Trying to fit a workout into your workday can be a huge challenge. You’ve got limited time at lunch, so your workout has to be efficient and convenient.
So what’s the best way to torch calories while you tackle your job? “Sweatworking” is one solution that experts recommend. Kari Saitowitz is the founder of The Fhitting Room, a high-intensity boutique fitness studio with locations in New York City. She suggests that serious exercisers should combine work and working out to burn calories and boost career potential at the same time.
“Squeezing a midday or lunchtime workout with colleagues into a busy day can be super efficient,” she says. “Classes at The Fhitting Room pack cardio and strength training into one 50-minute workout. High-intensity intervals throughout each session will boost your metabolism for hours post-exercise, so you keep torching calories even after you return to your desk.”
The Workout
If you can convince your co-workers to join you, this is the 30-minute workout you’ll want to do. Training solo? No problem, this session still works. The session is designed by Dara Theodore, a FHITpro who instructs The Fhitting Room’s Friday lunchtime class. You’ll use body weight only to complete the circuit—so even if you can’t get to the gym, you can do it in any open space like a park, gymnasium, or even in an open conference room.
Warmup
Takes about 3 minutes:
Arm circles forward and back
Air squats
Squat thrusts
Alternating reverse lunges
Inchworm to plank
Lateral shuffle (3 steps right, 3 stepts left)
Training
Take 45 seconds to complete each move in an A/B/A/B format, and rest and transition for 15 seconds.
A) Squat with lateral overhead raise (raise your arms to the sides as you squat, so they end overhead at the bottom of the squat); for an additional challenge, add a jump.
B) Triceps dip (off desk, chair, or bench)
A) Squat with lateral overhead raise
B) Triceps dip
Rest 30 seconds
A) Pushups; for an additional challenge, do plyometric pushups
B) Bicycle crunches
A) Pushups
B) Bicycle crunches
Rest 30 seconds
A) Power skip (reverse lunge to knee raise with hop) right leg
B) Plank ups (from push up plank to elbow plank and back
A) Power skip left leg
B) Plank ups
Rest 30 seconds
A) Lateral lunge to curtsy lunge (right leg)
B) Reverse crunches
A) Lateral lunge to curtsy lunge (left leg)
B) Reverse crunches
After you complete one cycle, complete another cycle moving faster. Perform all eight moves for 30 seconds each with 10 seconds of rest between each move.
Lastly, finish with one minute of max burpees.
Lunchtime Workout Tips
You’ll get better results from your lunchtime workout if you exercise on a regular basis. So if you can’t do the high-intensity workout above, get creative and do something different.
You can use apps or online resources to come up with on-the-go workout alternatives. Cyclecast, a new smartphone app delivers on-demand spin classes directly to your smartphone so you can ride at any time. And the Nike+Training Club app provides a range of strength and cardio sessions that you can do anywhere.
And lastly, pack your gym bag so that you are prepared for midday sweat. Smart gym-bag beauty essentials can make clean-up a snap after you exercise.
