This post is sponsored by adidas. However, all content, opinions and enthusiasm remain my own.

No gym, no problem! Even though your membership may be frozen due to the global health pandemic, you can still get an effective, full-body workout at home that kicks up heart rate and strengthens and tones muscles with merely your own body weight.

No need to invest in any fancy home fitness equipment (although a fabulous new workout outfit can work wonders for motivation). In fact, today’s workout just uses a simple hand towel from your bathroom or dishtowel from the kitchen! Read on to get his Body Weight Towel Workout for Home that will keep you fit at home.

Adding a towel to your fitness routine offers several benefits. Obviously, it’s probably the least expensive, easiest to find fitness gear around. We all have access to a towel at home or in a hotel (that is, when we dare dream of travel again). This means that towel workouts can be completed anywhere – and, for the short-term future, that is at home, sheltering in place!  Adding a towel to enhance exercises offers various functionality – a towel can be used as “sliders” for feet or hands, a way to challenge muscles by adding ‘pulling apart” tension, and I’ve even seen fit folks drape a towel over tree limbs or close in an upper door jam to do pull ups (that’s not in the workout today – but feel free to try and report back)! 

Workout-from Home Motivation Tip: Get a new fitness outfit . . .or at least a little something to boost your moot!

 Here are some items I find essential for a bodyweight home workout:

Sports bras: When working out at home,  a good-fitting sports bra is ESSENTIAL, but otherwise you can actually wear pajamas or any old thing that you want – although I’m ready to get new fitness wear to lift my spirits.)

Towel: A smaller hand towel works great for the “equipment” in this workout, but a bigger towel can work also. Also, towel comes in handy for an underfoot surface in lieu of or addition to a yoga mat. And, for wiping your bod down with between sets.

Yoga Mat: A yoga mat is a must-have for comfort on your rear (especially if you have tile or hardwood floors) and also to keep sweat from dripping all over your lovely indoor flooring.

Refillable Water Bottle: Water is essential for every workout, even if you don’t think you’ll need/want water – you inevitably do! Taking a few sips throughout the workout keeps that terrible parched feeling away and polishing off at the end helps ensure hydration necessary for workout recovery (and also a happy and focused brain). Refillable water bottles are the way to go, as they eliminate the unnecessary single-use plastic bottles that are trashing the world.

Shoes OR Socks OR Barefoot: This is personal preference as some people’s feet need the support of training/running shoes even indoors. Some folks get cold feet, literally. And, others (myself included) don’t like to put on shoes unless I have too!

So, let’s get going on that home workout!!! No time to better your body and mood like NOW!!

How to do a Body Weight Workout with Towel at Home

This Body Weight Towel Workout for Home features three sets, each with three exercises. Each set starts with a burpee variation to jack up your heart rate, them a compound towel exercise, and then finishes with a core movement.

Perform every exercise for 50 seconds followed by 10 seconds rest. Take one minute of rest after each set, if needed. After completing all 9 exercises, do the entire thing again – two times around will be about a 25-minute workout. Whew – you’ll need that towel to wipe the sweat dripping from your brow.

SET ONE

Ninja Burpees: Perform a push-up burpee and instead of standing back up and jumping, “pop up” in a squat position, raising arms to chest with palms out.

Squat Hold with Towel Rotations: Lower into a squat and hold towel in front of you, arms extended. Move hands from 12 o’clock position to 6 o’clock position while pulling outward towel, keeping as taught as possible.

Body Saw Plank: Assume a forearm plank position and rock back and forth from elbows and toes while keeping core tight. Pretend you are sawing something in half with your sharp abs!

SET TWO

Star Jump Burpee: Perform a push-up burpee and on the jump up, scissor legs and arms apart like a “star.”

Reverse Lunge w/ Overheat Towel Raise-Pull: Extend arms in front of chest, holding towel with tension. Step backward into reverse lunge while raising arms overhead, without losing the “pull” on the towel. Come to starting position and repeat on opposite side.

Towel Wood Choppers: Hold towel overhead with tension and swing arms downward, crossing diagonally across the body and then back up still holding towel tight. Repeat several times on the same side, before completing same move on opposite side.

SET THREE

Dead Man Burpee: Perform a push-up burpee, coming completely to the floor on chest. Extend arms outward on floor into a “T” position before returning hands to near the chest and pushing body upwards for the jump back to start position.

Glute Bridge Hamstring Slide: Lay on back and place feet on folded up towel. Raise bottom off the ground into a glute bridge hold with feet under knees while slowly sliding feet outward as far as you can, then slowly returning to start position.

Russian Twist Towel Pull: Sit on bottom, bend at knee and raise heels a few inches off ground. Hold towel with arms bent near chest and towel pulled tightly. Rotate torso and arms toward one side, keeping towel tight, before rotating to same position on opposite side.

PIN for Later!!

No gym, no problem! Get your sweat on at home with this Body Weight Towel Workout from @TheFitfFork #sponsored @adidas

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