My goal is to show you how to get fit at home in six minutes, so I post workout videos from the comfort of my own home. These videos are not perfect, and I’m okay with that. This video is actually the third of a five-part series. However, it is my second 6-minute low-impact workout. It is a Tabata style workout that features 2 Low-Impact Exercises: Torso Twist and Standing Side Crunch
One round of Tabata is four minutes long. By adding a short warm-up and a quick cool down, we get a six-minute workout that will jumpstart your metabolism today…especially if you do the workout first thing in the morning.
Featured Exercises
Torso Twist
Stand with knees slightly bent and feet hip-width apart
Point elbows to the floor
Keep abs engages
Rotate from side to side
Options:
Stand still
Squat
Squat and add knee lift on every third twist*
Standing Side Crunch
Stand tall with feet hip-width apart
Lift right arm overhead to the left
Pull arm down while actively engaged the right obliques (side core muscles)
Repeat desired number of reps
Switch sides
Options:
Keep both feet on the floor
Lift right leg while crunching on right side
Place one hand behind head and opposite hand toward floor*
Next Week
There will be another 6-minute low-impact workout featuring different exercises.
My goal is to show you how to get fit at home in six minutes, so I post workout videos from the comfort of my own home. These videos are not perfect, and I’m okay with that. This video is actually the second of a five-part series. However, it is my first 6-minute low-impact workout. It is a Tabata style workout that features 2 Low-Impact Exercises: Speed Bag and Back Fat Blaster.
One round of Tabata is four minutes long. By adding a short warm-up and a quick cool down, we get a six-minute workout that will jumpstart your metabolism today…especially if you do the workout first thing in the morning.
Featured Exercises
Speed Bag
Stand tall will both arms raised overhead and up to the side
Keep abs engaged (stomach muscles pulled in tight)
Rotate your arms wrist over wrist toward the ceiling
Switch sides
Options:
Stand still
Squat
Shuffle
Bounce *
BackFat Blaster
Stand tall with arms up in the air like football goalposts
Slowly lower elbows toward ribs while adding resistance by squeezing muscles in the upper back
Return to starting position
Options:
Stand still
Squat*
Jump Squat
Next Week
There will be another 6-minute low-impact workout featuring different exercises.
As I said in a previous post, “Every exercise is not for every body!”
There are TONS of reasons why some people are unable to do a variety of high-impact exercises that are known to result in a high-calorie burn and significant weight loss. Sometimes they are recovering from an injury. Maybe they’re just starting their fitness journey.
Rest assured, you can still get a good workout by doing low-impact exercises.
This video is actually first in a five-part series, so let’s get to those exercises. The asterisk (*) in the options indicates the option featured in the video.
Upper Body Exercises
Speed Bag
Stand tall will both arms raised overhead and up to the side
Keep abs engaged (stomach muscles pulled in tight)
Rotate your arms wrist over wrist toward the ceiling
Switch sides
Options:
Stand still*
Squat
Shuffle
Back Fat Blaster
Stand tall with arms up in the air like football goalposts
Slowly lower elbows toward ribs while adding resistance by squeezing muscles in the upper back
Return to starting position
Options:
Stand still*
Squat
Jump Squat
Core Exercises
Torso Twist
Stand with knees slightly bent and feet hip-width apart
Point elbows to the floor
Keep abs engages
Rotate from side to side
Options:
Stand still*
Squat
Squat and add knee lift on every third twist
Side Cruncher
Stand tall with feet hip-width apart
Lift right arm overhead to the left
Pull arm down while actively engaged the right obliques (side core muscles)
Repeat desired number of reps
Switch sides
Options:
Keep both feet on the floor*
Lift right leg while crunching on right side
Lower Body Exercises
One-Legged Jumping Jacks
Stand with feet hip-width apart and arms at your sides
Step out to the side with one leg while raising arms up in the air
Step leg back to starting position while lowering arms back to sides
Options:
Lift arms only as high as your shoulders
Lift arms all the way up as if doing jumping jacks*
Kick legs out to the sides
Side Leg Lift
Stand with feet together and hands on hips
Lift one leg out to the side
Return to starting position
Options:
Hold onto a chair for balance
Lift leg in air and return foot to floor
Lift leg in the air and lower foot without letting it touch the floor
Rear Leg Lift
Stand with feet together and hands on hips
Lift one leg to the back
Return to starting position
Options:
Hold onto a chair for balance
Lift leg in air and return foot to floor
Lift leg in the air and lower foot without letting it touch the floor
Chair Squats
Place chair directly behind you
Perform squatting motion
Return to standing position when you feel the chair on your legs
The Next Steps
In the coming weeks, I will post four different Tabata style workouts based on these exercises.
There aren’t too many fitness professionals out there advocating low-impact exercises. In the age of cross-fit and HIIT, some think that the more intense the work out the better. I don’t believe that. In fact, I encourage people to engage in low-impact exercises.
What are low-impact exercises?
Low-impact exercises include any form of physical activity that has a “low-impact” on your joints. Exercises like walking, bike riding, swimming, and yoga. It’s even possible to convert a number of high-impact exercises, like jumping jacks, to low-impact exercises.
