Essential Takeaways:
- This 20-minute full-body workout combines 9 classic bodyweight exercises that can be performed anywhere without equipment to improve fitness and burn fat.
- The routine alternates between timed exercises and rep-based movements, including cardio and strength training elements for maximum effectiveness.
- Each exercise targets specific muscle groups while maintaining an elevated heart rate, making it ideal for both toning and cardiovascular fitness.
- The workout can be completed as a single 10-minute circuit for beginners or repeated twice for a full 20-minute intensive training session.
- Perfect for daily exercise, this routine can be performed once or twice a day, with proper form and 30-second rest periods between exercises.
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!
Fir thighs and legs you really cannot beat running. No gym required, just a pair of running shoes.
Gain weight? Well, if you are building muscle and not losing fat, then you will gain weight, yes.
Hi Sailee, we have a page in Indian vegetarian diet. Really what you need to do is reduce portion size and reduce the energy dense foods like bread and rice.
I’m a 22 year old woman, 5’7″, 138 lbs. My BMI is fine, but I’d like to lose about 15 pounds. I’m going to start doing this routine, as well as watching my food intake, but I’d like a cardio workout too. I do walk almost everywhere, though not briskly -don’t want to get to school all sweaty. I tried running, but I have ligament problem in one knee, so that doesn’t really work. I’ve never learnt to swim either. Is there anything besides walking?
Hi Laura, well, learning to swim could be a good idea really – you have double the motivation to succeed then. Cycling and ellipticals could be OK. Maybe worth speaking to a sports physiotherapist about the ligament problem too, find out how bad it is and how limited you are in terms of exercise. Maybe with some exercise it will recover faster?
Hello, I’m Asian and honestly I don’t like exercising but I’ve decided to be fit and saw your site. My question is how often should I do these routines?
Hi Kara, if it is all that you are doing, then do them every day.
Hi, I am 40 years old male,6’3″, 250 lb. I was looking at web sights to get into shape and came across this one. So i tried it today for the first time. Now I know I am out of shape. I did all the steps but did not get in all the push ups and only 35 sec on the squat thrusts. I will give it another shot tomorrow and try it again. Thanks
after reading a large number of these posts, i have decided to do the same (to be honest I don’t typically do this sort of thing, but it seems like you know what you are talking about!)…
i am a 27 year old female, 5 foot 6 inches tall, and i weight roughly 170 pounds. throughout my entire life i have been able to eat just about anything i wanted and would never really gain much weight. i have always been a big junk food junkie, and have always had a special place in my heart for fast food (awful i know!). i have not exercised since high school gym class many moons ago and am normally a pretty lazy person. i love my job, but the downside is that i sit at a desk all day (Monday through Friday 9am-6pm). normally if i were to find myself wanting to lose weight, i could just cut back on the fast food and stop eating later in the evening which always seemed to work. i’ve found that of recent this hasn’t been working like it used to. i was out a few weeks ago and saw some photos that a friend took and hadn’t realized until that point how much weight i have gained over the last few years and how awful i looked. that’s when it hit me – i’m ready to make a change.
i have completely changed my eating habits and have started exercising every day. a good friend of mine knows a lot about about fitness and nutrition, and has been helping me to become more healthy all around. she wrote me up a few different exercises that i have been doing the best that i can. i go jogging for about 15-20 minutes everyday when i get home from work, in addition to working on the routine that my friend created for me. so far i have lost 3 pounds in a week and can already begin to feel my pants starting to get a little baggier! i have found that the hardest part was getting started, because now i am so motivated that it’s actually starting to become fun! *gasp* hahaha.
anywho, with that being said, i now find myself so nervous to eat anything that isn’t considered ‘healthy’. i am scared that if i do, i will undo all of the hard work i have been doing up to this point. i don’t want to have to worry about everything i put in my mouth and overall would like to find a healthy balance. i would also like to find specific exercises that will target my main areas of focus: arms, legs and stomach. i love my body regardless and do not want to lose my shape (i am more of a pair shape – think Kim Kardashian’s body). i would love your feedback and to hear your thoughts of what you might recommend to help me reach my goals. i am not interested in looking like a stick figure by any means, and would be very happy losing roughly 20-40 pounds. i would also love to find some sort of food guide to help me differentiate good foods from bad (i feel bad constantly bugging my friend and asking her if the food i want to eat is good or bad), along with the number of calories and serving size for each food listed. so far i have been eating mostly fruits and vegetables, salads, and grilled chicken breast. It would be great to have some additional ideas so my food choices don’t start to get boring (i grew up a picky eater, so nothing too adventurous please!)…
i’m SO sorry for the novel, but i wanted to give you a fair assessment of where i am with my progress up to this point. i value your opinion and look forward to hearing your thoughts. thanks so much in advance, i appreciate your time!
