Do a Circuit Workout With the City Bench
Today’s lunch break workout is the perfect workout for outdoor walks. After warming up without equipment, you will do two cycles of strength training and two 30-second cardio bursts using no more equipment than a sturdy bench.
You can of course do the same workout indoors – just grab a chair or gym. This video demonstrates all the movements that I recommend you sketch on a piece of paper to take out onto the street. (Pro tip: Attach the cheat sheet to the water bottle with a rubber band.) Steps:
- Warm up : 5 reps of exits; 10 hugs to the knees; 10 toy soldiers; 6 running lunges with twisting; and finish with 20 rungs of high knees
- First round : 5 reps each from reverse lunges to step-up; push-up on one leg, putting your hands on the bench; and tapping with your knee, placing your feet on the bench.
- Cardio Burst : 30 seconds of side-to-side jumping.
- Second round : 10 repetitions of jumping on the bench; 10 push-ups on the bench with your hands behind your back; and 10 side lunges.
- Cardio Burst : 30 seconds burpee (I’ve done about 8 reps if you just want to count).
You should repeat each pattern twice before moving on to the next part of your workout, but this is your lunch break. Do what you can. (It took me about 8 minutes to do one of them; doubling the laps would have resulted in a 12 minute range, I’m sure.) You can also do the whole thing multiple times if you can’t wait for a longer workout.
Difficulty : Medium. These are pretty simple movements if you’re used to strength training, but they can be tricky (especially the burpee at the end).
Modifications : not provided, so just take a break if it gets too intense.
Equipment : a bench (or a bench-sized object) that won’t break when you jump on it. (If you’re stuck with an office chair or something, you can just jump in place instead of jumping off the bench.)
Sweat Factor : Definitely wet.