Your First 30-Minute Workout Plan

Looking for an accessible place to start? This home workout plan is a great way to squeeze a little activity into your busy routine and learning some essential exercises

- Decathlon

When exercising, it’s tempting to want to break into a run before you can walk. But if you’ve never worked out before – or at least haven’t for a while – it really is worth starting simple. Getting a good routine going and learning some of the most versatile exercises is much more valuable initially than lengthy routines involving complex equipment. This is because it will be easier to fit into your day and you will start to experience some of the benefits of a regular routine right away, before you start to increase your commitment.

Although it’s recommended that we aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity every day, this series of exercises takes around ten minutes to do. So our advice would be to do three sets of each exercise to start with. You can do the three sets one after the other or do them like a circuit, by doing one set of all five exercises and then starting from the first exercise again until you’ve completed three circuits.

YOUR 30-MINUTE WORKOUT PLAN

PUSHUPS

10 reps

This is one of the best body-weight exercises for your upper body as it builds a strong chest, shoulders, arms and abs.

Get in a pushup position with your hands roughly shoulder-width apart, keep your lower back flat and don’t let your hips sag. Lower yourself and keep your elbows close to your body as you descend: you should aim to get your chest within a few inches of the ground. Then raise yourself by pushing the ground away from you.

If you’re a beginner, you can start with your knees on the floor, although fully extending your legs increases the difficulty by adding more body weight. You can also use push up bar handles and other fitness accessories to mix up your routine a bit as you advance.