Quick and easy 25-minute weight loss workout!

We all know that time is money, which is why this quick weight loss workout is the solution to all your time management problems.

Say goodbye to spending hours in the gym and instead do these exercises to hit those fitness goals!

This workout involves training at a high intensity which is perfect for maximising your body’s ability to burn fat. Scientific research has been shown to prove that short intense workouts increase your metabolism allowing your body to carry on burning fat after you end your workout!

Warm-up exercises.

It is important to make sure you warm up before starting your workouts. If you do not warm up beforehand your muscles will not be ready for the exercises. This can lead to injury as well as decrease your progress.

Exercise 1.

We want to get the heart rate up and help blood get moving around the body. So either go for a light jog, walk or cycle. It only needs to be a maximum 3-5 minutes depending on how much time you have.

I understand many of you may be doing this at home, if you aren’t able to access any of the options above do not worry. Try doing some jumping jacks, skipping, and fast feet on the spot. Doesn’t have to be intense remember the goal is to get that blood pumping!

Exercise 2.

Time for some stretches!

As we are woking the whole body in this workout we need to stretch both the lower and the upper body.

There are so many great stretches, the important thing is we don’t need to hold them for too long around 5 seconds. Again this is helping blood flow to our muscles to prepare them for the workout ahead.

Choose 2-3 lower body stretches and 1-2 upper body stretches to do.

The workout.

Now its time for the fun part!

This workout will consist of 4 exercises where you will have a 40-second working and 20-second resting system. (If this is too intense do not worry try doing 30 seconds on and 30 seconds off or even a mix-match of both!)

You will then repeat the exercises twice more. Give yourself a couple of minutes between each cycle to regain your breath. 

The workout itself will come to 18 minutes itself, giving you jus over 5 minutes for your warmup and cool down.

Workout Overview.

Keep reading to find details of how to complete each exercise and which muscles you should be engaging.

Squat Jumps.

• Start with your legs hip-width apart and toes facing forward
• Bend Your knees into a squat position, keeping your core engaged and eyes facing forwards
• Drive your heels down and jump upwards. Swing your ups up with you for more momentum.
• When you land squat back down immediately and repeat the process for 40 seconds.

Muscles to engage: This exercise will work your quads and calves in particular but you should remember to try to keep your core engaged. This will help your balance.

To make it easier: If jumping isn’t for you do not worry, you can still do this exercise just without the jumping. Instead of the jump drive yourself up onto your tip toes then back into a squat. You still get the intense acceleration but slightly less demanding on the knees!

Mountain Climbers.

• Start yourself in a press up position ( your knees can’t be on the floor for this one)
• Keeping your core engaged bring your right knee to your right elbow.
• Now do a little hop switch to bring your left knee to your left elbow whilst placing your right foot back where it started.
• Repeat for the allotted 40 seconds.

Muscles to engage: This exercise will engage your whole body but in particular your shoulder and triceps and your core.

To make it easier: This one can be tricky to get the hang of, so if you need to skip the hop switch movement you can do so. Just place your right foot down before you bring your left knee to your left elbow. I would recommend that you do it with the hop as it will be more intense and when done consistently will burn fat more efficiently. You could even try the hop for the first half and then switch to no hop for the second half!

Dead Bugs.

• Lay down on your back, keeping your eyes facing up.
• Bend your knees and lift up your ankles so that your calves and quads are at a right angle to each other
• Bring your arms up so that your fingers are pointing at the ceiling.
• Engage your core, tuck your chin into your neck and slightly lift your shoulders off the floor.
• Slowly extend your left leg so that it is straight (keeping it off the floor) and bring your right arm above your head.
• Bring back to the starting position and repeat for the right leg and left arm.
• Repeat the process for the allotted 40 seconds.

Muscles to engage: This one is predominately for your core muscles.

To make it easier: This exercise isn’t as intense as not jumping is involved, it is about slow and controlled movements. If you are struggling with this one try shortening the working time to 30 seconds.

Burpees.

• Get down into a press-up position
• Jump both feet in towards your elbows, this is your starting position.
• Jump both feet out (extending your legs) then back into your chest.
• Drive your heels into the floor and jump up, swinging your arms to help you get more momentum
• Repeat this process for the 40 seconds (starting from the third step)

Muscles to engage: This one works your whole body, it raises your heart rate and gets the blood pumping. It is great for burning fat.

To make it easier: Burpees are an intense exercise, but there are adjustments you can make to ease the intensity. Like with the squats instead of jumping up, drive your heels in and extend up onto your tiptoes. And if jumping your feet in and out is too intense try doing a single foot at each time, do it as fast as you can though so that you can still raise your heart rate and feel the burn.

Cooldown.

Just like warming up, you need to cool down your body. You will find simple stretches to suffice to cool down your muscles.

Choose lower and upper body stretches from the warm-up but hold them for 8-10 seconds instead. This helps to prevent your muscles from seizing up.

If you want to take your cool down a step further, try foam rolling out your muscles. If you don’t have a roller you can always use an old tennis ball (I will say the tennis ball may hurt more!)

Equipment.

I would recommend that all of these exercises be done using your body weight. If your body weight is too easy for you reduce your resting time between each exercise and increase your working time.

I also wouldn’t increase the time of the workout, it is supposed to be a quick intense workout. If you increase the time you won’t perform at your best intensity. It is the intensity that will cause you to burn fat.

If you are looking for equipment for your workouts I would recommend the smartworkout resistance bands. They can stack their bands so that you can increase the weight as you get stronger as well as many different handle attachments available to make it easy to target various muscle groups. 

Also check out this post to learn more about resistance bands and smartworkout!