Your No-Brainer Workout

When life gets busy, you don’t have time to think, let alone train. This circuit takes the guesswork out of training and gets you in and out of the gym in no time.

Work, family, household responsibilities — life can get busy. Most women find it difficult to focus on fitness with everything else happening around them, but this program, designed by Kim Truman, a Dallas-based fitness trainer and wellness coach, literally does the thinking for you. The workout is quick and flexible, with only six exercises to remember. It’s the perfect no-brainer way to stay fit and healthy when life comes at you full force. What’s stopping you?

The Workout

“This workout is designed to attack your body using a three-pronged approach,” Truman says. “First, you’ll be moving in different planes, stimulating your muscles from different angles. In addition, each exercise activates multiple muscles so you can get more done in less time. And finally, each exercise has a cardio component so your heart gets some exercise, too.”

How to do it: Do this plan three to four days per week. Perform the moves in a circuit, doing one after another with little to no rest in between. Go through the circuit up to three times for a solid 20- to 30-minute workout that you can do anywhere.

Power Jump

Reps: 10–20

Muscles worked: glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, core

Setup: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, hands at your sides.

Move: Shoot your hips back and squat down until your hip crease is at the same level as your knees or lower. Quickly reach your arms overhead and leap as high as you can into the air. Land softly and repeat right away. For an extra challenge, hold a pair of dumbbells in each hand but do not reach your arms overhead during the jump.

Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift and Row

Reps: 12

Muscles worked: glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, core, lats, biceps, rear delts

Setup: Hold a dumbbell in each hand at your sides and stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.

Move: With a slightly bent “soft” right knee, hinge at the hips and lower your torso as your straight left leg rises behind you. Maintain a straight line from your left heel all the way to your head, which should remain in a neutral position throughout the movement. Let the weights pull your arms straight down. Once your torso comes parallel to the floor, row both weights up to your body. Slowly lower the dumbbells and then come back to standing. Repeat for all reps on one leg and then switch sides.

Sit And Flip

Reps: 8–10

Muscles worked: deltoids, trapezius, lats, pectorals, abs, glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, core

Setup: Sit with your left leg extended and your right leg bent. Place your left hand on the floor behind your back and extend your right arm overhead.

Move: Press through your right foot and raise your hips off the ground. Reach your right arm over toward the left side and flip into plank position. Hold for one breath, then flip back to the start. Switch your legs and arms and perform the same move to your right. Continue, alternating sides.

Three-Way Push-Up

Reps: 15

Muscles worked: deltoids, triceps, pectorals, abs, core

Setup: Assume a push-up position with your legs extended and abs tight. Place your hands close together underneath your sternum.

Move: Bend your elbows and do one push-up. Move your hands underneath your shoulders and do another push-up. Finally, spread your hands wider than shoulder-width apart and do another push-up to complete one rep.

Plate Lunge

Reps: 20

Muscles worked: glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, deltoids, lats, core

Setup: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, abs engaged, holding a weight plate fully extended over your head with your scapula squeezed together and pulled downward.

Move: With your right foot, step forward into a deep lunge. Do not let your back knee touch the ground or your front knee move out over your toes. Keep the weight directly overhead, with your gaze forward, chest up, arms straight and elbows locked out. Drive your right heel into the ground and return to the starting position. Alternate feet every rep.

Plank Donkey Kicks

Reps: 20

Muscles worked: deltoids, trapezius, triceps, abs, glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, calves

Setup: Get into plank position with your hands underneath your shoulders and your head, hips and heels in line.

Move: Keeping your arms straight and your legs together, hop both feet into the air and pivot to the right side, landing again in a plank. Reverse directions to complete one rep and continue, alternating sides.