We’re well into spring by now and summer is right around the corner, which means longer days, warmer temperatures, and hopefully a lot of quality time outside doing all kinds of fun things.
To get you ready for all the fun summer activities, we’ve put together seven challenging workouts in partnership with SYMYX ELEVATE that will help you to get super strong, boost your conditioning, and improve your confidence before summer rolls around.
Why Does Being in Good Shape For Summer Matter?
Although there’s no reason not to be in great shape all year long, most of us want to be especially fit in the summer when there’s so much going on (and let’s be honest, it’s also great to feel good about how you look). Being strong and fit lets you enjoy all the fun summer activities and so much more.
Strength matters! From rock climbing to strenuous hikes to stand-up paddle boarding—whatever you try in these upcoming warmer months, you’ll need your body to be strong and capable, and working out hard now is the best way to make sure of that.
You also don’t want to get exhausted after just a short time doing these types of activities, so you better get your heart pumping now with some cardio.
And no, I don’t mean that you have to go and run for two hours—I personally would never go for a long run. There are better ways, like doing HIIT a few times a week!
Focus On Strength, Skills, and Stamina
Unlike many health magazines and websites that year after year come up with insane crash diets or another hundred-crunches-a-day-plan whose only goal is to make you look better for the beach season, our focus is to help you to get stronger and more confident.
The good news is that when you focus on getting stronger and learning fun skills, looking better comes as a side effect—no crash diets or tedious ab workouts required.
7 Awesome Workouts To Do This Spring
Here are seven awesome, time efficient workouts you can try out this spring to help you get ready for summer. You can do some of them using only your own bodyweight, but you’ll need some basic equipment for others. Yet in order to remove any excuses you might make for not doing the workouts, we’ll also give you some ideas on how you can swap some equipment-based exercises for bodyweight exercises or give you an alternative exercise to do if you don’t have the required equipment.
No excuses!
1. You’ll Need: Just Your Own Bodyweight
The No Equipment Do It Anywhere HIIT Workout is a totally excuse-free workout. You can literally do it anywhere, because you don’t need a lot of space for this one.
This workout has pistol squats in it, but if you can’t do full pistols yet, do the hardest progression that you can.
2. You’ll Need: Just Your Own Bodyweight
The Burn Baby Burn Leg Time Challenge Workout doesn’t require any equipment or even much room, meaning you can do it even if you’re in a small space.
This is a great cardio workout that will get your heart pumping and make your legs burn like crazy. I’ll be super proud of you if you do this one!
3. You’ll Need: A Jump Rope and a Dip Bar (Or Parallel Bars)
Get that heart rate up with the 16 Minute Sweaty Jump Rope Workout! You’ll need a jump rope and a dip bar for this one.
If you can’t do double unders just yet, set it as your goal for this summer, but until you master them, you can simply do single unders. Be sure to jump as fast as possible though!
If you don’t have an access to a dip bar to do knee raises, you’ve got two options: use two high stools or a corner of a countertop to do knee raises, or if that’s not an option, simply do V ups instead.
4. You’ll Need: A Pull Up Bar and a Dip Bars (Or Parallel Bars)
The 384 Rep Strong As Steel Challenge Workout has some pretty advanced exercises like chin ups and pistols in it, but even if you can’t do exactly those ones, you can choose the next best option.
Use progressions for pistols and if you’re not ready for pull ups just yet, you can do jumping pull ups, negatives, or use resistance bands for help.
If you don’t have access to dip bars, you can still do dips by using two chairs. Simply put your hands on one chair and your legs on the other chair and you can do very similar movement.
The same thing goes for the leg raises—just use two high stools or a corner of a countertop. Alternatively, you can simply do V ups.
5. You’ll Need: A Sandbag
If you haven’t tried working out with sandbags yet, give them a try and do this 420 Rep Full Body Sandbag Workout. Be sure you don’t forget to do the five sandbag sprints at the end to make sure you don’t have any energy left.
If you don’t have a sandbag, don’t worry–you can always make your own by filling a duffel bag or backpack with a bunch of heavy stuff. No excuses!
6. You’ll Need: A Medicine Ball
The Fierce 12-Minute Medicine Ball Workout includes one of the best full body exercises of all time: wall balls.
If you don’t have a medicine ball, you can use a heavy backpack, duffel bag, or a heavy plate instead and do squat thrusts with them instead. If you choose this option, you won’t throw the weight up as you would in wall balls (especially not the weight plate!)—you’ll simply press the weight overhead as you come up from your squat.
Alternatively, you can use a ball like a basketball or a soccer ball. Of course, those will be lighter than a medicine ball, so be sure to move even faster to keep the intensity high enough.
7. You’ll Need: A Kettlebell and a Pull Up Bar
Lastly, be sure to try out this Kettlebell Strength Booster Workout!
If you don’t have a kettlebell, you can use a heavy backpack or a duffel bag for swings and front squats. Another option is to use a dumbbell. To do swings with a dumbbell, hold it from one end so that you can actually swing it.
This workout has burpee pull ups in it, but if you can’t do full pull ups, do jumping pull ups or use a box to step up to the pull up bar. Alternatively, you can simply finish your burpees with tuck jumps.
And you can use your kitchen countertop for knees to elbows or simply do V ups instead.
Make Sure You’re Fueling Body Right
While you don’t need to stress much about getting overly tired and recovering from your workouts when doing lower intensity exercise like yoga or going for an easy hike, intense workouts like these ones require you to take extra care of your body during and post-workout.
Make sure you eat at least a couple of hours before your workout and eat something as soon as you can afterwards to help your body repair and recover. This could be something as simple as a protein shake with whey (or vegan protein) and fruit, or a full meal with protein and carbs if you have more time.
I also like to sip on BCAAs during my workout to further promote recovery. My new favorite SYMYX ELEVATE BCAAs are tasty and super convenient since they come already pre-mixed along with electrolytes and caffeine to keep you hydrated and energized. You can find them at any Target store in the nutritional supplement aisle.
Aside from promoting recovery, they actually help to:
- Promote muscle growth and repair
- Decrease physical and mental fatigue during your workout (a.k.a. more energy!)
- Replenish electrolytes, helping you stay hydrated
- Promote greater fat burn
Remember, giving your body proper fuel, rest, and recovery is just as important as working hard during your workouts, so don’t skip it!
Let’s Do This!
Try out these seven HIIT workouts this spring and get stronger and faster. When summer rolls around, you’ll be happy that you trained hard.
You’ve got this!
This is a sponsored conversation written by 12 Minute Athlete on behalf of Symyx Elevate. The opinions and text are all ours.