“It’s SO hard to find time to work out!” This is a common complaint our trainers hear every day. Fortunately, most of us have time built right into our schedules for easy lunch break workouts!
Without a doubt, most of us are busier than ever before.
Finding time for self-care and fitness can be challenging between work, family life, social obligations, and the million other things that make everyday life all hustle and bustle.
The trick, now, is figuring out how to leverage it in the best way possible.
In this blog, we’ll share a few of our favorite quick and effective lunch break workouts. Let’s show you how you can get the most “bang for your buck” from this little window of time.
5 Lunch Break Workouts the Pros Recommend
Whether you’re training for a specific fitness goal or just looking to maintain your functional fitness and flexibility, these quick, lunch break-friendly workouts can help you do it:
1. Bodyweight Squats
Here at Alloy, we love incorporating bodyweight movements into our workouts.
We train from a functional fitness perspective, which means we want to focus on workouts that prepare you for activities of everyday life, like putting that heavy carry-on into an overhead bin or playing with the growing grandkids.
Since all these movements involve balancing and manipulating your body weight, we believe bodyweight-based workouts are some of the most effective ways to get (and stay) strong.
With that in mind, here’s a quick primer on how to do bodyweight squats on your lunch break:
- Stand with your feet slightly wider than hip-width apart.
- Sit your hips back and your torso forward like you’re sitting down in a chair. To protect your knees, ensure they’re not shooting past your toes.
- Keep your chest open and lifted, and sink your weight back into your heels.
- Push down into your feet to stand.
- Do as many reps as possible in 2 minutes.
2. Push Ups
Push-ups are another form of bodyweight movement we love incorporating into our daily workouts.
Done correctly, push-ups help build muscle and improve strength throughout the upper body. They also strengthen the scapular stabilizing muscles in the shoulders and decrease the likelihood of injury.
To perform push-ups correctly, follow these steps:
- Start in a high plank position with your hands shoulder-width apart and your weight equally distributed between your palms, fingers, and fingertips.
- Bend your arms, lowering your chest as close to the floor as possible.
- Keep your body level and avoid “diving” your chest toward the ground.
- Push back up into a plank.
- Do as many reps as possible in 2 minutes.
If you need to modify this exercise, position yourself on your hands and knees instead. You can use a folded towel or yoga mat to cushion your knees.
Place your hands just wider than shoulder-width apart, contract your ab muscles, and lower your chest to the floor. Push back up into your starting position.
3. High Knees
An exercise called “high knees” is a great way to get a little cardio without going for a run or a long walk.
Plus, it can be done wherever you are – at your desk, in your living room, or at the park. You can also execute this move as “jumping” or “stationary” high knees.
Here’s how to do it:
- Start in a high plank with your feet about hip distance apart.
- Rotate your entire body to the right into a side plank, with your left shoulder in line with your left wrist.
- Extend your right arm to the ceiling and drive your hips up.
- Return your right arm to the floor and resume the high plank position.
- Move slowly, focusing on form more than reps.
- Do as many reps as possible in 2 minutes.
4. Brief Cardio
If you have time to get out and do some quick cardio (and maybe a place to shower afterward), that’s an excellent option for your lunch break.
Even 15-20 minutes of cardio can burn about 200 calories. While we don’t recommend doing cardio daily, it is an excellent option to weave into your weekly workout.
Here are a few example cardio workouts for your lunch break:
- Jumping jacks
- Jumping rope
- Stair or hill circuits (up and down as many times as you can in 10 minutes)
- A brisk 15-minute walk or jog
5. Resistance Band Workouts
To do this workout, all you’ll need is a mini resistance band. These small, infinite-loop style resistance bands fit around your ankles or thighs and help you get a great workout no matter where you are.
Once you’ve got your mini band, here’s what you’ll do:
- Step one: Place the mini band just above your knees (if you want less resistance, you can put it around your ankles. Step your right foot into a squat position, being sure to drive through your knees and hips and keep your knees tracking behind your toes. Keeping the band taut, step your right foot back to the center. Step out to the left with your left foot and repeat for 20 squats, 10 on each side.
- Step two: Next, place the mini band under your right foot. Step your left foot behind you, grabbing the end of the mini band with your left hand. Stand up tall, then hinge forward at the hips to lower your torso parallel to the floor. Return to standing and complete ten reps on each side.
- Step three: Next, sit on the ground with your legs stretched out in front of you. Hook the mini band around the ball of both feet, then grab the tail end with your right hand. Sit up and pull the band back to your torso in a mini row. Complete ten rows on each side.
Get Fit in the Time You Have: These Lunch Break Workouts can Help
Finding time for fitness each day can be challenging, but these quick lunch break-friendly workouts can help. Whether you’re getting out for a walk or completing a quick mini resistance band workout, these are great options to get your heart rate up and build your strength and flexibility, no matter where you are.
Want to make your lunch break workouts even more productive? Check out our proprietary Alloy personal training app.. The Alloy App allows you to take your personal trainer with you wherever you go and access your own personalized, custom-designed workouts to help you meet (and crush) your fitness goals.
Learn more about the Alloy Personal Training app and download it now.
