There are many different ways to get fitter and stronger and while lifting weights or doing explosive HIIT workouts that involve a lot of jumping around are undoubtedly both effective ways to shape up, you don’t have to do either to improve your fitness.
This 30-minute full-body workout from fitness trainer DanielPT Fitness is designed to be low-impact, so there are no jumping exercises, and you don’t need any equipment to do it, though rolling out one of the best yoga mats is worthwhile on hard or slippery floors.
Although this is a lower-intensity workout, it’s still one that will challenge you regardless of your fitness level. By moving slowly throughout the session you maximize the time under tension for the muscles you’re targeting with each exercise, and you’ll feel the benefits in terms of increased functional strength and muscle endurance.
You power through an impressive 35 exercises during the workout, doing each move for 40 seconds and then resting for 15 seconds, with a longer 20 second break coming after every fifth move.
Watch DanielPT’s 30-minute bodyweight workout
Most of the exercises are done on the spot but there are a couple of moves like bear crawls where you need a bit more space, so bear that in mind when picking your workout location — having four or five meters to crawl before turning around is helpful.
Throughout the workout you can see a video demonstration of the upcoming exercise during your rest period, and Daniel also performs each move with you so you can copy his immaculate form to make sure you’re engaging the right muscles.
All of the moves in the workout are done at a slow and controlled pace, which reduces the impact of the move while adding strain to the targeted muscles as you keep them engaged for longer.
While you won’t develop explosive power in the way you might do when doing plyometric exercises like squat jumps, you build strength and endurance through this workout, while reducing the impact on your joints of the moves.
One aspect of this workout that I find really appealing is that many of the moves double up as dynamic stretches while also strengthening your muscles. This means it’s a good workout to add into your routine alongside other styles of training, as it makes for a welcome break from higher-impact styles of training and stretches your muscles while making you stronger.
Since the working sets are quite long at 40 seconds you will feel your muscles starting to burn and if you need to take an extra break then do so. Keep doing the workout until you can complete each and every set, and then you can look to keep progressing by doing a longer routine or introducing weights like in this 30-minute dumbbell workout.
