Health and Fitness

A 20-Minute Exercise Program You Can Do Anywhere. Anywhere!

"outdoor training program"

Photo by Dr. I wish I had have thought to get a photo of myself doing this workout!

It was 6am.

I was standing under the awning of a restaurant called ‘The Fat Seagull’. Rain was bucketing down in absolute sheets – it looked as though the world was ending. The kind of rain that would blow a small child clean out of your arms.

It was clear I wasn’t going anywhere for a while.

What was less clear was why I’d felt it a good idea to get up at 5.30am while away for our Easter holiday, down a quick coffee, and then head down to the beach for some good morning sprints.

In my defence, it seemed like a much smarter idea on the first day when the weather predicted a gorgeous day of sun and sand. And I felt so good afterwards that I decided to push through on the following days come rain, hail, or the end of the world.

As I stood there wondering what to do and starting to slowly freeze over, a woman who had obviously been mid-run stopped under the awning of the shop next to me. She started doing some lunges; I guess to keep warm.

I started doing some squats. Why not? It was freezing. And it was 6am in a tourist town on Easter Sunday. It wasn’t as though anyone was around.

We’d both done that thing where you sort of acknowledge each other but not really, just a small almost-smile in recognition of fellow exercise-junkie craziness.

Stuff it, I decided.

Time to seize the moment.

I left the safety of my shop awning to sprint to hers, and invited her up to The Fat Seagull for a circuit training session. And you know what? It ended up being a great little workout, despite the very randomness of it or perhaps because of! So I thought I’d share it with you in case you’re ever trapped in sleeting world-ending rain and feel like moving your booty rather than standing around waiting for order to be restored.

Or, you could just use it as a hotel room/travel/lounge room workout circuit 🙂

the fat seagull exercise program

"quick exercise program"

A1: 20 ‘ass to grass’ (or pavement) body weight squats

A2: 20 each side alternate lunges (drive knee forward until hamstring meets calf at front)

A3: 10 each side jumping lunges

A4: 10 full depth push ups

A5: 10 jumping burpees

A6: 10 each side lateral lunges, deep

A7: Bridge brace, 60 seconds

Joanne and I did 3 rounds, at a pretty decent pace. It took around 20 minutes. We were working hard but still managed to chat about our kids and food and not eating gluten and all that sort of stuff. Small world, huh?

And the beach sprints? They were still there for the next morning at 6am. In slightly saner weather 🙂

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10 responses to “A 20-Minute Exercise Program You Can Do Anywhere. Anywhere!”

  1. Tanya says:

    You are a crack up! Great blog. I love that you adapted to the situation in front of you, awesome example of dedication!

  2. Janette Hopgood says:

    This looks like a good workout I might like to try. However, not quite sure on some of the moves:

    A2: 20 each side alternate lunges (drive knee forward until hamstring meets calf at front)

    A3: 10 each side jumping lunges

    A5: 10 jumping burpees

    A6: 10 each side lateral lunges, deep

    So could you explain these please. I have done a version of a burpee but just want to make sure. And for the alternate lunge – do you just mean do a lunge on one side then do one on the other? But definetly not sure what a jumping lunge is nor a side lateral lunge. But keen as, as always looking for nice quick and efficient workouts.

    Regards
    Janette

    • Kat says:

      Hi Janette,

      Great to know you are going to try the workout!

      An alternate lunge just means regular lunges, but changing from one side to the other rather than doing each side fully by itself.

      A jumping lunge is just go down into a lunge and then jump to switch legs.

      With a lateral lunges you take a big step to the side, keep your torso up, and squat down but you put most of your body weight toward the outer leg (the side you stepped towards). That leg bends and the other remains mostly straight.

      Jumping burpees are regular burpees but you come up with a jump into the air 🙂

      Let me know how you go!

      Kat

  3. Carlys says:

    You NEVER cease to amaze me! You are the true living example of “Where there’s a will, there’s a way!”

  4. Nikki says:

    Inspiring and motivating as always Kat!