3 ways with an...EXERCISE MAT

Can you get creative with your workout using just a mat? Of course you can. These three moves from PT Lucy Miller will keep your workout fun while toning the body from head to toe

- Lucy Miller

If you have little budget to buy kit, and little room to store it, don’t panic. There’s no excuse to miss a workout or get bored, as just having a mat can be more than enough to keep you fit and looking fabulous. Coming in all shapes and sizes – and budgets, too – a mat can simply be rolled up and put away, yet is suitable for yoga and Pilates or HIIT and plyometrics. They are so diverse.

The following three moves are each designed to target a certain muscle group using just a workout mat and your body for resistance, so if you do an entire circuit of the three moves, you’re going to get a full-body workout anytime – and anywhere you choose. 

WHAT TO DO 

Complete three sets of the indicated number of reps for each exercise, moving from one exercise to the next, taking 15 seconds of rest in between each.

Move through the entire circuit once, and, if you really want to up the intensity (and time), incorporate 10 reps of squat jumps or a plyometric move, such as tuck jumps in between each exercise.

EXPLOSIVE PUSH UP 

Benefits: This upper body move will work your chest while working your biceps and shoulders, too.