Making Exercise Convenient
We know it’s hard to make time for exercise, so we’ve designed MoveWell to be something you can do at home—or wherever you are—with no special equipment and no cost involved. The workouts are great for all fitness levels, with “Make It Easier” and “Make It Harder” variations for each movement.
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Workout of the Month—December
Reminder: All adults should aim for a minimum of 150 minutes of exercise per week, which averages about 30 minutes per day, 5 days a week. We recommend performing this workout routine 2-3 days a week (on non-consecutive days) and choosing other activities like jogging, biking, swimming, yoga or group fitness classes on the other 2-3 days of the week.
Objective
This month’s workout features a series movements that can be performed using only a mat, a towel, a stopwatch or timer, a chair and your body. You can make each movement more challenging or easier, depending on your current fitness level. When the whole workout is performed, it provides a balanced dose of training for cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle endurance, balance and core stability.
Instructions
Begin with a 4-5 minute total-body warm-up. Use the sample below or something similar, or go for a short walk and do a few stretches. Then perform the exercises in this workout in order, with intervals of 40 seconds work to 20 seconds rest. If you are new to exercise, complete the workout two times, taking 1-2 minutes of rest between the first round and the second round. If you’re feeling up to it, repeat the workout a third or fourth time. Finish with about 5 minutes of wrap-up and stretches using the sample wrap-up below or something similar.
Disclaimer
You should consult your physician or other healthcare professional before beginning any exercise program. It’s important to understand that participating in an exercise program can lead to physical injuries. If you participate in MoveWell, you agree that you are doing so at your own risk, are voluntarily participating in Movewell, and assume all risk of injury to yourself. If you engage in the MoveWell program, you agree to release and discharge Upstate Affiliate Organization d/b/a Greenville Health System and its affiliate organizations from any and all claims or causes of action related to or arising from your participation in the MoveWell program.
View a print-friendly version of the December workout here.
List of Exercises
Tire run
- Make it Easier: Move slower
- Make it Harder: Move faster, higher knees
Single-leg reverse lunge with knee lift (right)
- Make it Easier: Omit the knee lift
- Make it Harder: Straight-leg kick instead of knee lift
Single-leg reverse lunge with knee lift (left)
- Make it Easier: Omit the knee lift
- Make it Harder: Straight-leg kick instead of knee lift
10×10 jogger
- Make it Easier: Move slower
- Make it Harder: Move faster, higher knees
Squat + heel raise
- Make it Easier: Stand near sturdy support or omit heel raise
- Make it Harder: Add a jump instead of heel raise
Single-leg hip hinge (right)
- Make it Easier: Staggered-stance hip hinge
- Make it Harder: Extend arms overhead
Single-leg hip hinge (left)
- Make it Easier: Staggered-stance hip hinge
- Make it Harder: Extend arms overhead
Prone back extension snow angel
- Make it Easier: Bent-arm back extension
- Make it Harder: Add snow angel legs
Elbow plank with alternate shoulder tap
- Make it Easier: Do the elbow plank kneeling
- Make it Harder: Do an arm extension instead of a shoulder tap
1/2 dead bug
- Make it Easier: Bent-knee 1/2 dead bug
- Make it Harder: Full dead bug
Objective: This sample warm-up consists of 10 movement patterns organized to prepare the entire body for moderate to vigorous exercise. Movements should feel progressively larger and more challenging. The heart rate and core temperature should be slightly elevated at the completion of the sequence.
Instructions: Perform the movements in sequence, spending 30-60 seconds on each movement and transitioning immediately into the next exercise.
Total time: 5-10 minutes
- Marching knee hug
- Cross-body back step with overhead reach
- Side shuffle + low reach
- Low-intensity butt kicks
- Alternating body hugs
- Frankenstein cross-body kicks
- Jump rope (invisible)
- Side squat with towel chest press
- Reverse lunge with towel overhead extension
- Walking burpee
Objective: This sample wrap-up consists of movements and postures organized to help recover from a total-body exercise routine. The heart rate, breathing rate and core temperature should return to resting at the completion of the sequence.
