LiveLiving Logo

Your Lunch Work Out

You need this job, but this job is killing you. Unwanted weight gain is not the only reason to be concerned when faced with a sit down job. Sitting on your butt 7 hours a day has now been proven to be detrimental to your health, increasing the risk of death up to 40%. In other words, sitting for 6+ hours makes you 40% likelier to die within 15 years than someone who sits less than 3 hours.

So what are you going to do about it?  You can’t quit your job, but you can…

Use your lunch break to exercise. 

What you need? 

  • Only 20 minutes
  • Jump rope
  • a timer (your iphone/ android phone will work)
  • your body

You want to burn calories during your exercise, but you want to burn also calories after you exercise. That’s why a high intensity work out, such as the one below, is the best plan (and you can also do this at home):

Warm Up:

JUMPING JACKS.  Remember your physical education class?  You started each class with jumping jacks.  That’s because jumping jacks are a great way to warm the body up and get the heart rate up.

1. JUMP ROPE. Skip for at least 60-90 seconds

2. PRISONER SQUATS. Squat is known to be the grand daddy of all movements.  It recruits all the major muscles in the body, targeting sagging butts and firming them as well. Place your hands behind your head and perform a normal squat.  By putting your hands behind your head, this exercise becomes more challenging.  To make this move even more difficult, add a jump. Perform exercise for 30-60 seconds.

3. PUSH UPS FROM THE FLOOR. If you cannot do a traditional push up, do a modified one. Push ups work the chest without an equipment, along with strengthening the arms and core area. Perform exercise for 30-60 seconds.

4. PLANK EXERCISE. This exercise is a great finisher. It builds endurance and strengthens the chest muscle, back and core area. Hold position for 30-60 seconds. 

REPEAT CIRCUIT 3-5 TIMES, resting 1 minute between each set.

Share This Story

About Author:

Picture of Etta Hornsteiner

Etta Hornsteiner

Etta Hornsteiner has spent 12 years as an Educator teaching both English and Acting. Her love for fitness led her into bodybuilding competitions and later into a career as a personal trainer. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors from Acadia University in Nova Scotia, Canada in English and minors in Sociology and Spanish, a Master’s degree in Education with emphasis in Theatre from Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia, a Master's degree in Integrative Health and Wellness Coaching from Maryland University of Integrative Health, and a coaching certificate from Duke Integrative Health. She is certified by the National Board of Health and Wellness Coaching and the International Coaching Federation. She is the author of the Ten Guiding Lights to Health and Wholeness.

Related Posts

Stay Connected With Our Newsletter

Your email is safe with us. We don’t spam & your email won’t be shared.