A low-impact workout doesn’t have to be ineffective or low in intensity. You can stay on the ground and still move your body with great control and solid intensity. In today’s at-home workout, I’m showing you how to target your full body without a single burpee or jump. This is an ideal workout for people of all fitness levels, and if you want to step it up, you can always add some dynamic hops or dumbbells to the exercises. Learn and watch the entire routine below.
The Workout: Low-Impact Apartment-Friendly HIIT Cardio
30 seconds for each move and 15 seconds of rest
Repeat each move for 4 rounds in a circuit format
Rest 30 seconds between each round of 5 circuits
Total workout time: 15 minutes
The Moves:
1. Diagonal Knee Drivers
2. Prisoner Squat and Knee Drive Twist
3. Inchworm Plank Cross Crunches
4. Reverse Lunge and Tap Down with Calf Raise
The Move: Diagonal Knee Drivers
How to: Start this exercise with your weight on your right foot, and turn your toe 45 degrees externally. Keep the weight in this foot and slightly bend your knee as you extend your arms straight overhead to the right. Balancing on your right leg, engage your core, and drive your left knee up toward your chest as you pull your arms down toward your driving knee. Release your left leg back toward the ground and tap the floor before driving back up again.
To modify this exercise, slow the pace of your knee drive and pause when your foot touches back on the ground. Perform this exercise alternating between each side of the body for each round of 30 seconds so you complete two rounds on the right side and two rounds on the left side.
The Move: Prisoner Squat and Knee Drive Twist
How to: This exercise is great for your legs, glutes, and ab muscles. Start with a wide stance squat and place your hands behind your ears. Engage your core and shift your hips back as you sit down into your squat, making sure you keep your back flat and your chest up. Stand up out of your squat and transition the weight to your right leg as you bring your left knee up toward your chest. When your left leg is at your waist level, twist your torso to the left so your core rotates toward the lifted-leg side of your body. Return your torso back to the center as you lower your leg back to the floor and repeat this movement, switching legs each time you drive your knee up when coming out of your squat.
To modify this exercise, pause at the top of your squat and leave both legs on the ground, then complete your torso twist using your core muscles.
The Move: Inchworm Plank Cross Crunches
How to: Start with your feet wider than hip-width apart. If your hamstrings are not flexible enough to get your hands on the ground in front of your toes without bending your knees, spread your feet a bit wider and continue to work on hamstring flexibility outside of this workout! Place your hands in front of your feet and walk out to a high plank position. As you stabilize and engage your core in your plank, drive your left knee under your body toward your right elbow and return it back to the plank position. Repeat this part of the exercise with your right leg, driving it toward your left elbow, and return it back to the plank position as well. Walk your hands back toward your toes, and without standing up and pulling your hands off the ground, walk back out to your plank to restart the second rep of this exercise.
Modify this exercise by staying in the plank position the whole time and eliminate walking your hands back toward your toes.
The Move: Reverse Lunge and Tap Down with Calf Raise
How to: Start with both feet right under your hip and step one leg back into a reverse lunge. Bend both knees to 90 degrees and keep the weight evenly distributed between your front heel and your back toe. Touch the floor beside your front foot with the hand opposite of your front foot and stand back up out of your lunge. When both feet are back at the starting position together, lift your heels off the ground in a calf raise and fully extend your arms overhead as you engage your calves, quads, glutes, core, and arm muscles. Lower your heels back to the ground, switch legs for your lunge, and continue to touch down to the floor with the hand opposite of your front leg.
To modify this exercise, exchange the lunge for a squat and tap down on the floor inside your opposite foot before standing up out of your squat and performing your calf raise and straight-arm overhead reach.
A former Division 1 high jumper and record holder at West Virginia University, Sydney is a National Academy of Sports Medicine Personal Trainer and Fitness Nutrition Specialist in Charlotte, North Carolina. Sydney and her fiancé Dustin created the Royal Change digital media company and post a new, completely free workout every day. They have a quickly growing audience with over 53,000,000 views since they started their YouTube channel. Royal Change’s mission is to always provide high-quality fitness to everyone, everywhere, at any time.
