If you want to cut inches from your waist, you don’t need to fork out for a wallet-bruising gym membership. You don’t need fancy equipment, or even much room to get a ferociously effective fat-burning workout.
The only requirements? A few feet of space and something to mop up the sweat – meaning you can do it almost anywhere or any time, according to strength trainer Craig Ballantyne, author of Turbulence Training.
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In this simple sweat storm, “you never zero in on the same major muscle group in back-to-back exercises,” says Ballantyne. So you’ll finish one move and plough into the next with relatively fresh muscles, even though you didn’t have a rest period. “It allows you to push yourself for maximum effort each time,” he says. And since you can go from move to move at max speed, you get a huge hit to your heart rate to torch a load of extra calories
DIRECTIONS
Perform each exercise for 30 seconds, back-to-back, without rest. Use this circuit as a fat-frying finisher to your existing plan, or repeat 4 to 6 times for a full workout.
Ground-zero jump
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your knees slightly bent. Without changing the bend in your knees, hinge at your hips until your torso is almost parallel to the floor and swing your arms behind you. Immediately swing your arms overhead and explosively thrust your hips forward so you come up on your toes. Your body should form a straight line from fingertips to toes. Without pausing, quickly return to the starting position by reversing the movement. That’s one rep.
Mountain climber
Get in a push-up position with your hands under your shoulders. Bring your right foot forward so your knee’s bent and your toes are on the ground below your hips. Tense your abs and glutes to keep your back straight then kick back while bending the left leg, so your feet swap position. Take care to keep your hips still – don’t let them rise up to the ceiling. Repeat to return to the start position. That’s one rep.
Bodyweight squat
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Push your hips back as though about to sit on a chair, keeping your back flat and chest up. When your thighs are at least parallel to the floor, drive through your heels to return to the starting position.
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Diamond push-up
Get in a push-up position but with hands touching, forming a diamond shape in the middle. Lower until your chest brushes your hands then drive back up explosively.
Plank
Rest on your forearms and toes, with your back forming a straight line between head and heels and your elbows under your shoulders. Hold for 60sec.
Jump lunges
Lunge forward until your rear knee is almost touching the ground. Jump into the air, bringing your rear foot forward and the front foot back. Land in a lunge and repeat. Land on both feet simultaneously to cushion the impact on your joints.
Burpee
Finish with the ultimate fat-burning move. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Bend your knees and push your hips back, then put your palms flat on the floor with your elbows inside your knees and hands next to your feet. Kick back so you’re in a push-up position, then immediately bring them forward again. Jump up the in the air, reset in the starting position and repeat.
A version of this story was originally published on MensHealth.co.uk
