I spent time (and I had plenty!) developing and mastering a morning workout that would motivate me enough to continue exercising while confined in the one and only hotel room. I kind of promised it, so here it is, an amateur training that hopefully will inspire you a bit.
The workout consists of about 25 min warm up, 20 min main workout followed by 15 min warm down. The music can guide you through the exercises non stop during 1h (57 min exactly).
Warm up:
1. On “Escape 700” from The Chemical Brothers (5’16): Slow head motion, then arms (make rounds, keep them horizontally with thumb moves up for 8 counts, then down for 8 counts, then behind, etc… for about 2’), legs (this step begins when the music stop beating for a while), then back on track with a stone plank lasting until the end of the song.
2. “Pelican” (Edit) from David Guetta (3’25): begin running, run around the room, make your circle in the room a kind of meditative state; – I learned that several “Stay-at-Hotel-Notice” fellows have done a marathon during their quarantine so I integrated a 10 min running time into the warm up of the workout -.
3. “Obsessed” from Dyonoro & Ina Wroldsen (3’30): continue running in the room, just listen to the music…
4. “Dangerous” (feat. Sam Martin, Robin Schulz Remix) from David Guetta (2’15): run around the room faster (the transition is not ideal, I don’t like the beginning but I really love the jumbe part and the last part of the song from the 1’03 timepoint).
5. “Glasgow” from David Guetta (5’14): Here you should be already quite warm, and this is going to be serious: almost nonstop intense cardio alternating with legs up, running fast at the same place, ice-skating and jumping jacks. Make a break in between if you need to drink water.
6. “Bad guy” from Billie Eilish (3’14): Do not stop, go directly down in plank position, it is going on with great intensity…. So stay a bit in plank position, then alternate mountain climbers slow and fast, high and low plank. When the music stops and it is the jam phase, take a breath and drink a sip! get ready at the end of the song.
Core workout:
You must be sweating already. This part of the workout is based on 8 repetitions per exercises, 4 on the right and 4 on the left side or 8 in total, each repetition consisting of 20 sec intense action and 10 sec rest. I slowly moved towards following the music once I knew I could more or less do the same intensity with the rhythm (and once I choose the music).
1. “We own it” (Fast & Furious) from 2 Chainz & Wiz Khalifa: Squats: 1 repetition slow, 1 rep slow with hands going down, then 2 rep in a row, then 2 rep resting in squat position, finish with 2 reps adding a jump. Arms can go from the horizontal front to the sides of your waist with the move.
2. “Turn me on” (feat. Nicki Minaj) from David Guetta: start in lounge, arms horizontal in front of you, the behind right leg comes up in front, foot close to your left knee, left leg gets straight at the same time, while the arms come down with clenched fists. Go back to lounge. Repeat about 10 to 12 times (during about 20 sec), rest 10 sec, and repeat this 4 times with right foot in front and 4 times with the left foot in front lounge.
At the end of this music you can take some rest drinking water and breathing and dancing. The next song is long!
3. “Panamericana” (Michel Cleis remix) from Gotan Project: When the second foghorn sounds in the song, go back to the workout with Burpees (8 x (20 sec + 10 sec rest).
4. On the same music and the following: continue with Leg kicking: put your hands on the floor, feet flat about 1 m behind; bring the right foot up and kick behind in the air above your body and tightening your but, come down at the level of the knee and repeat by kicking again. Hold your but and strengthen your core. Kick for 20 sec, rest for 10sec, and repeat this 4 times on the left side before passing by to the right side. When you master it, the kick can be done by jumping up. If this is too hard you can leave your left knee on the mat while you kick with the right leg. The song may end before you finish the 8 repetitions, but the next song has the same rhythm so it doesn’t matter.
5. “La cruz del Sur”(Interfearance Vocal Mix) from Gotan Project: Once finished with the Leg kicking, go back on the mat. Lie on the back, and proceed with crunches (8 repetitions of 20 sec + 10 sec each, you can make it 4 slow, 4 fast or choosing 2 different crunches types.
Warm down
Series of stretching, legs, back, with bouddha like positions, front flexibility, and the lizard position… breath, and smile.
1. “I put a spell on you” from Nina Simone: I like this music because it can refer to your loved one, but also to yourself…
2. “I’d rather go blind” from Etta James
3. “I’ve got to see you again” from Norah Jones… hope
4. “ Here comes the sun” from The Beatles CONGRATS! YOU ARE DONE! And the sun will shine soon!
Inspirations of the training was based on:
⁃ Yoga shred workouts found online (HIIT yoga shred on Facebook watch);
⁃ The fabulous workouts of Herzie and Raz at the Tiong Bahru Gym PushPullGive in Singapore, that inspired our entire family at large and prepared us for the Spartan races last year (www.pushpullgive.com);
⁃ My playlist can be found on Spotify (“Quarantine – morning workout”).
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