I’m all about MOVING my body 365 days a year at varying levels of intensity. However, squeezing a daily trip to the gym is virtually impossible considering all types of work, volunteer and training obligations on my calendar (and I’m sure yours, too)!

My Mix-n-Match Home Workout is a no-brainer, no-stress way to fit more fitness into your day – knock it out when you wake up, during your lunch hour, after work or any time you have 16 minutes to spare. This “No Gym” workout requires on a single piece of exercise equipment, the most important, most valuable piece of exercise equipment – your body! Read on to get more details:

The mix-and-match aspect of this home workout is to choose one exercise from each category – cardio, upper body, core, and lower body. This flexibility in exercise choice and the fact that each chosen exercise is performed at your own pace for a set period of time makes the workout adaptable to any fitness level.

After you have chosen an exercise from each of the cardio, upper body, core, and lower body categories, you perform the four selected exercises continuously, at a pace suited for your fitness level, for 40 seconds followed by 20 seconds of rest. After the rest period, you jump into the next move for 40 seconds, with 20 seconds of rest, and so on. After you’ve done all four exercises, repeat the series again for a total of four rounds. You can add more rounds (or do fewer) depending on your desired level of activity for that day. Sometimes on my rest days, I will just wake up and go through a couple rounds at an easy pace to get warmed up and blood pumping – for active recovery!

Most of these body weight exercises are gym class classics, like the planks and sit ups pictured above. However, if you aren’t familiar with the movement protocols, just Google the exercise name and you should easily find an array of descriptions and tutorials.

The next time you do the Mix-n-Match Workout, choose a different line up of exercises from the list. Our bodies are designed to get stronger and fitter with constantly varied movements over time. You’ll never get bored with the Mix-n-Match workout, I whipped out my calculator and learned there are 625 various combinations! If you have more time, you can also incorporate a few of the “Workout Add-Ons” I’ve suggested above!

By the way, I originally developed the Mix-n-Match Home Workout for BeefLovingTexans.com on a piece I did about balancing exercise and diet! Not only is moving every day beeimportant, but so is eating well (notice, I didn’t say “dieting”). An active lifestyle should be fueled with well-balanced meals that taste good, provide quality nutrients and are satisfying. For myself, I’ve found that I stay at a happy, healthy weight when I combined exercise with a balanced plate.  Check out these suggestions for balanced meals that include beef!

These Mediterranean Beef Pitas are one of my favorite quick, easy meals using thinly cut, stir-fried sirlon steak stuffed into a pocket with veggies and hummus. Make in 20 minutes from scratch or 5 minutes with leftovers!

How do you balance fitness with the demands of life? What is your favorite body weight exercise? Any big Spring Break plans? Please share in the comments – XOXO, Jennifer