Great Mark. Keep doing it every day.
Hi thelogicof_luv, sorry for the late reply (we were on holiday!).
Really, it sounds like you are doing the right thing with your friend’s help. The point is, to remain fit and healthy in the long-term you do need to eat mostly healthy food, every day. Regular exercise is vital too. Take a look at our Low GI Diet book to get more ideas of healthy, natural and tasty foods you can eat. Really the key is to buy fresh foods from markets and not packaged, tinned, bagged, processed foods.
Hi Danni, I’m a 22 year old female and I’m 5’8 and I weight 230Lbs. If I do this workout mon-fri every week how soon would you say I would start seeing results. I am also going to go on a strict calorie counting diet. So my goal is 170 how long do you think? with diet and this exercise.
(I’m also going to intensify as I get stronger)
Hi NicLee, you should certainly see changes in a couple of weeks. Losing 60 pounds will take some time though, do not expect miracles, just keep working at it. Healthy weight loss of about 1.5 pounds a week will mean it will take you around 40 weeks to lose the weight.
Hi, i am 19, male and weighed 9 stones when i started this programme. my main goals were to bulk out a bit with muscle and become more ‘toned’. I see a lot of the comments are for people wanting to lose weight so i hope i have been doing the right thing.
I began a month ago doing one cycle of the work out per day, but now i do 50 jumping jacks, 30 sit-ups, 10 hip bridges, 80 step-ups, 30 reverse crunches, 70 mountain climbers, 15 press ups, 15 squat thrusts, then repeating the cycle once more. I plan to further increase the amounts of reps in each step as the weeks go on.
I am really just looking for confirmation that i am doing the right thing in order to build muscle on my body in general (and i have started to notice this already). Are there any tips/other exercises i can add into this workout in order to bulk out more?
Thanks, George.
Hi George, great work! More push ups will help with building muscle, but ultimately if you want bigger muscles rather than just a fitter and leaner body then you need to start lifting weights. Check out our beginners guide to weight training for more on this.
Thanks to your workout I got my figure back too pre-pregnancy weight in 3months of starting exercising again… Even though as I had C-section I am still having flabby lower tummy part. I am trying all sorts of exercises to get it back to my pre-pregnancy shape but I can not… Do you have any types of exercises that I can do , which may help???? I would be really gratefull. PS: I am quite fit 30years old, running 10K 4times a week and exercising every day for at least 40minutes.
Thanks for the advice, sadly i am home from uni for the summer and have no access to weights/gym facilities so am focusing on bodyweight exercises for the next couple of months.
would you say your bodyweight circuit https://www.motleyhealth.com/fitness/best-bodyweight-exercises-for-weight-loss is a better regime for muscle building?
i am considering doing this circuit twice a day instead of my current one.
any advice is appreciated,
George
That is great news Jane. Really it is a matter of working on your fitness and working your core to tighten up the muscles again. Everything will be stretched and the C-section would have damaged muscles, but these do repair / regenerate. The loose skin can remain a problem, but do what you can with fitness and healthy eating. As for types of exercises, all that work the core. Take a look at Abdominal Exercises to Tone and Strengthen Your Stomach.
In that case just work on the big exercises – squats and push ups. Bench dips are good for the triceps too. If you could invest in a pair of dumbbells or a kettlebell then these will help with the muscle development.
Hello Danny, I am 5’3 and currently weigh 143 pounds. I was just wondering if I stuck to a good diet and did this work out every day or every other day would I be able to lose weight. My goal is 30 pounds. Thanks!
For a guy thats 18 and quite out of shape around 240 with being 6 foot, How many calories would be burned if I were to do this exercise
i saw this and tried it and lost 2 pounds just by doing the workout once
Hi Kennedy, not sure if Danny is reading this page any more so we will reply instead. In short – yes, you can, so long as you do not eat too much. You do need to reduce calories. Set a goal of 1 pound a week for 30 weeks and you should be able to achieve this. Want to work harder – aim to lose 2 pounds a week. As you get fitter do more – go running, swimming, cycling etc. too.
