Matt's thoughts on fitness: Workout of the day

As I said in my welcome blog, I will be posting a daily workout that you can do in the comfort of your own home to help you look fab.

I'll post the workout the day before so that you are prepared for it, and can ask any questions before you give it a try.

So here we go!

What you'll need - some space, and possibly a timer if your not good with estimating rest periods.

Warmup: Try for 10 times/repetitions of the Bodyweight Squat (also known as the Prisoner Squat) for several sets, let's say at least 3 sets, and no more than 5 sets. Rest about 15-20 seconds in between each set of 10. Remember, this is to get you warm, and huffing/sweating, so don't go resting for several minutes in between sets, as it defeats the purpose of warming up your body! Each set, you should feel yourself getting deeper into the Squat, and by your final warmup set, you should be achieving (or work on achieving) the depth the picture outlines:

Workout: Let the pain begin! Ha, just kidding. Squat Jumps are our only exercise for today, so learn to do them, and do them well! They are fantastic for putting our body into a fat burning state, and work wonders for not just our legs, but our whole body!
Now, I want you to aim for at least 5 jumps a set, 10 being the goal. At first, we'll go for 10 sets (whoa), resting about 30 seconds in between. If you can do more than this, then go for it! Try for 15 sets if you can! Eventually, we'll make this workout for time - you'll try to perform as many sets of 10 as you can in say 10 minutes, and build this to 15 minutes....
Now, take a look at the pictures for how I want you to do your Squat Jumps:

Pause briefly (maybe 1 second) in between jumps, but unlike the picture, either KEEP YOUR HANDS ON YOUR HEAD or PUT THEM ON THE GROUND BETWEEN YOUR LEGS, like this:

Never sacrifice form for how many jumps you can do. If you feel your form getting sloppy after 4 jumps, then stop the set! Make it a goal for yourself to build how many jumps you can do each set.

After your finished with Squat Jumps, take a break, and have a quick stretch if you need it, focusing on your Quads, Hamstrings and Glutes.