Warm-up
Jumping jacks, jog in place, light jump rope…what ever makes you happy. The idea is to get your heart rate up a little.

Body-weight Squats
* Standing, arms straight out in front, feet shoulder width apart and straight ahead
* Initiate movement from the hips, sit back and down until the thighs are parallel to the floor, or as far as is comfortable
* Return to standing position by pushing forward through the hips and up through the heels

REMEMBER:
* Do not let knees slide forward past toes during movement
* Do not let knees collapse to the inside during the movement
* Keep arms extended in front to allow you to sit back more comfortably
* Keep chest up and back flat

Squat-thrusts
* Begin in a relaxed standing position
* Bend your knees and lower your body to the floor, put your hands on the floor in front of you
* Quickly punch your legs back behind you into a push-up/plank position
* Jump your knees back up to your chest
* Return to standing
*OPTIONAL: To make it even harder, add a jump before each squat-thrust

REMEMBER:
* Don’t sacrifice technique for speed; keep your back flat and don’t let your knees or hips sag
* Extend legs completely when in the push-up/plank position
* If adding the jump, focus on landing with hips back and knees soft

Push-ups
* Begin in plank positon, either with toes or knees on the floor
*With your abs tight, lower yourself until your arms are parallel to the floor. Further if your shoulders can handle it.
* Push up in a slow and controlled fashion

REMEMBER:
* Keep your back flat and don’t let your knees or hips sag

Step-up & Press
*Use a stair step or a stable box and a set of light hand weights, two soup cans or partially filled milk jugs for this move
*Start with the weights at your shoulders, palms facing each other
* Step up with right leg lifting the left leg out slightly behind you and press the weights straight up over your head
*Left foot goes back to the ground first and weights return to position in front of shoulders
*Alternate sides

REMEMBER:
*Control the trailing leg. If you lift it too far behind you, your lower back will hurt
*Control your return to the ground

Squat Jumps
*Begin with feet just wider than shoulder width apart
*Squat as described above except reach toward the floor
*From this position, jump straight up and raise your hands toward the ceiling
*Land on the balls of your feet and return to a squatting position reaching toward the floor
*Repeat

REMEMBER:
*Keep your abdominals engaged
*Land with your knees soft to prevent injury

Do all five exercises without taking a break. This is five minutes of all out effort. Rest for 2-3 minutes and repeat. Three rounds of this circuit is a great indoor workout when it is too cold, hot, muddy, windy, out of synch with your biorhythms to get to the gym. No excuses!!