YOUR 13-MINUTE WORKOUT
20 SQUATS (or as many as you can do in 30 seconds, building to a minute). ‘We do want speed,’ notes Morris. Stand with legs hip-width apart, toes facing slightly outwards. Keep upper body straight, hold your arms in front of you, one hand holding the other, for balance. Squat as low as you can go — ‘It’s that last inch that really gets the glute [bottom muscle]’ — inhale. Exhale as you rise, pushing up through your heels, using your glutes for power, and keeping abdominals tight.
20 SEATED ROWS: Sit on the floor, knees slightly bent, loop a resistance band around your feet and hold the ends with straight arms. Sit straight, shoulders down, chest up. Lean slightly forward, then row back, pulling the band. Exaggerate the pullback, keep your chest out and squeeze elbows back and down. Keep your shoulders down. Feel the squeeze in your lats. Great for waist and posture.
15-30 SECONDS OF PUSH-UPS: Great for the chest and triceps. Start with your knees on the floor. Keep hands level with your shoulders, slightly wider than shoulder distance apart. Keep your abdominals tight, bend your elbows and lower your chest almost to the floor. Press up quickly, and then repeat.
18-20 TRICEP DIPS (or as many as you can in 30 seconds). Use a chair or even a sofa (anything that won’t tip). Keep your chest up, with an arch in the back as you go up and down, to work out the mid-back as well as triceps. Your feet can be almost under the knees (easiest). The further out your feet, the harder it is. Go up and down, getting your bottom as close to the floor as your shoulders allow.
10 AB CRUNCHES: Lie on the floor, knees bent and together, chin away from the chest (keep your neck long). Lace fingers behind your neck for support, look at the ceiling behind you as
18-20 LATERAL
RAISES: Stand with knees slightly bent, hip-width apart, shoulders down, abdominals tight. One end of the resistance band is under your left foot, the other held in your right hand. With elbow slightly bent, hand pointing towards the floor, raise your right elbow and forearm to slightly above shoulder height, then lower. After 20 raises, swap sides.
18 REAR DELTOID PULLS: Shoulders down, hold arms straight out in front of you, just above chest height, holding the band between them (or weights). With your arms slightly bent and locked in position, bring the elbows back behind you, squeezing your shoulder blades. The movement comes from the shoulder (don’t change elbow angle): hands should finish roughly in line with your shoulders. The move has a slight downwards trajectory, so you feel it under your shoulder blades. Keep it fluid.
20 FORWARD LUNGES (or 30 seconds to a minute): Stand with feet hip-distance apart. Take a long stride forward and down with your left leg. Keep chest up, abs engaged. Your left knee should be in line with your left ankle (so it’s directly above it), and your right leg stretched back with knee touching the ground. (‘That digs into the glute.’) Push up through your left heel (this targets your hamstring and glute) and step back to where you began. Alternate left and right lunge.
10 LEG LIFTS: Lie on the floor, lift your legs up so they’re vertical, almost straight, cross the ankles, and lift. Raising the feet towards the ceiling, lift the hips off the floor, and control the return. Then simply tilt the feet to a slight angle, towards one shoulder, so you’re focusing on one side — 10 each, build to 20, and change.
you lift up chest to ceiling, and down. Then repeat, angling to the right, then left (angle your chest towards left knee for ten, then change) to target abdominals and obliques. Build up to a total of 20 crunches.