How to Do a Full Body Workout in 20 Minutes at Home

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A one-hour workout is not necessary to get a good full-body conditioning workout. In fact, a study indicates that a ten or twenty-minute exercise session can be as effective as a longer, less intense session; just as long, maybe longer, if the exercises selected are proper and the rest periods are brief. With only 20 minutes to commit each day, no equipment required and no travel time, it’s eminently possible for busy Sri Lankan women who are busy with their work, family, cooking and home chores. This blog provides an entire workout, complete with directions, for a 20-minute session that targets all parts of the body but requires no equipment except your own body weight!

Why 20 Minutes Is Enough

The secret of creating a short exercise that is very effective is compound exercises. A compound exercise is one that also involves more than one muscle being used. A squat is a full-body movement that engages the quadriceps and hamstrings, glutes, calves and core. A push-up strengthens multiple areas at the same time: chest, triceps, shoulders and core. With compound exercises and short rest intervals, you can activate all major muscle groups in your body and put your heart rate into fat burn mode all in about 20 minutes. It’s the same method that is responsible for the effectiveness and popularity of HIIT training for fat-burning purposes.

The Structure: Circuit Training

This exercise program is laid out in a circuit training format. Each exercise is performed for 40 seconds, followed by a rest period of 20 seconds, and then immediately the next exercise. Repeat the circuit from start (all six exercises) until you are finished, then rest for 60 seconds and repeat. Just 3 full circuits/moves of the workout, at the proper pace for 20 minutes total. This format will keep the heart rate high for the entire session and optimise oxygen consumption within the session and over time, or the ‘after burn’ effect, which is the number of calories burned in the hours after the exercise session.

Exercise 1: Jump Squats

Jumping squats burn the most fat in the legs, back, butt, and thighs, and patiently, they burn a lot. Place your feet hip distance apart. Squat, jump and jump up through the power of the heels. Be gentle when landing, avoiding hard impacts by bending knees on landing. However, failing to jump because of knee issues, perform the squat faster than normal without jumping. The muscle activation you get from your quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings, calves and core with a jump squat, plus your rapid heart rate, makes it an effective fat-burning activity in the first 30 seconds.

Exercise 2: Push-ups

Push-ups build overall chest, triceps, shoulder and core strength. Maintain the body in a rigidly straight line (head to foot) throughout all repetitions. Bend your torso down close to the ground, push back up slowly and carefully. If full push-ups are too difficult, step them back to the knee level but maintain the flat back position. In 40 seconds of work during one exercise, most women will be able to do between 8 and 12 repetitions, the optimal number to build and tone upper body muscles.

Exercise 3: Reverse Lunges

Reverse lunges tone your glutes, hamstrings and quadriceps muscles, and increase your knee stability and balance. Stand straight and step 1 foot behind the rear foot and keep the back knee down towards the floor without touching. Be sure to bend back up while using alternate legs during the 40 seconds. Forward Lunges tend to put more pressure on the kneecaps and are therefore not an optimal exercise for sensitive knees for women.

Exercise 4: Mountain Climbers

Climbing the mountain has a fast-paced action that works multiple muscle groups at once, your core, shoulders and hip flexors. In the pushup starting position. Quickly alternate legs (rolling back and forth and running movement) as you drive your knee toward your chest, maintaining your pelvis low and soft. Work at a level that may be difficult but not impossible; it’s difficult to sustain too quickly and you will lose confidence and a sense of being, since you are the one focusing on belly fat loss, and this will soon make you ineffective over time.

Exercise 5: Glute Bridges

The glute bridges work the hamstrings, glutes and lower back and lower core muscles. Resting on your back, your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Squeeze your buttocks tightly at the top of the movement, pause for 1 second and then drive your hips back to the floor. The exercise works very well to resculpt the lower body and is one of the best exercises out there to get the glute muscle moving, with no equipment involved.

Exercise 6: Plank Hold

A 40-second plank hold at the end of each circuit further strengthens the body’s center. Rest forearms and elbows on the floor and keep your body in a stiff, straight line. Target pelvic floor muscles to work towards drawing the tummy button in towards the spine and breathe slowly and even throughout the exercise. Keep your hips steady throughout the hold; don’t let them go up or down. Immediate benefits of the plank include improved posture, decreased lower back pain and a more toned stomach over time.

Staying Consistent

The key to obtaining benefits from this 20-minute exercise routine is to stick to it, generally 5-6 times each week. Record each activity in an easy-to-follow notebook or telephone calendar. After two weeks, that “hard day one” circuit will feel like the easy one. In two weeks, the most difficult of the circuits from day one will feel easier and you will know you’re improving your fitness. But the true thing that carries you forward every day is the strides you make in your own body and your own energy.