At-Home Exercise Programs With Little or No Equipment Needed

With social distancing practices, some health-conscious Americans find themselves in an unexpected predicament: How can they get a solid workout in if their regular gym is closed?

Toril Hinchman, Jefferson’s director of fitness and wellness, urges people to be mindful of their physical and mental health during isolation and says they can replace most in-gym workouts at home with minimal equipment needs.

“Try to find the thing that will work for you,” Hinchman says. “Look at what you have at home and design a plan around it. Don’t have weights? You can make a weight out of cans of soup. No pull-up bar? A sturdy branch can help.”

Minimal equipment, including small dumbbells, jump ropes and rubber resistance bands, can help replicate in-gym workouts. However, if you don’t have them, many exercise options exist for you as well.

One 15-minute program—called Ram Fit—is performed three times per week on non-consecutive days and can be combined with a cardio workout of choice or complete on its own. Perform each of the following exercises for 40 seconds, with 20 seconds of rest before moving onto the next exercise:

• Squats (or jump squats)
• Push ups
• Bicycle ab crunch
• Speed skater
• Walking lunge
• Bodyweight hang/pull up (if you don’t have access to a pull-up bar, a low, sturdy tree branch will suffice)
• Lateral lunge
• Side plank – left
• Side plank – right
• Bridge
• Mountain climbers
• Burpees
• High plank to push up
• Lunge jumps/scissor jumps
• Wall sit

The Living Room Fat Blaster is a 10-minute program to get your heart pumping and body moving:

• 0:00-0:30. High Knees
• 0:30-1:30. Squat Jumps for 20 seconds then march in place for 10 seconds. Repeat.
• 1:30-2:30. Mountain Climbers for 20 seconds, then march in place for 10 seconds. Repeat.
• 2:30-3:30. Burpees for 20 seconds, then march in place for 10 seconds. Repeat.
• 3:30-4:30. Alternating Jump Lunges for 20 seconds, then march in place for 10 seconds. Repeat.
• 4:30-5:00. March in place.
• 5:00-10:00. Repeat entire sequence.

The 10-Minute Cardio Circuit involves eight exercises performed for 30 seconds, with 30-seconds rest after four exercises and is repeated twice.

• Jumping Jacks
• Squat Jumps
• Mountain Climbers
• Butt Kicks (followed by 30 seconds of rest)
• Burpees
• Wall Sit
• High Knees
• Plank Jacks (followed by 30 seconds rest and then repeat sequence twice)

The Total Body Strength workout program includes some of the same exercises, which are performed from 30 seconds to one minute each. The exercises, to be repeated three times with a minute recovery in between each set, are:

• Push Ups
• Squats
• Lunges
• Plank Hip Dips
• Bicycle Abs
• Step Ups
• Jumping Jacks
• Mountain Climbers

The University’s Exercise Support Group offered four at-home workouts, including abs, arms/back, legs/glutes and cardio. For the abs/arm/glutes/legs exercises, do 15 reps. For cardio, Hinchman recommends 30-second or 1-minutes per exercise.

• Abs: Crunches. Heel taps. Leg lifts. V-ups. Plank side taps. Bicycle crunches. Reverse crunches. Windshield wipers.
• Arms/Back (weights needed for some): Tricep dips. Pushups. Tricep extensions. Hammer curls. Bicep curls. Reverse flys. Superman flys. Shoulder press.
• Legs/glutes (weights needed for some): Squats. Pile squats. Jump squats. Burpees. Lunges. Bridges. Donkey kicks. Deadlifts. Calf raises.
• Cardio: Jumping jacks. Mountain climbers. Jump rope. Skaters. High knees. Butt kickers. Running man. 180 jump squats.

The “500 Ab Challenge” hones in on the abdominal muscles with a series of exercises, done in repetitions of 25:

• 25 Regular Crunches
• 25 Oblique Crunches – Left
• 25 Oblique Crunches – Right
• 25 Pulse Crunches
• 25 Seconds Mountain Climbers
• 25 Leg Lifts
• 25 Reverse Crunches
• 25 Rope Climbs (alternate exercises if too difficult to perform at home)
• 25 Bicycles
• 25 Seconds Plank Jacks
• 25 Sit Backs
• 25 In-n-Outs
• 25 V-Ups
• 25 Russian Twists
• 25 Seconds Mountain Climbers
• 25 Hip Raises
• 25 Heel Taps
• 25 Seconds 6-inch Hold
• 25 Superwoman/man
• 25 Plank Jacks

Finally, Hinchman offered a quartet of workouts that can be completed in 15-, 20- or 30-minute intervals.

• 15-minute full-body circuit workout: 10 pushups, 10 squats, 10 sit-ups. (Repeat 10 times.)
• 20-minute upper-body workout: 10 pushups, 20 chair tricep dips, 10 pushups, 40 reverse flys. (Repeat four times.)
• 20-minute lower-body workout: 50 jump squats, 50 alternating curtsy squats, 50 alternating lunges, 50 squats, 90-second wall sit. (Repeat circuit twice).
• 30-minute full-body circuit workout: 10 pushups, 20 burpees, 30 mountain climbers, 40 squat jumps, 50-second plank. (Repeat five times).

The University’s fitness and recreation team will continue to post at-home workouts via their website and on Instagram. Also of note, some group-exercise instructors soon will offer Zoom classes.