Hi Rob, maybe around 200 Calories, if you maintain a high level of intensity. Really, you do need to cut back on food to make a big difference or do a lot more than 20 minutes of exercise a day.
my name is simon and im 31. this is thwe first workout in about 10 years due to working and new family commitments. i used to very active playing football and regular exercise with my local air traing corp but have slacked for the last ten years. have put on about 3 stone in them years due to drink and lack of exercise i keep saying. tried this twenty min workout and was upset by my performance i could only manage 20 star jumps and had to do the push ups in the womens postion.
will stick to the programme and am determind to complete it within the week, just need some diet help. dont wanna go down the protien shake route as i dont like milk.
please help
many thanks
Hi Simon, great that you started. No shame at all in using your knees for the push ups. 10 years is a long time to do no exercise.
Regarding diet, just read this page – A Healthy and Balanced Diet. Maybe buy our eBook too!
You certainly do not need protein shakes, in fact, supplementing your diet with even more energy will only slow down fat loss. I have no idea why protein shakes are so popular now. Only people who do a lot of heavy lifting, and are aiming to build much bigger muscles, should really be thinking about such supplements. For losing weight, getting fit, a normal, healthy diet is all that is needed.
You just need smaller portions, no snacks, no junk.
I am a 26 yr old, 5’1 currently at 182lbs. I just started this workout yesterday and so far I’ve been doing well. Today I did it twice. Once in the am after a jog and later in the evening. I am trying to log in my meals and exercise on myfitnespal but i have to log in each workout separate and some dont come up … do you know about how many calories based on my weight… I might be burning? . Currently I do the circuit only once in 20 minutes (I am out of shape). I pause about 3 x’s when doing mountain climbers and with squat thrusts I pause like 3 x’s and slow down towards the end. with push ups I do 5 regular 10 knee.
Hard to say Jess, somewhere between 200 and 250 Calories.
I’m a 50 something yr old female and I am 45 lbs overweight. I am
in the worst shape ever and can do nothing but cry. I plan on starting this routine in the morning but have more to deal with than exercise. How do I deal with the mental aspect of things? I always end up getting so aggravated that I quit, get mad, and frustrated with all around. On top of that I have neuropathy in my feet which is painful as well. I keep thinking if I’d lose the weight this would be not as bad as well. What can I do?
Hi Donna, if motivation is a problem then consider finding a fitness class. If you have problems with your feet consider an alternative form of exercise, such as swimming, cycling or using an elliptical (all low impact for the feet). Changing your diet is very important too, possibly more important. Do not hope to make changes overnight or even within a month. Weight loss and fitness is all about consistency – being healthy every day, exercising often, ideally every day.
To all the members.You can try ancient hindu excercise.This is inough to keep you fit.Twelve no of suryanamaskar everyday will keep you fit & fine.please visit this url to get perfect guidence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surya_Namaskar
Thanks & regards
sujit
Hi Sujit, we do that, and also it is called the the Sun Salutation in English. A great workout indeed.
Hello. About how many calories does this workout burn? I am a 30 year old mother of 4. I am 5ft 4in and weigh about 240-255 lbs. I am just starting to cut back on calories. I eat about 1200 per day. How much should I expect to lose per week, starting out? I will increase intensity…gradually, of course.
Thanks!!
It really is hard to say Shavawn. Rather than worry about how many calories it will burn, just focus on getting fitter each week — working harder, working faster, getting stronger. Then you will burn more calories each workout anyway.
hey iam 5’4 inches and weigh around 62 kgs my wedding is nearing about in 5 months i wanna loose weight .my diet is not very good and i eat junk at tyms please suggest me for how much tym shall i exercise a day to loose weight and to look perfect in my wedding
Hi Neelam, it is never possible to put a precise time. What you need to do it stop all junk and follow a low GI diet plan. Then for exercise, you need to exercise every day of the week, and ensure that at least 3 of those days involve a more intensive workout. This will be 60-90 minutes of high intensity – combination of running, skipping, bodyweight exercises, weight training etc.
You need to maintain this high level of exercise to get in good shape. There are plenty of options in our FITNESS section. This 20 minute routine will certainly help too. If you add a 3 minute run (not jog) to the end of the circuit and repeat 2 to 3 times, you will get a great workout.
Hello. I have a question that may seem unusual. Is this only for female?
Hi Dimitar. No, it is for everyone. Almost all forms of exercise can be done by men and women. If you want more like this see our page on Circuit Training Workouts.
Thank you so much for a fun, free, at home workout. I have been doing this morning and afternoon and already feel fitter and stronger.
