How to Work Out in Five Minutes
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As college students, we are all pressed for time. Early classes, long slogs to McKeldin and midterm exams starting before we know it can make fitting a workout in difficult. With a few extra minutes and a little bit of floor space, however, you can still break a sweat. Get yourself movin’ and groovin’ with these five-minute workouts.
For best results, perform these movements back-to-back, with as little rest as possible. Adjust the time as necessary. If you have the stamina (and time!), sets can be repeated with one minute of rest in between.
When asked to pick one exercise to perform for the rest of her life, senior kinesiology major and RecWell personal trainer Alyssa Ruefenacht said it would be squats.
“The squat is a very compound exercise that can target a lot of muscles at once … these are very much calorically-burning, if you want to do weight-loss,” Ruefenacht said.
She recommends a high-intensity interval training schematic, to target major muscle groups and elevate heart rate.
“I would really focus on the cardio aspect, while still working in plyometrics,” Ruefenacht said, including compound movements such as jump squats, push-ups, high-knees and jumping jacks.
For its heart-pumping, major-muscle-building structure, we can call this workout “Rootin’-tootin’ Body-scootin’.”
“Rootin’-tootin’ Body-scootin’”
60 seconds: jumping jacks (or jump rope, if you have one)
60 seconds: burpee to bodyweight squat
60 seconds: bodyweight squat with right-leg side kick (conventional squat, then kick out the appropriate leg to one side after you come up)
60 seconds: bodyweight squat with left-leg side kick
60 seconds: high-knees
RecWell personal trainer Julian Ezigbo, a junior biology and kinesiology major, recommends a traditional bodyweight workout. That involves a “push-up, some kind of ab crunch, pull-ups if possible, some bodyweight squats for the legs and a handstand movement, if you’re strong enough,” Ezigbo said. Talking with him inspired this next workout scheme.
“The Up-and-Up”
60 seconds: bodyweight squats
45 seconds: wall sit
60 seconds: crunches
45 seconds: Russian twists
45 seconds: push-ups
45 seconds: elbow plank
These workouts can be done back-to-back, if you’re feeling motivated and have another few minutes to spare. Or you can pair one with a long or short run, depending on your schedule, to further enhance the workout. Now, if you have nothing but time, try the Deck of Cards workout (or, as I call it, “Death by Aces”). You’ll be gambling with that one, for sure.
