At home workout: 15 minute tabata interval workout

In the quest to add more options for those looking to get a great workout at home, in as little time as possible, here is another at home interval workout.

I will list the workout, then also discuss some options to modify the workout for each person. Some might need more of a challenge, while others might need to lower the difficulty of some of the exercises. Regardless, the workout can be tailored to everyone. Enjoy.

The workout consists of 5 exercises, they are as follows.We will follow the tabata protocol to complete this workout. You will work as hard as you can for 20 seconds, followed by 10 seconds of rest. You will do each exercise 4-8 times, depending on your ability. Then you will move onto the next exercise.

1. Body squats

• Remember to go as quickly as possible without sacrificing form. Keep head up and remember to bend at knees and hips, without leaning your shoulders out in front. Keep back straight through the exercise.
• To make more challenging, turn these into jump squats. Explode out of each squat to get feet off the ground, then quickly land and control your landing to land as soft and quietly as possible. This will require you to use much more of your core and thigh muscles.

2. Side lunges

• Remember to keep back straight. Speed without sacrificing form.
• To make more difficult, you can hop from one side lunge to the next (similar to split lunge jumps). Also, you can touch the floor each repetition for even more difficulty. Be cautious to bend the legs though to get low to the floor and not just bend over as this may strain your back.

3. Sprinting in place with high knees

• Remember, these are not pace-yourself exercises. You want to push yourself to the limit each segment. Sprint in place getting your knees as high as you can. Also, focus on pumping your arms, as this will help keep those tired legs moving.

4. Pushups

• You can move hands further away from your body to get more chest, or closer to body to get more tricep work.
• To make exercise more difficult, you can do staggered pushups (with a small hop off ground and changing position of hands). Though, I doubt anyone will need added difficulty for this section.
• To make exercise easier, you can do the pushups from your knees. I recommend starting with regular pushups until they are too difficult, then switching to your knees, so that you are always pushing yourself to your max.

5. Plank knee to elbow

• Standard plank position, remember to go for speed without sacrificing form, keeping the core contracted the entire time. Focus on keeping your abs, sides, and butt contracted throughout the entire segment.
• To make the exercise more difficult, go down into plank position on your elbows, rather than your hands.

The Tabata Timer allows you to set up a timer with 20 second work segments followed by 10 seconds of rest. Great tool to help you in your workout.

Below are videos of some of the exercises in case you are unsure of how to do the exercise properly.