Suggestions for a 15 Minute Home Workout?

Three days a week I work from home and I want to use the two fifteen minute breaks to exercise. One of them I’ll go for a walk, easy peasy I can just close the laptop and walk out the door. I want to use the other break for a more thought out routine with the same accessibility (i.e. just close the laptop and do it for 15 minutes).

My problem is what to do on what days. Do I focus push-ups for 15 minutes one day, then squats the next day, then pull-ups the next day, and so on? Or do I try to mix complementary exercise in a limited window?

For reference: I worked my way through the BWF primer routine a while back so I have a beginner’s understanding of those basic exercises. Got about 75lbs of extra fat, pretty good mobility/flexibility. My goal with these short workouts is to start a routine that I can stick with and build on in the future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLHGiimD1jE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvYKtA-eIVU&t=101s

Both of these videos are about micro-workouts spread throughout the day. I hope they help you. Both videos are short-ish too. Top is 12 minutes, bottom is 5 minutes (rounded up).

@Dacey
Super interesting vids, definitely gonna watch both in a bit!

Unrelated: I’m so burnt out by the amount of clickbait on the internet nowadays that I’m already assuming both vid titles probably have some specific caveat to them. But guess I’ll find out shortly…

@Bly
They actually don’t really. The Bioneer and Strength Side are genuinely solid channels. I’m super picky and if a channel clickbaits me once it goes on my ban list. I can’t fuck with a lot of fitness channels because of this, brownee is especially bad.

@Dacey

The Bioneer and Strength Side are genuinely solid channels. I’m super picky and if a channel clickbaits me once it goes on my ban list.

All popular content creators stay at the top because they’re incentivized/indirectly forced to continuously put out content. Even the honest/trusted folk may not put out traditional ‘clickbait’, but they do gradually bloat their channels with redundant info while constantly using phrases such as ‘Do THIS, but not THAT.’ in their titles which essentially force you to watch.

@Dacey
Without clicking your links, Bioneer is great. Can’t vouch for the other one.

@Dacey
This works really well!

When I started doing random short workouts throughout the whole day every day, instead of heavy workouts at the gym 3 days a week, I got faster gains!

Ladders. 1 pull-up, 1 push-up, 1 squat. 2 pull-ups, 2 push-ups, 2 squats. Keep adding reps until you fail. Then start back at 1 and cycle it again.

Avery said:
Ladders. 1 pull-up, 1 push-up, 1 squat. 2 pull-ups, 2 push-ups, 2 squats. Keep adding reps until you fail. Then start back at 1 and cycle it again.

Ooh we do these in Muay Thai with round kicks going from 1 up to 10 back to 1 back up to 5, then change legs. Ends up at 250 reps. It’s an absolute killer.

8 Minute Abs followed by… get this… 7 Minute Abs.

Shan said:
8 Minute Abs followed by… get this… 7 Minute Abs.

I was just thinking to do burpees til you puke, but your approach would yield an egg carton stomach, and that’s super cool too.

You don’t need a weird routine even if you have only 15 minutes. In your case you can do a push-pull-legs split. On push days, do any pushing exercise for 3-4 sets. Won’t take more than 10 minutes. Last 5 minutes, do an isolation exercise circuit for your chest, shoulder, and triceps. On pull days, any pulling exercise for 3-4 sets then a circuit of isolation exercises for lats, biceps, rear delts, and forearms. On leg days, again, 3-4 sets of a squat pattern and 2-3 sets of a hinge pattern.

Also, check out the red delta project YouTube channel. He has a playlist of 10-15 minute micro workouts. Maybe you will like them more.

Burpees are always a good choice for a quick 15min workout.

True said:
Burpees are always a good choice for a quick 15min workout.

Indeed. Add the pushup at the bottom and a mountain climber and you have a simple and effective full-body exercise.

@Bailey
then 4 min of weeping as cool down.

Neo said:
@Bailey
then 4 min of weeping as cool down.

The ol cold eye shower.

@Bailey
Use circle disks under your feet during mountain climbers for extra core strength. They are double-sided depending on the surface you are using. My micro workouts always end with a minute of plank and at least 1 min of stretching (deep child pose and pigeon on both sides!)

Edit: for abs, I try to include Ukrainian Twists basically every time because I feel that it gets all 4 ab areas! If someone thinks there is a better one please advise!

@Kris
Love core, I do it most days. I have a sit-up variation from Muay Thai where you come up, throw a one-two punch combo, then Russian twist, back down. It’s a pretty good one. Best way to target all areas of core is just keep mixing up the exercises IMO. I have about a dozen different holds and movements I incorporate regularly.

People will probably hate this but I use the Peloton app for their workouts 4-5 times a week and they have a ton of 10-20 minute workouts that absolutely toast me. Maybe give it a try with their free trial and see if you like it.

@Tal
I’m not familiar with them. What do you like about them? Why would somebody possibly dislike them?