The Best 20 Minute Workout To Get Fit At Home

How To Get Fit At Home

This is a good 20 minute home workout to help you to get fit and healthy at home. It’s also a great way to lose fat fast, as it works your whole body. The more work you put in, the more fat that will fall off! You can always find time to get a 20 minute cardio workout into your daily schedule, and this is the best 20 minute workout you can do!

The workout starts with a warm-up jog and then has 8 bodyweight exercises designed to help tone and burn fat. All the exercises are traditional old school fitness exercises that are performed in martial arts clubs, aerobics classes and gyms the world over.

This quick home workout routine is designed to improve both cardiovascular fitness and muscular endurance. It is also great for toning the body, so you can use this as a home-based 20 minute toning workout too.

Perform each exercise as intensively as possible and then rest for up to 30 seconds before moving on to the next one. Always ensure that you perform the exercises correctly, holding proper form, especially in the hip bridges and squat thrusts. Breath deeply and naturally throughout.

This 20 minute circuit workout targets the whole body, improves cardiovascular efficiency and tones and strengthens the body. This workout is a great way to prepare for a more serious circuit training workout. This twenty minute workout also requires no equipment, so you really can do it anywhere.

The 20 Minute Workout Routine

1. Jog in one place for 3 minutes

Simple light jogging on the spot. This does not have to be intensive, so no high knees or jumping around, it is just to gently warm you up for a few minutes before the main exercises.

2. Jumping jacks: 50 repeats

The classic old school cardio burner. Also known as the star jump, start by standing up straight with your feet together, then simply jump the feet out to the sides, just wider than shoulder width apart while lifting you hands upwards.

Return to normal standing position. When landing, bend your knees slightly to reduce the impact on knee joints.

3. Crunches: 15 repeats

Lie flat on your back with your knees bent. Place your hands at the sides of your head with your fingers lightly touching your temples, with elbows pointing outwards.

Try to keep your neck in a straight line with your spine, fixing a point on the ceiling above you is a good idea. Flex your waist to raise the upper torso from the floor so that you are “crunching” your abdominals.

Ensure that your abs are engaged (contracted) throughout the movement, hold for a second. Then lower yourself until the back of your shoulders touches the mat before repeating. Muscles worked: Abdominals

4. Hip Bridges: 10 repeats

Lie on your back with your arms straight and out by your side and palms facing upwards. With only the heels of your feet touching the floor lift your hips up to form a straight line from the shoulders to the knee.

Your legs should be almost vertical from the foot to the knee. Hold this position for 10 seconds. Squeeze your glutes (butt muscles) and then lower yourself. Muscle worked: Lower back, hamstrings and glutes.

5. Step ups: 1 minute

You will need a stepper for this. If you do not own a stepper then you can use the bottom step on a flight of stairs or a sturdy stool. Simply stand in front of the step and step up onto it.

Alternate your leading leg on each step, so left then right up onto the step, return with left first then right. Then on the next step lead with the right then left leg, return with right first. Repeat. Muscle worked: hamstrings, gluteus, quads.

6. Reverse crunches: 15 repeats

Lie on your back with your hands on your sides. Keep you knees bent. Bring your knees towards your head, till your hips come slightly off the floor. Hold this position for a second, and then lower your knees. Muscle worked: lower abs and obliques.

7. Mountain climbers: 1 minute

Get down on your hands and knees and raise your knees like a starting block sprinter.

Run in that position, supporting your upper body with the palms of your hands. Keep your back straight. Muscles worked: triceps, deltoid muscle, gluteus, quads, hamstrings, calves.

8. Push–ups: 15 repeats

The classic push, in the plank position with palms flat on the floor, point forward, about shoulder width apart. Muscles worked: triceps, deltoids, pectorals.

9. Squat thrusts: 1 minute

Stand straight. Now, drop to a crouch position. Immediately thrust your legs out straight behind on your toes, in push up position, now jump to pull legs back to the chest, in crouching position, then stand up straight. Muscles worked: arms, legs, chest, and lower back.

Cool down by walking around, until your heart rate starts getting back to normal, stretch.

A 10 Minute Circuit?

We tested this routine and the routine took 10 minutes to complete, however, for beginners it is best to take your time and rest more between each exercise. As you get fitter you should aim to go through this circuit twice to make it a full 20 minutes of high intensity exercise.

If you do it twice, there is need to do the 3 minute jog again – you may need to take a little more rest between exercises in the second round. We have also today increased the jumping jacks to 50 (was previously 25). If you do just one round then 25 really is not enough!

You should be able to perform this workout every day – in fact, it is highly recommended to do a 20 minute workout everyday for long-term health and vitality. If you wish to increase your exercise rate to get fitter and burn off even more fat, then use this as a circuit training workout and repeat it once or twice.

This simple 20 minute workout routine could be done twice a day, once in the morning before work and then again in the evening. A few readers have asked if we have a
the 20 minute workout video to go with this article, but at the moment we do not, sorry! This is a great way to get fit in 20 minutes, lose weight and lose weight as well as improve your overall fitness and mental well being!