If you’re trying to improve your health this summer and you’ve got a bit of spare time during your lunchbreak, give Chemmy’s park workout a go. All you’ll need are some gym clothes, a towel and a water bottle - and dumbbells, if you have them, but they’re not essential.
Here's Chemmy's workout in full.
You can start by running to the park, if you’re not close - it’ll get your muscles working and increase your heart rate. Even just a gentle jog will prepare your body for the workout ahead. I don't really love static stretching before exercise but any dynamic work is great. If you are pushed for time, then the best workouts are circuits - they get the heart racing with minimal time to rest!
Perform as many reps of the following exercises as you can in 50 seconds, rest for 10, then move on to the next exercise. After you’ve worked your way through all four moves, rest for one minute. Repeat until you’ve worked up a sweat and it’s time to jog back to the office for a shower.
The Marching Glute Bridge
Lie on your back with your knees bent. Your feet should be flat on the floor, and your arms by your sides. Pressing through your heels, raise your hips so your body forms a straight line from shoulders to knees. Then it’s time to start work on your legs.
Raise your right foot with your knee bent at 90 degrees, until your shin is parallel to the floor. Hold for three seconds, then lower your foot and repeat with the left. Alternate. Once this becomes easy you can add instability by having your heels digging into a swiss ball or anything wobbly!
Jumping jacks
From standing, do a star jump, splitting your legs apart and then jumping back to bring them together. At the same time, raise your arms up and apart. If you want to make this a bit more challenging, hold your dumbbells, and for an extra challenge, try adding a burpee in between each jumping jack.
Planking positions
Firstly, get into a plank position and see how long you can hold yourself in place for. In case you’re not sure of how to plank, here’s how it’s done; start by getting into a press up position. Then, bend your elbows and rest your weight on your forearms - not on your hands. Your body should form a straight line from shoulders to ankles. To make the most of this exercise, engage your core by sucking your belly button into your spine, and make sure your bottom isn’t too high - keep it low. The ideal is to hold this position for a minute.
If your back starts to sag, stop - this exercise has to be done correctly otherwise it can cause back pain.
Then, try this exercise. Staying in the plank position, place your right hand flat on the floor, and then your left, straightening your arms so you’re in a pushup position. Return to your starting position by lowering onto your right, then left, forearms. Repeat, leading with alternate hands.
Squats
Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding dumbbells at your sides if you have them (they’ll help, but they’re not essential). Squat down as if you’re sitting into a chair until your thighs are nearly parallel to the floor, keeping your knees from coming over your toes. Slowly lift yourself up to your starting position. Again with this exercise make sure your lower back is flat and not arched - if you can't get low enough due to ankle flexibility turn your toes out and widen your stance then you should be able to get all the way down!
The Skater Hop
This one’s a killer, and will get your heart racing. Cross your left leg behind your right and lower into a half-squat, your right arm out to the side, left arm across your hips. Hop to the left, switching your legs and arms - this counts at one repetition.
The alternating reverse lunge
Finally, finish off with this move - stand with feet hip-width apart, your hands behind your head. Step back with your right leg and slowly lower your body until your left knee is bent to 90 degrees; gently push back up to start. Switch legs and repeat. Remember that keeping your form and making sure your core’s engaged is more important than doing excessive reps and not thinking about the shape your body’s making.
Images courtesy of J2Ski
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