How can anybody fit in a simple, quick, full-body workout, anywhere?
“Two words: Jump rope,” said Dr. Michael Joyner, an avid exerciser and physiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
In his usage, the phrase is both object and action. “I have a beautiful leather boxers’ jump rope my mother gave me when I was trying to become a more coordinated high-school basketball player,” he said. “When I travel and there is zero equipment, I find a place to do a series of calisthenics and jump rope.”
His regimen follows. It can be done in barely 30 minutes in a hotel room, spare bedroom, garage, porch, park, driveway or airport lounge, if you are uninhibited, he said. He does this in locker rooms during his sons’ swim meets.
Ask a family member to cheer and time you and switch places at the end.
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5 minutes of jumping jacks and running in place
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4 minutes of squat thrusts. (Stand, bend your knees, crouch until your palms are flat on the floor, kick your legs back, straighten and repeat, like a burpee without the jump.)
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1 minute of jumping rope
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3 minutes of squat thrusts
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1 minute of jumping rope
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2 minutes of squat thrusts
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1 minute of jumping rope
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1 minute of squat thrusts
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1 minute of jumping rope
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20 push-ups or until your arms wobble
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1 minute of wall sitting. (Press your back against a wall, legs bent as if you were seated on a chair.)
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20 air squats or until your thighs burn. (From a standing position, bend your knees, spine straight and arms outstretched before you; squat as low as feels comfortable. Rise and repeat.)
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Repeat the last three exercises twice more, if possible
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Gasp and pass the jump rope to the next person in line