Instructions: Perform the movements in sequence, spending 10-30 seconds on each posture and transitioning immediately into the next.
Total Time: 5 minutes (minimum)
- Standing cat/cow stretch
- Standing quadriceps stretch—right
- Seated or standing figure-4 stretch—right
- Standing forward fold
- Standing quadriceps stretch—left
- Seated or standing figure-4 stretch—left
- Standing adductor stretch
- Standing hip flexor stretch—right
- Standing calf stretch—right
- Standing hip flexor stretch—left
- Standing calf stretch—left
- Standing rear delt/lat stretch
- Standing pec minor + major stretch
- Standing trap stretch
Upper Body
- 1/2 Lift-off push-up
- Back extension + back fly
- Breaststroke back extension
- Child’s pose push-up
- Down dog + plank push-up
- Elbow plank alternate shoulder tap
- Hook + uppercut
- Inchworm (arms only)
- Kneeling lift-off push ups
- Kneeling plank hand walk
- Kneeling push-up with knee walk
- Lateral plank walk
- Oblique back extension
- Rotating plank
- Prone I-Y-T
- Tricep dips
- Towel lateral extension
Lower Body
- Alternating front kick
- Bridge + reverse crunch
- Broad jump
- Butt kick repeater
- Chair pose
- Double-pump body squat
- Double-pump plie
- High-knee freeze
- Isometric glute bridge with towel
- Lateral hop tap
- Lateral lunge + curtsy lunge
- Lateral lunge with reach
- Low jab + side kick
- Pendulum lunge
- Plank walkouts
- Prisoner squat with rotation
- Prone 1/2 snow angel
- Runner’s lunge
- Single-leg hip hinge
- Speed skater
- Squat + heel raise
- Squat + reverse lunge
- Tire run
Click here to open a YouTube playlist of all MoveWell movements used in workouts so far, then create your own workout by making them into a customized playlist!
Sample Custom Workouts
15-minute Core Workout (:45 work, :15 rest, 3x)
20-minute Upper-body Workout (:40 work, :20 rest, 4x)
30-minute Cardio/Legs Workout (:45 work, :15 rest, 2x with 1:00 b/w rounds)
Core
- 1/2 Dead bug
- 1/2 Kneeling wood chop
- 1/2 Lift-off push-up
- 1/2 Roll-up
- Back extension + back fly
- Boat pose with march
- Breaststroke back extension
- Bridge + reverse crunch
- Chair pose
- Child’s pose push-up
- Cross-body back extension
- Cross-body toe reach
- Cross-body V-sit towel twist
- Down dog + plank push-up
- Elbow plank
- Elbow plank alternate shoulder tap
- High-knee freeze
- Hollow body flutter kicks
- Inchworm (arms only)
- Isometric glute bridge with towel
- Isometric kickout crunches
- Kneeling lift-off push-ups
- Kneeling plank hand walk
- Lateral plank walk
- Modified bicycle crunch
- Mountain climber
- Oblique back extension
- Plank walkouts
- Prisoner squat with rotation
- Prone 1/2 snow angel
- Prone back extension snow angel
- Push-up knee walk
- Reverse tabletop + alternating march
- Rotating plank
- Single-leg hip hinge
- Supine trunk rotation
- V-sit roll back
Total Body
- 10-by-10 jogger
- Butt kickers with overhead punch
- Cardio curtsy with rainbow arms
- Dynamic bird dog
- Figure-8 knee raise
- Floor touch uppercuts
- Fly jacks
- Goalpost reverse lunges
- Heel-tap jump rope
- Jump jacks + prisoner squats
- Jumping jacks with overhead towel press
- Kneeling side plank leg lifts
- Lateral hop + heel raise
- Lateral shuffle + walking burpee
- Lateral squat with overhead reach
- Plank half jack
- Single-leg reverse lunge
- Stable skater
- Star kicks
- Tapbacks
- Walking burpee
