3 Workouts You Can Easily Do In Your Lunch Break

In this busy day and age, time is precious, and deciding how you are going to spend the small amount of free time you do have is an everlasting battle. Boot camp or sleep in? Gym or work drinks? It can be difficult to manage how to fit it all in.

However, there is one slice of largely underutilised time most of us do have, and that's your lunch break.

Better yet? According to David McIlwaine, Managing Director of Fit4Dreams and Mums Squad, that's more than enough time to start pursuing some serious fitness goals.

"The key to lunchtime workouts is to keep them interesting and fun, with lots of variety and without the use of much gear, because nobody wants to be lugging gear into town," he tells HuffPost Australia.

"Even though, at around 35 minutes, they are quite short, the most important thing is to be patient and consistent. The more consistent you are, the less patient you will have to be."

In terms of motivation, McIlwaine recommends having an outside goal to work towards, such as a Tough Mudder race or a fun run such as the upcoming City2Surf.

"Have a goal outside yourselves," he says. "What you don't want to be thinking is, 'Oh my God I look fat, I feel uncomfortable, nothing fits'... have a goal instead. It helps you to start doing things rather than thinking things and judging yourself."

Not sure how to do a particular exercise? There are heaps of explanatory videos, like this one, available on YouTube.

To get you going, McIlwaine has provided HuffPost Australia with three workouts he has devised not only to fit into your lunch break, but to give you results you will be able to see and measure.

"The only thing is you have to do these workouts consistently, like three times a week, for six weeks," he says. "If you're really unfit, you can halve the numbers [of reps], but you need to be consistent and strict about it. Then keep going, and alter as you go."

So here they are: three FREE workouts you can do in well under 60 minutes...

What's your excuse?

Workout #1 - 21s

David says: "This is simple workout with five exercises. You repeat them and try to beat your time for the whole workout. So you build to a higher level of intensity training each time you do it and drive both your cardio and strength."

You'll need: Mat / towel.

Warm up:

Light jog, 10 x hip flexor walking lunges, 10 x bodyweight squats, 5 x walkout to push up, 10 x alternating toe taps.

The workout:

Complete the workout without any major breaks but take small water breaks as and when you need them. Time yourself to see how long it takes you.

21 x push ups
21 x walking lunges (each leg)
21 x sit ups
21 x squat
21 x mountain climber (each leg)
18 x push ups
18 x walking lunges (each leg)
18 x sit ups
18 x squat
18 x mountain climber (each leg)
Then 15 / 12 / 9 / 6 / 3 of each of the exercises.

Cool down and stretch: To burn even more calories, add in a run after each set. Or if you're short of time, simply drop one of the exercises. Complete the workout two or three times a week and see if you can beat your time!

Workout #2 - Countdown circuit

David says: "You'll need plenty of stamina for this workout but you'll feel fantastic when you're done. Grab a partner to train with and you can encourage each other through the tough parts."

You'll need:

Mat/Towel
Skipping rope
Bench or low wall
Water

Warm Up: Light jog, 10 x hip flexor walking lunges, 10 x bodyweight squats, 5 x walkout to push up, 10 x alternating toe taps.

The workout:

100 x skips
90 x step ups (45 each leg)
80 x crunches
70 x squats
60 x mountain climbers
50 x push ups
40 x tricep dips
30 x jumping jacks
20 x reverse lunges
10 x burpees

Don't forget to cool down and stretch.

Workout #3 - Pyramids

David says: "Burn calories in this cardio builder that still works your whole body. It balances increasing intervals of work with increasing periods of recovery... so your fitness will improve."

You'll need:

Stop watch or timer
Mat/towel
Plenty of water

Warm Up: Light jog, 10 x hip flexor walking lunges, 10 x bodyweight squats, 5 x walkout to push up, 10 x alternating toe taps.

The workout:

Interval 1:

5 x push ups
5 x squats
5 x jumping jacks
5 x mountain climbers (each leg)
Fast run for 30 seconds
Recover for 30 seconds (be accurate with this, it's important).

Interval 2:

10 x push ups
10 x squats
10 x jumping jacks
10 x mountain climbers (each leg)
Fast run for one minute
Recover for 45 seconds.

And when you're done, you'll feel better for it.

Interval 3:

15 x push ups
15 x squats
15 x jumping jacks
15 x mountain climbers (each leg) -
Fast run for 2 minutes
Recover for one minute.

Interval 4

20 x push ups
20 x squats
20 x jumping jacks -
20 x mountain climbers (each leg)
Fast run for three minutes (you're looking to cover around 700m here)
Recover for 2 minutes

After Interval 4, you've reached the top of your pyramid. Now you have to repeat everything on the way down, from Interval 4 and finishing with Interval 1. This workout should take you around 35 minutes.

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