There are four distinct reasons people may want (or need) to consider low-impact exercises.
Reason #1: Change Things Up
The human body is completely adaptable. Your workout starts to seem ineffective if you always to do the same thing. However, incorporating some low-impact moves can help get things going again.
Reason #2: Increase Intensity and Preserve Your Joints
Some people are convinced that you can’t get a good workout with low-impact exercises. That’s not true. In reality, you can have super intense low-impact workouts that produce more sweat than some high-impact workouts. How? If your high impact workout, requires a great deal of jumping, you can only jump for so long. Your knees and ankles will eventually need a break from all the pressures. However, switching to a low impact form of the same exercises will enable to have longer more intense sessions because your joints won’t suffer.
Reason #3: Build Strength and Endurance
If you’re just starting out on your fitness journey, you might not be in the best shape right now. You may even have a significant amount of weight to lose right now. The idea of doing plank jacks, burpees and high knees probably sounds a bit intimidating or even painful. Starting out with low-impact exercises allows you to gain strength and see just how far you can grow in your fitness. When you’re ready, you can switch out some low-impact exercises with their high-impact counterpart and see how you feel.
Reason #4: Injury Recovery or Limited Mobility
Every exercise isn’t for every body. In other words, we all have physical limitations. There are things some people simply can’t do as a result of limited mobility and former injury. Someone who blew out their knee playing college football, might not be able to perform jump squats. The person who had shoulder surgery won’t be able to do push-ups or planks. Even so, there are low-impact versions of exercises individuals can do that will help them reach their fitness goals.
Hopping on the Scale! Don’t forget to hop on the scale and see where you are this week. Remember: if you were able to maintain and not gain, that’s still a win!
This is the final video of a five-part series. However, it is the fourth Tabata style workout that features two Gliding Disk exercises: plank push-ups and the inchworm.
One round of Tabata is actually four minutes long. By adding a short warm-up and a quick cool down, we get a six-minute workout that will jump-start your metabolism… especially if you do this workout first thing in the morning.
Plank Push-up
Start in a straight arm plank position with weight evenly distributed
Keep gliding disks under your hands
Slide right hand out to the side while performing the down phase of a push-up
Slide right hand back to the center while performing the up phase of a push-up
Return to starting position
Options:
Stay on one side to complete continuous reps
Alternate arms*
Rest on knees instead of remaining on your feet *
Inchworm
Start in a straight arm plank position with weight evenly distributed
Keep gliding disks under your feet
Keep your legs straight and slide your feet as close to your hands as possible
As you may know, I’m a huge fan of Body Weight Training! I know that I said that before, and I’m sure that I’ll say it again. Here are 3 incredible benefits of bodyweight training.
#1: Affordability
Bodyweight training is extremely affordable! Why? You always carry everything you need for every workout. There’s no need to invest in a home gym. You won’t need any weights or fancy equipment. All you need…is you!
#2: Accessibility
You can workout any time and anywhere! You can perform bodyweight exercises at your desk, in your living room, in a hotel room or in your back yard. Instead of waiting for the gym to open, you can work out first thing in the morning!
#3: Adaptability
When you’re performing bodyweight exercises, you’re not stuck. You don’t have to do a particular exercise a certain way. There are tons of options for nearly every type of bodyweight exercises. Take jumping jacks, for instance. If you have mobility issues or prefer low-impact exercises, you can do one-legged jumping jacks. On the other hand, if you want to up the intensity, you can alternate jumping jacks with stars jumps.
Summing it all up…
There are far more than three benefits of bodyweight training. However, I wanted to showcase the three benefits that are most applicable for getting fit at home.
Hopping on the Scale! Don’t forget to hop on the scale and see where you are this week. Remember: if you were able to maintain and not gain, that’s still a win!
This is the fourth video is a five-part series. However, it is the third Tabata style workout that features two Gliding Disk exercises: mountain climbers and up/down planks
One round of Tabata is actually four minutes long By adding a short warm-up and a quick cool down, we get a six-minute workout that will jumpstart your metabolism…especially if you do this workout first thing in the morning.
This is a tough workout, folks! But it’s totally worth it.
Featured Exercises
Mountain Climbers
Start in a straight arm plank position with weight evenly distributed
Keep gliding disks under your feet
Bend your knees and slide them toward your chest and back one at a time
Options:
Slide knees to the center toward the chest one at a time*
Slide R knee to L elbow then L knee to R elbow
Up/Down Plank
Start in a straight arm plank position with weight evenly distributed
Keep gliding disks under your feet
Bend right arm and left arm to lower into elbow plank
Straighten arms to return to straight arm plank
Options:
Start in elbow plank and transition to straight arm plank
Start in straight arm plank and transition to elbow plank*
Perform a push-up while in straight arm plank, then transition to elbow plank
Next Week…
I’ll feature that last two gliding disk exercises in the last six-minute workout of this series.
This video is actually the third of a five-part series. However, it is my second 6-minute gliding disc workout. It is a Tabata style workout that features 2 Gliding Disk Exercises: knee tucks and slide crunch.
