Workout Wednesdays: 20-Minute Workout Without Leaving Your Room

The end of term is the worst time for those fitness goals.  Not only are all of your deadlines looming menacingly in the all-too-near future, making it seem that there is not enough time for all the revision and research, but the weather just turns grim.  Most days it seems much more enticing to stay in the warm comforts of your room instead of battling your way through the rain, wind, and frigid temperatures to the gym, much less on an outdoor run!  And this is the time of year when those yummy Christmas treats abound… 

It’s not impossible, however, to fit in a bit of exercise to break up the monotony of study, battle the mince pies and mulled wine, and stay away from the cold.  Here’s a quick 20-minute workout routine that you can do in the comforts of your room.  It’s short enough to fit between study sessions, targets all major muscle groups for maximum toning, and can be repeated as much or as little as you like – 3 sessions spread through a winter’s day of study and Christmas cake is an hour of fitness, battling boredom, holiday bulge, and bitter weather!

You don’t need any special equipment for this routine, only a stable surface (a bed serves admirably). If you don’t own dumbbells, some tins of beans or tuna work a treat.

 

Warm-up:

Jogging in place – 2 minutes

 

Cardio Round 1:

Star jumps (‘jumping jacks’) – 1 minute (jump legs in and out, taking arms up and down at the same time)

High knees – 1 minute (run in place as fast as you can, trying to lift your legs up to your chest each time)

 

Arms Round 1:

Bicep Curls – 1 minute (use tins of beans as weights, one in each hand; if this is too light, try a multipack or fill a shopping back with several).

Tricep Dips – 1 minute (position arms behind you on a stable surface, put your legs out in front of you, bend your elbows to 90 degrees, and push back up).

Press-ups – 1 minute (everyone’s favourite; start in a plank either with feet or knees on the floor, lower your chest towards the floor, and push back up).

See, you can do it anywhere! (So why not your room?)
Image Credit: urban mixer

 

Abs Round 1:

Crunches – 1 minute (bend your knees, put your feet flat on the floor, hands behind your head and lift your chest up towards your knees, to the point just before your lower back leaves the floor; repeat rapidly).

Bicycles – 1 minute (start on your back and pedal your legs as if riding a bicycle; you can twist your elbows across your body to touch your alternate knee as it comes up to your chest to make it a bicycle crunch).

Seated Cross Punches – 1 minute (sit on a stable surface – NOT a swivel chair – and twist your torso side to side, punching your arms across your body).

 

Legs Round 1:

Chair Squats – 1 minute (keeping your knees in line with your ankles, sit back as if going into a chair, stand up, and repeat)

Lunges – 1 minute (standing with feet together, take a large step forward, bend your knees, and return to starting position; alternate legs each time). Use dumbbells to increase resistance.

The lunge – couldn’t be simpler!
Image Credit: admiller

 

Cardio Round 2:

Burpees – 1 minute (jump straight in the air, bend down and jump into a plank with optional press-up, stand, and repeat).

Bum Kicks – 1 minute (run in place as fast as you can, trying to kick your bum with your heels each time).

Tuck jumps – 30 seconds (intense – jump up and down non-stop, bringing your knees up to your chest each time).

March in Place – 30 seconds (a bit of recovery after the last interval).

 

Legs Round 2:

Squats – 1 minute (spread feet apart, toes turned slightly out, and sit straight down until your knees are bent at 90 degrees; straighten legs and repeat).

 

Arms Round 2:

Bicep Curls – 30 seconds (as above).

Tricep Dips – 30 seconds (as above).

Press-ups – 1 minute (it’s not the most pleasant exercise but it’s a good one for chest, arms, shoulders, and even abs with the plank position!)

 

Abs Round 2:

Roman Chairs – 1 minute (lie on your stomach and raise your shoulders and upper back off the floor – picture reverse crunches)

Bicycles – 1 minute (as above)

 

Cool down with some gentle stretching.

 

Carmen Paddock

How do you like to keep fit during the cold months? Let us know on Facebook and Twitter.

 

Catch up on Cornwall Campus: Coastal Storms and Troublesome Turkeys

Annabel Soper’s latest ‘Catch up on Cornwall Campus’ tells a tale of cold coastal storms and an improvised Thanksgiving meal…

So batten down the hatches, crawl into your shelters, the famous winter storm is coming in! This is currently the latest excitement in Cornwall. The weather. Winter is really here, and with it woolly jumpers, log fires and a whole load of hot chocolate.

Image Credit: Keith Richards (via thisiscornwall.co.uk)

The best part of our cosy, quirky student house in Falmouth is its large kitchen and living room, making it a great place for people to come over. Being typical students, we will take any excuse for a party – if by party you mean a wood burner, cheese and ice cream tasting, and the odd fort made up in the lounge. In Falmouth, as I mentioned last time, due to the lack of typical student night-life you have to get creative.

Last year around this time, after Halloween decorations came down, we gave it a few days before the winter twitches started – the wrong person went out on X-Factor, and we were twiddling our thumbs when it came to me – “Thanksgiving night!”

After a brief description to my non-American housemates of the story of Thanksgiving – harvests and all that – we decide to have a Thanksgiving evening, inviting all the American friends we know (two) and some others who never miss out on free food.

Shopping was interesting. We decided Iceland (the store) was our best bet, seeing as neither of us are particularly known for our cooking – my housemate still holds the cooking medal for burning rice for a meal that rendered the pan unusable.

It wasn’t long after we had picked up the frozen peas, parsnips, sprouts, beans, sweet corn and carrots that we found the turkey.

Neither of us had even seen the roasting of a turkey before, let alone roast one ourselves, and we were particularly pleased to read that it only took 40 minutes to roast! Amazing! Why our parents made such a fuss at Christmas time we didn’t know. So off we trotted back home.

Falmouth High Street in December 2012 – Image Credit: Fae (via Wikimedia Commons)

We started cooking/microwaving our Thanksgiving dinner an hour before our guests arrived. Plenty of time to roast a turkey…

It was only after half an hour and it still being rock solid that we looked closer at the cooking instructions: 40 minutes per kilo. Oops.

Oh well, live and learn. Not long after that useful revelation, our guests started to arrive. Luckily our third housemate was around to entertain them in the living room and keep them out of the kitchen. If they were to peek through however, they would have witnessed me hacking at the frozen turkey and tearing parts off, while my housemate ran back and forth between the microwave and oven, swapping bits of meat between them.

Fast forward twenty minutes, and we were all calmly seated around our kitchen table, tucking into a delicious, home cooked Thanksgiving dinner. Not really the kind you read about, but we have years to practice! After all, it was free food so they couldn’t complain.

As far as we know, there were no ill effects from our creative cooking methods, and it was a great evening. As fun as it was though, I’m not sure we could handle another one this year, though as least if we do, we know not to only leave 40 minutes to roast an entire turkey.

It was probably one of the few – if not the only – Thanksgiving meals in Falmouth that year, given it is much less publicised than other holidays. I would recommend it though – it’s great fun preparing it, and a good excuse to get people over for a meal. In Cornwall Novembers especially, any excuse to be inside and eating is a good one! Good luck in the storms everyone, and love from Cornwall!

Annabel Soper

Read Annabel’s introduction to life on Cornwall Campus here. 

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