Everyone starts somewhere, and a PATHFINDER bodyweight workout is the perfect place to. You won't need any special equipment outside of:
- Your phone
- A space to workout in
- Shoes, water and a yoga mat
- *You can choose to make this workout tougher and add weights right for your fitness ability.
This workout is a Tabata-style workout, which is a fancy word for "time to work, and time to rest." Tabata also means you'll need a timer app. We like WOD Timer or Gym Boss, but any workout timer that allows you to personalize your Tabata times is fine.
You'll want to set your timer to :45 on, :15 off (or rest) and 5 rounds. You'll do the first exercise listed for :45 seconds, and then you'll take a breather for :15 seconds. Then, you'll do the second exercise for :45 seconds. You'll continue on this pattern until you've done all five exercises, and then you'll do a continuous cardio exercise for 2:00 minutes. Then, you'll go back to your 5-cycle Tabata exercises again. You have a total of 3 Tabata's and 3 Cardio Intervals.
This workout should take you about 30 minutes or less, including your warm-up! We've made it really easy too - each Tabata grouping is the same round of exercises to give you the most bang for your total-body workout buck.
A word about Warm Ups: Don't skip them! Warm ups are a crucial part of any workout, and prepare your muscles for movement. They don't need to be done fast, they're just there to wake everything up.
Exercises You Need to Know
WARMUP - Hip Circles Hands on hips, feet shoulder-width apart, circle hips to the left, and then to the right. Focus on isolating the movement to only hips.
WARMUP - Hip Gate Openers (and Closers) Begin by standing tall, arms loose at your sides. Bend your knee and lift your leg up level to hips, and then smoothly rotate it to the side, like you're opening a gate. A gate closer is the reverse motion, beginning with your leg bent out to the side and lifted, hip open and smoothly "closing" the gate by bringing your knee in line with your body.
WARMUP- Alternating Knee Taps/Foot Taps (Low impact high knees + butt kicks + use your hands) Bring knee up to level with waist, tap knee to hand, bring leg down, tap other high knee to hand, then bring down. Bend knee behind you, tap same hand to same foot, straighten, bend other knee, tape same hand to same foot.
WARMUP - Knee Drives Begin in staggered stance, feet hip width apart with toes of left foot touching the ground behind you. Bring arms overhead. Drive knee up to level with your hips as you quickly bring your hands down, tapping your knee, before you bring your left leg behind you again.
Squats with Bodyweight Bicep Curl Stand in squat position, feet shoulder width apart, knees tracking over your second toe. As you sit down into squat position, chest lifted and head looking straight ahead, curl your arms into a bicep curl. *If you choose, this can be done with weights, but is fine as bodyweight for Beginners.
Sumo Squats with Deadlift A sumo squat is a wider-than-hip-width squat. Toes should be pointed out, knees still tracking over the second toe as you sit into the squat. Your arms should be down by your hips, hands in fists. As you squat, bring your fists down between your ankles. As you rise from your squat, use your butt and hamstrings to lift.
Lateral Lunges Stand straight, core engaged, feet hip width apart. Step out into a side lunge, knee over ankle, foot pointed out and away from you. As you step out, raise your arms overhead
Russian Twists Sit on the floor, knees bent, feet flat on the ground. Lean back until you feel your core engage but still have muscle control. Clasp your hands and twist (using only your core, not shoulders, not rocking hips) touch the heel of your hands to your hip bone (in this illustration we are using a ball, but that is not necessary). Twist to the opposite side. Russian Twists are always a "Hard Count" exercise, which means you count your reps on both sides as in 1,1,2,2,3,3, etc.
Glute Bridge A glute bridge begins by laying on your back, knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Make sure your feet are not angled out but are in line with your knees. Using your glutes, lift your hips up off the ground, squeezing for a 3-count before lowering back down. Try and hover your hips off the ground before you lift again.
WARM UP 5:00 minutes
10 x Hip Circles
10 x Hip Gate Openers (walking openers preferred)
10 x Hip Gate Closers (walking openers preferred)
10 x Jumping Jacks (modification: Walk-Out Jumping Jacks)
10 x Alternating Knee Taps/Foot Taps
10 x Knee Drives (Left leg only)
10 x Knee Drives (Right leg only)
WORKOUT 21:00 minutes
TABATA - set your app to :45 seconds work, :15 seconds rest, 5 rounds
ROUND 1 : 5:00 minutes
- Squats with Bodyweight Bicep Curl
- Sumo Squats with Deadlift
- Lateral Lunges
- Russian Twists
- Glute Bridge
INTERVAL 1 : 2:00 minutes
Jog/march in place // Sprint // Run // Stationary Bike // Rower // Burpees
TABATA ROUND 2 : 5:00 minutes
- Squats with Bodyweight Bicep Curl
- Sumo Squats with Deadlift
- Lateral Lunges
- Russian Twists
- Glute Bridge
INTERVAL 1 : 2:00 minutes
Jog/march in place // Sprint // Run // Stationary Bike // Rower // Burpees
TABATA ROUND 3 : 5:00 minutes
- Squats with Bodyweight Bicep Curl
- Sumo Squats with Deadlift
- Lateral Lunges
- Russian Twists
- Glute Bridge