One round of Tabata is four minutes long. By adding a short warm-up and a quick cool down, we get a six-minute workout that will jumpstart your metabolism today…especially if you do the workout first thing in the morning.
Featured Exercises
Knee Tucks
Start in a straight arm plank position with weight evenly distributed
Keep gliding disks under your feet
Bend both knees simultaneously and slide them toward your chest
Return to starting position
Options:
Slide knees to the center toward the chest*
Alternate knees to right elbow then left after returning to starting position
Slide knees to the right-start, center-start, left-start, center-start, and repeat
Mermaid pose.
Sliding Side Crunch
Sit in a “mermaid” pose with right leg in front
Extend right arm to the floor with a gliding disk under your hand
Slide to the right, maintaining your balance
Return to starting position
Switch to the left side
Next Week
I’ll feature two more gliding disk exercises in another six-minute workout.
This video is actually the second of a five-part series. However, it is my first 6-minute gliding disc workout. It is a Tabata style workout that features 2 Gliding Disk Exercises: Wax On/Wax Off and Gliding Jacks.
One round of Tabata is four minutes long. By adding a short warm-up and a quick cool down, we get a six-minute workout that will jumpstart your metabolism today…especially if you do the workout first thing in the morning.
This is a tough workout, but it’s a quick one.
Featured Exercises
Wax On/Wax Off
Start in a straight arm plank position with weight evenly distributed
Keep gliding disks under your hands
Transfer weight to left hand and both feet
Draw a circle on the floor with the right hand
Return to starting position
Options:
Stay on one side to complete continuous reps
Alternate arms*
Rest on knees instead of remaining on your feet
Gliding Jacks
Start in a straight arm plank position with weight evenly distributed
Keep gliding disks under your feet
Slide right hand out to the side
Slide right hand back to the starting position
Options:
Stay on one side to complete continuous reps
Alternate legs
Move both legs out and in at the same time*
Next Week
I’ll feature two more gliding disk exercises in another six-minute workout.
In my last video, which was posted AGES ago, I told you about the five things you absolutely must-have in your home gym…which is simply the place where you get fit at home. Today I’m going to talk about 8 gliding disk exercises that you can do at home.
There are two upper body exercises, three lower body exercises, and three core exercises. Even though we’re will target specific body regions, so to speak, you will be able to feel all of these exercises in your core. For that reason, it is very important for you to keep your core engage while you are performing these. In order words, suck in your gut like you’re trying to get your belly button to meet your spine.
This video is actually first in a five-part series, so let’s get to those exercises. The asterisk (*) in the options indicates the option featured in the video.
Upper Body Exercises
Wax On/Wax Off
Start in a straight arm plank position with weight evenly distributed
Keep gliding disks under your hands
Transfer weight to left hand and both feet
Draw a circle on the floor with the right hand
Return to starting position
Options:
Stay on one side to complete continuous reps
Alternate arms*
Rest on knees instead of remaining on your feet
Plank Push-up
Start in a straight arm plank position with weight evenly distributed
Keep gliding disks under your hands
Slide right hand out to the side while performing the down phase of a push-up
Slide right hand back to the center while performing the up phase of a push-up
Return to starting position
Options:
Stay on one side to complete continuous reps
Alternate arms*
Rest on knees instead of remaining on your feet
Lower Body Exercises
Gliding Jacks
Start in a straight arm plank position with weight evenly distributed
Keep gliding disks under your feet
Slide right hand out to the side
Slide right hand back to the starting position
Options:
Stay on one side to complete continuous reps
Alternate legs
Move both legs out and in at the same time*
Knee Tucks
Start in a straight arm plank position with weight evenly distributed
Keep gliding disks under your feet
Bend both knees simultaneously and slide them toward your chest
Return to starting position
Options:
Slide knees to the center toward the chest*
Alternate knees to right elbow then left after returning to starting position
Slide knees to the right-start, center-start, left-start, center-start, and repeat
Mountain Climbers
Start in a straight arm plank position with weight evenly distributed
Keep gliding disks under your feet
Bend your knees and slide them toward your chest and back one at a time
Options:
Slide knees to the center toward the chest one at a time*
Slide R knee to L elbow then L knee to R elbow
Core Exercises
Up/Down Plank
Start in a straight arm plank position with weight evenly distributed
Keep gliding disks under your feet
Bend right arm and left arm to lower into elbow plank
Straighten arms to return to straight arm plank
Options:
Start in elbow plank and transition to straight arm plank
Start in straight arm plank and transition to elbow plank*
Perform a push-up while in straight arm plank, then transition to elbow plank
Inchworm
Start in a straight arm plank position with weight evenly distributed
Keep gliding disks under your feet
Keep your legs straight and slide your feet as close to your hands as possible
Walk your hands out to the starting position
Repeat
Options:
Slide legs forward and slide legs back
Walk hands toward feet and slide legs back
Slide legs forward and walk hands out*
Sliding Side Crunch
Sit in a “mermaid” pose with right leg in front
Extend right arm to the floor with a gliding disk under your hand
Slide to the right, maintaining your balance
Return to starting position
Switch to the left side
The Next Steps
In the coming weeks, I will post four different Tabata style workouts based on these exercises.
