To help you look after your health and wellbeing, the Physical Preparation team have created a 6 week progressive circuits programme that you can do in the comfort of your living room.
The programme will gradually get harder each week. However if you feel you can’t progress on a specific exercise, continue on that exercise until you are comfortable to move on. Complete each exercise in the order they are presented and try to complete each session 2/3 times a week with a day’s rest in between.
Videos of each exercise can be found underneath the weekly programme. We’ve also included a warm up and cool down to help you get the most out of your exercise.
Week 1
Week 1 Exercises
- Small step ups
- Press-ups from knees
- Straight arm plank
- Split squat
- Bent legged dips
- Side plank
- DL glute bridge
- Seated isometric row
- Squat thrusts
20 seconds work (as many reps as you can) then rest for 40 seconds before moving onto the next exercise.
90 seconds rest once completed a full round of the circuit (all exercises).
Complete circuit 3 times.
Week 2
Week 2 Exercises
- BW squat to chair
- Inclined press-ups
- Deadbugs
- BW reverse lunge
- Dips - straight legged
- Side plank with knee drive
- SL glute bridge
- Reverse flyes (with cans)
- Countermovement jump
30 seconds work (as many reps as you can) then rest for 30 seconds before moving onto the next exercise.
75 seconds rest once completed a full round of the circuit (all exercises).
Complete circuit 3 times.
Week 3
Week 3 Exercises
- BW squat
- Press-ups
- Deadbugs
- BW lunge
- Feet raised dips
- Mountain climbers
- Back raised SL bridge
- Bent-over isometric row
- Straight arm burpee
40 seconds work (as many reps as you can) then rest for 20 seconds before moving onto the next exercise.
60 seconds rest once completed a full round of the circuit (all exercises).
Complete circuit 3 times.
Week 4
Week 4 Exercises
- Rucksack weighted squat
- Cobra's
- DL lowers
- Walking lunge
- Tempo/eccentric dips
- Mountain climbers
- Heel raised SL bridge
- Bent over row - weighted bag
- Chest to floor burpee
45 seconds work (as many reps as you can) then rest for 15 seconds before moving onto the next exercise.
45 seconds rest once completed a full round of the circuit (all exercises).
Complete circuit 3 times.
Week 5
Week 5 Exercises
- Rear-foot elevated split squat
- Feet raised press-ups
- DL lowers
- Rucksack weighted walking lunge
- Pike press-ups
- Russian twists
- Arabesque
- Bent over row - weighted bag (add more weight)
- Chest to floor burpee
50 seconds work (as many reps as you can) then rest for 10 seconds before moving onto the next exercise.
30 seconds rest once completed a full round of the circuit (all exercises).
Complete circuit 3 times.
Week 6
Week 6 Exercises
- Rear-foot elevated split squat
- Feet raised press-ups
- Plank walk-outs
- Rucksack weighted walking lunge
- Pike press-ups
- Lying windscreen wipers
- Arabesque
- Bent over row - weighted bag (add more weight)
- Chest to floor burpee
50 seconds work (as many reps as you can) then rest for 10 seconds before moving onto the next exercise.
Complete circuit 3 times.
Add in an additional circuit or take little/no rest in between sets.
Cool Down
Static stretching can be used to aid recovery and increase range of motion at the end of the circuit sessions. Using a top down approach, start off with stretches where you are standing then work down to floor based stretches, holding each stretch for 30 - 40 seconds on each side.
An example routine of a top down approach might look like:
- Standing calf stretch
- Standing quadricep stretch
- Doorway pectoral stretch
- Half kneeling hamstring stretch
- Half kneeling hip stretch
- Lying glute stretch
- Child’s pose
- Lying knee roll over