Summer – a time of joy, filled with sunshine (sometimes), outdoor events, festivals, holidays and long evenings in the garden, so it’s no wonder so many of us find ourselves too busy to go to the gym. If only you had a 5 minute workout that you could smash out first thing in the morning or just before you hit the sack…
Step in Marvin Ambrosius – the Sky Sports Fit in Five presenter has made your dreams come true. Creating a high impact workout that’s designed to get you in shape with only 5 minutes a day means we can all stay fit without having to deal with dreaded FOMO – “Fear of missing out” for those who weren’t cool enough to know what that meant the first time round (like us here at TRAIN).
A 5 minute workout sounds too good to be true – we felt that way too when we were sent this routine – but this can really work if followed every day and is actually grounded in science. At The American College of Sports Medicine, Dr Michele Olson dropped the bombshell that the Tabata workout, a 4-minute HIIT workout burns 13.5 calories per minute.
That doesn’t sound like much, but in a 5 minute workout using this principle you’re burning 67.5 calories in total. Hit this workout 6 x a week and you’ve burned an extra 400 calories a week.
Still not enough? Dr Olson wasn’t done. She also stated that after a Tabata workout, your metabolic rate is twice as high for 30 minutes after the session is over. So, you’ll be burning even more calories and torturing your fat cells – talk about after-burn.
The 5 minute workout plan
It is a high intensity (HIIT) workout, just without the intervals! Removing the time usually taken to recover in between exercises means you can be done and on your way to your best friend’s BBQ before you’d normally finish your warm up routine – winner.
The below exercises are to be undertaken in direct succession, with no pauses, as energetically as possible. Just add water. If you do struggle, just use the Tabata principle we talked about above, made famous by Dr Izumi Tabata, which states to use bursts of 20 seconds with 10 seconds rest. You can work your way up to using no rest at all and burn even more calories to torch fat.
1. High Knees
Move your knees towards your waist height in a running motion, while standing on the spot and alternating arms.
2. Squat Jumps
Go low into a squat position, then jump upright keeping a straight back.
3. Shoulder Taps
While in the press up position, move each hand up to tap your shoulder with the opposite hand.
4. Plank Punch
(Same as above picture but extend your arm out in front of you instead)
Balance on your elbows in the plank position, bring one arm in front and hold. Make sure your hips are inline with your shoulders.
5. Press Ups
Balancing on your toes in the press up position, slowly lower down and then back up. Make sure your arms are at 90 degrees angel from your chest.
6. Jumping Jacks
Raise your arms above your head with your feet together, jump whilst moving your arms and leg to the side to hip width.
7. Star Squats
Jump feet to hip width with arms raised above your head, come down and touch the ground in squat position.
8. Scissor Runs
Jump one leg forwards, other one back whilst moving arms in the same alternating movement.
9. Straight Jacks
remember to punch upwards which this image doesnt display
Place arms in front of you at 90 degrees, jump with legs apart and punch upwards.
10. Side Squats
Jump feet to hip width with arms raised above your head, come down and touch the ground in squat position but move 90 degrees each time.
After this high intensity 5 minute workout, you should be feeling absolutely wasted. If you were skeptical before, you’ll be a believer of what you can achieve in 5 minutes now.
So, you have everything you need to get in shape, and fast! But what about all the other elements you’re up against?
Sometimes life just gets in the way – so here are some more tips from Marvin
Tips beyond your 5 minute workout
Embrace the great outdoors
A £50 per month gym membership may be outside of your budget, but exercising shouldn’t be skipped. There are fantastic outdoor gym centres across the UK, including the Right Guard’s AEROcycle gym at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Free to use and full of high quality equipment, there is no excuse to not get your heart pumping.
Plan ahead
It’s always good to pre-plan what type of workout you going to go on. Are you going being focusing on cardio today, or improving your interval training? Planning your exercise routine can help you keep to targets, as well track your progression over the subsequent weeks.
Safety is key
Make sure you’re aware of your environment. Safety is key. Make sure you are paying attention to what’s going on around you. It’s easy to get into a zone and forget about the world around you.
Take a bro
Two is better than one – it’s a cliché saying but can massively improve your workout mentality. It’s always good to have a gym buddy. You can motivate each other and feed off of each other’s energy to keep you both motivated.
Clothing counts
Make sure you are wearing the right clothing and it’s appropriate to whatever fitness routine you are going to perform outdoors. If it’s a hot summer day, bring a big bottle of water with you and wear light clothing.
Think outside the box
Remember to keep pushing yourself to think bigger and better than your normal workout. Look at your environment around you and use that to your advantage. If you live on a road with a hill, why not incorporate some hill sprint intervals into your workout routine. The world is your playground.
Sky Sports’ celebrity Fit in 5 trainer Marvin Ambrosius launched the new Right Guard AEROCYCLE community gym at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Right Guard believes that those of all ages and abilities should have a healthier lifestyle and access to a public exercise space. They teamed up with TerraCycle and The Great Outdoor Gym Company to launch the UK’s first ever gym made from recycled aerosols and deodorant cans. The community gym, which was donated to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, officially opened to the public in June.
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