off the chair or perform jump lunges, where you jump in the air and switch your forward and back foot before landing. Repeat 20 times.

Tabletop Mountain Climbers

Place each of your feet on a towel or paper plate. Hover your knees off the ground in tabletop. Walk your hands and feet forward to the opposite side of the room. Move your feet fast like a regular mountain climber. Complete two to three passes, ending where you placed your towel. If you are outdoors, do stationary mountain climbers, where you hold plank and alternate bringing your right and left knees in toward your chest.

Footwork

Lead with the right foot and take two steps over the towel or belt and two steps behind. Repeat 25 times as quickly as possible then switch and lead with the left foot 25 times.

Modified Burpees

Place your feet back on the towels or paper plates. Squat down and place your hands flat on the ground beneath your shoulders. Glide your feet backward into plank pose then pull them back in toward your chest and stand. Slowly move toward the chair with each glide. Perform one to three passes. If you are outside you can do a regular burpee with or without a push up.

Triceps Dips with Knee Tuck

Grip the front edges of the chair with your hands. Hover your rear end just off and in front of the seat. Keep your feet flat and knees bent so your thighs are parallel to the floor. Straighten your arms then lower your body toward the floor until your arms form 90-degree angles. As you straighten your arms to come up, drive your right knee in toward your chest. Place both feet on the floor and repeat alternating knees. Repeat 20 times.

Write to Jen Murphy at workout@wsj.com

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