At-Home "400" Workout
I faced a situation last week that I'm sure many of you fitness-minded parents encounter from time to time: My kids had the day off from school (it was Good Friday), which meant I was going to have to skip my regularly scheduled gym visit. Unfortunate, but that doesn't mean I couldn't get a workout in. I'll be honest, I hate missing my Friday workout, as I like to finish my week strong with a good workout. (Likewise, I hate missing my Monday workout, because I like to start the week strong.)
So anyway, I decided I was going to squeeze in a workout at home, though I don't have much equipment at my house. I have a couple kettlebells and a jump rope and not much else. Knowing that my equipment shortcomings weren't going to be conducive to a great strength or mass-gaining workout, I opted for a mostly bodyweight circuit style routine. It amounted to this: 100 reps each of bodyweight squats, bodyweight lunges, one-arm kettlebell rows (per arms, using a 53-pound kettlebell) and push-ups, with minimal rest during the workout.
I formatted the workout as 10 rounds of 10 reps per exercise. In other words, 10 squats, 10 lunges, 10 one-arm rows per arm, 10 push-ups. No rest between exercises. Repeat that 10 times (again, with no rest between rounds). (Quick note: technically the workout is 500 reps because of the unilateral rows, but I still consider it 400.)
It was a pretty decent workout. Obviously, I would have rather gone to the gym and done some weighted squats and/or lunges and some pull-ups, but this "400" workout was still about 400 times better than doing nothing.
If you're hardcore and want to make the workout more challenging, you can add weight to the squats and lunges via a kettlebell, dumbbells or a barbell (I opted not to do these with my kettlebell). Or, if you don't want to add weight (or have zero equipment whatsoever) you can simply increase the reps by doing 12, 15 or 20 per round instead of 10. Beginners, on the other hand, can scale the reps or rounds down by doing 10 rounds of 5-8 reps or, say, 5 rounds (instead of 10) or 10 reps. It's all about tweaking the workout to fit your individual fitness level and preference.
This workout took me only around 20 minutes, so it's also great if you're short on time. Personally, I was short on time that day, since I knew my 2-year-old would be waking up any minute!
Enjoy the workout!
Week 1
Day 1
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Muscle Group |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bodyweight (Air) Squat | 10 | 10 | Legs |
| Superset with | 1 | 1 | TIPS |
| Walking Lunge | 10 | 10 | Legs |
| Superset with | 1 | 1 | TIPS |
| One-Arm Dumbbell Row | 10 | 10 | Back |
| Superset with | 1 | 1 | TIPS |
| Push Ups | 10 | 10 | Chest |
