The trainer: Cody Harter, a certified personal trainer (and former Marine) in Chestnut Hill, Mass. The move: Mountain climbers Difficulty: Medium
Get in the standard plank position (hands shoulder-width apart on the floor, feet hip-distance apart, back flat) except place your feet on paper plates. On an exhale, slide your right knee to your chest; on an inhale, bring it back to the starting position as you simultaneously bring your left leg toward your chest. Switch moving your legs back and forth for 30 seconds, building up to a minute or more. And make sure you keep your back flat (don't lift your butt!), which is a key to making the move effective.
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The equipment: Skateboard
The trainer: Ky Evans, head trainer at The Studio (MDR), an SPX Pilates studio in Los Angeles The move: Ab "crawl" crunch Difficulty: Hard
Get into a standard plank position, except place your feet together on the skateboard (placed vertically on the floor). On an exhale, keep your back flat and pull your navel to your spine, flattening the lower abs, as you pull the skateboard toward your chest for a count of four. On an inhale, press out through your toes, straightening the legs, so your feet come back to the starting position, again also on a count of four. Do this for one minute, or until complete muscle exhaustion.
We know -- you can't make it to the gym because you're slammed at work. Or your neck and lower back hurt from sitting at your desk all day. Or you'd just rather plop on the couch and watch TV.
Don't get us wrong, we're not ones to judge. We've made these excuses too. But after talking to top trainers from around the country, we've decided it's time to put the skids on the lame-o justifications for not working out. Why? Because these trainers clued us in to the fact that it's seriously easy to create an at-home gym that'll help you look and feel better almost immediately.
"It's much easier than you might think to train your body effectively at home," says Ky Evans, head trainer at The Studio (MDR), an SPX Pilates studio in Los Angeles. Even better, not only will these moves help you tone up quickly, but they can also help ease chronic pain, fatigue, and stress. "Too often, we stay sedentary when we're stressed -- or we think of pain as a reason not to work out," says Evans. "These moves will help you feel energized -- and they'll make your aches and pains go away."
Enter this cheat sheet of simple exercises that use things everyone's got laying around the house. Grab 'em all and you can create a home workout that'll get your heart pumping and muscles working. Even better, the moves are so much fun, you might actually look forward to doing them.
Another bonus: This at-home gym "equipment" is portable, which means we're really doing a number on your cache of I-don't-want-to-workout excuses. "You can do these moves anywhere -- in your hotel room, at the beach, when you're camping, anywhere," says Evans.
So what are you waiting for? Read on for the kick in the yoga pants you've been looking for.