Excellent Sarah, glad you like it.
Hi!
I am 19, 5’2 and weight 136 lbs. I’m aiming for 120 lbs. for this Christmas family reunion. Will I reach my goal if I maintain healthy eating and do this workout everyday, 6 days a week, for 3 months? Could I reach 120 lbs? I’m trying to eat healthier now and get more active whether it’s kayaking/canoeing, running, jogging, walking, swimming, skating, etc… could I reach my goal in 3 months by doing this, eating healthy, and keeping active?
Hi Jess, 16 pounds weight loss in 12 weeks is possible, but you will have to work hard, and be consistent. You may want to increase exercise to 7 days a week. Certainly need to be really strict with the diet – no snacks, no junk etc. in the next 12 weeks. It is possible. But 20 minutes a day probably will not be enough – you do need to do those other activities too.
Hi. I’m a new mom (just had our 3rd baby boy) and I have been cleared by my doctor to start working out. Thanks to good nutrition during the pregnancy I didn’t gain any additional weight but after 3 pregnancies things just don’t look like they used to. Do you have any additional tips or workouts to help with my stomach and “love handles”? I started this workout just a few days ago but I don’t feel like I’m getting everything out of it that I should be.
Hi Megan, take a look at our strength training articles, especially Strength Training For Women and A Beginners Guide to Weight Lifting Exercises.
Weight training combined with bodyweight exercises (like the 20 minute routine above) and regular steady cardio will get your body in shape quickest. The real key is perseverance really – exercise every day, eat healthy every day and you will get there.
Hey! I used to gym a lot, until I changed jobs so I have little time now and by the time I get home, I cant be bothered to go to the gym. So I started working out 3 days ago from home. What I’m doing is actually running (on treadmill) for 30 minutes and the other 30, fast walk. So my question is, if I do this in addition to the above, will it be enough to lose weight AND tone my whole body as well? I’m mostly focused on my thighs and stomach. Upper body is good. I am 1.63 m and weigh 52 Kg (I think)or max 53…
Hi Rima, your approach should work – just remember that eating healthy is vital to your success too.
Thanks VERY much for this workout…..have been doing it for just one month and am STILL not doing the FULL workout (I was too fargone for that I believe another month or so I will be doing it…..
The results have been striking…man boobs went in only two weeks and the role of fat around my middle is MUCH smaller…I have already gone down a full notch on my belt.
My concern is that progress seems to be tailing off …I am developing the tone in the abdomen and bum (that’s the arse or “ass” to you Americans)…but the remainder of the spare tire seems to be stubornly holding on….even though I have been increasing the number of exercises and the repeats….I know I am still not doing the full routine but I really was hoping to be on the way to some REAL muscle tone and slimness after the striking results of the first two weeks…..
Hi Jason, so glad to hear you are making good progress. Just stick with what you are doing. You could increase the more intensive moves, or add in some burpees or squat jumps to really get the metabolism fired up. Obviously improving the diet is important too though. Just keep working on getting fitter – that is the real key.
Thanks for the response….I will look into Burpees once I have finally added the squat thrusts and mountain climbers….. But when you say increase the more intense moves…to which are you referrring…..I have already increased the Jumping Jacks from 25 to 50 to then doing them twice a day and then finally doing 75…. (because my own thoughts (backed up by some forum comments) was to focus on cardio…..
Also one other thing there don’t seem to be any exercises here which work the BICEPS but merely the deltoid and the tricips ….my objectives are to focus on my upper arms, pecs, stomach and arse…..I have already made major changes in diet (it was like hitting a switch I woke up one day a Health Nazi) but I now I need to keep doing a bit more each day but I was hoping (after that intense first two weeks) to have virtually eliminated the spare tire by now…but it seems to be clinging on my GF INSISTS each time she sees me there is improvement and “…it’s only been THREE weeks really” but I want to know if I keep doing it then I can get fairly ripped by say March ?
Just looked up a “burpee” on YouTube…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYfNA_lmkHM a rather attractive woman in shorts and a sports bra courtesously showed the world how to do it…. I will need to watch this video SEVERAL times…you know to be SURE…..:))))
Seriously though it is quite intense….SHE only does TWELVE and even in her condition she is SHAGGED OUT by the end….how is it different from the Squat thrust (complete with push up?)…I am still only just hitting 15 Pushup’s (intermediate version) (started 4 days ago). So I think when I can do half a dozen of THESE I will be WELL proud!