12-Minute Bodyweight Tabata Workout Series: Full Body + Cardio

June 17, 2016 by 1 Comment
Bodyweight Tabata Workout: Total Body + Cardio - This 12-minute workout is broken up into three tabata supersets. Video included so you can follow along at home! #tabata #tabataworkout #bodyweightworkout #athomeworkout #intervaltraining #hiit

Woop! Workout 4 out of 5. This is bodyweight tabata is a full-body workout and definitely cardio-heavy. If you missed the previous three workouts in this series, they’re targeting by muscle group but use the same format:

I had some issues with the video (note to self: make sure you’re actually in the frame before doing a full tabata of push ups and mountain climbers…) so bear with the choppiness of that second superset if you follow along at home.

12-Minute Bodyweight Tabata Workout: Full Body + Cardio

This workout is made up of three tabata supersets. For each tabata superset, set an interval timer for 8 rounds of 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest. Or just follow along with the video. During the work intervals, you’ll alternate between the two exercises. In other words: 20 seconds Exercise 1 / 10 seconds rest / 20 seconds Exercise 2 / 10 seconds rest and so on. Rest as needed between tabata supersets, but try to limit it to 60 seconds if possible.

As with all workouts, make sure you’re properly warmed up beforehand. Always listen to your body, modifying or stopping as needed. I have a guided 5-minute warm up you can do as well as a gentler version of it with no jumping.

Bodyweight Tabata Workout: Total Body + Cardio - This 12-minute workout is broken up into three tabata supersets. Video included so you can follow along at home! #tabata #tabataworkout #bodyweightworkout #athomeworkout #intervaltraining #hiit

Tabata Superset 1

Snowboarders | This is essentially a rotating squat jump. Squat down, hips and butt back and down, weight in your heels. Bring your right fingertips towards the ground in front of you and look over your right shoulder. From here, you’re going to jump up and turn towards your right shoulder, rotating 180 degrees in air and landing back in a squat facing the other direction, this time bringing your left fingertips towards the ground and looking over your left shoulder. Repeat, rotating towards your left shoulder this time. A good way to think about it is you’re always looking ahead in the same direction, just changing which foot is in front.

High Knees | Maintaining good posture (don’t hunch forward!), run in place. Use your core to drive your knees up high as you do. Keep these quick! If you have knee issues or need to modify, march in place instead.

Tabata Superset 2

Hand-Release Push Ups | Start in a plank position and begin to bend your elbows as if you were doing a push up. Instead lower your body all the way to the ground. From here, lift your chest and hands off the ground, squeezing your upper back. Lower your hands back down to the ground by your rib cage and press your body back up into a high plank position. To modify perform on your knees.

Crossbody Mountain Climbers | Start in a plank position with hands stacked under shoulders, abs held in tight. Don’t let your low back arch down towards the floor. Pull your right knee across your body towards your left elbow, trying to make physical contact between the two if you can. Step the right foot back into your high plank and then repeat on the other side, left knee to right elbow. Your goal is to go fast but also to get the knee as close to touching the opposite elbow as possible. Don’t sacrifice the latter for speed.

Tabata Superset 3

Plank to Low Squat Snaps | Start in a plank position. From here, jump your feet up towards the outsides of your hands and as you do, release the hands from the floor so that you can snap up, landing in a low, wide squat position. Pause. With that same quickness, bring your hands back to the floor as you jump your feet back, landing in plank. The goal is to snap from plank to that low squat with momentum. This way there’s a brief moment when neither your feet nor hands are making contact with the ground.

Hot Feet | You probably know these best as a basketball or football drill. You essentially run in place as fast as you can while in a wide-leg squat position. With your feet a bit wider than hip-width apart, squat down. Staying low, you’ll quickly run your feet up and down. Stay on the balls of your feet and barely pick them off the floor so that you can maintain the speed.

Bodyweight Tabata Workout: Total Body + Cardio - This 12-minute workout is broken up into three tabata supersets. Video included so you can follow along at home! #tabata #tabataworkout #bodyweightworkout #athomeworkout #intervaltraining #hiit

xo Nicole

More from this bodyweight tabata workout series:

Filed Under: Bodyweight, Cardio, Full Body, Interval Training, Superset, Tabata, Video, Workouts

12-Minute Bodyweight Tabata Workout Series: Core

June 15, 2016 by 5 Comments
12-Minute Bodyweight Tabata Workout Series: Core - tabata superset workout focusing on core with follow-along video! #tabata #coreworkout #tabataworkout #hiit #bodyweightworkout

It’s Day 3 of this bodyweight tabata workout series, and we’re focusing on core. The remaining two days will be total body, so this is the last isolating a particular muscle group. As with the others, it’s quick—but challenging!

12-Minute Bodyweight Tabata Workout Series: Core Focus

This workout is made up of three tabata supersets. For each tabata superset, set an interval timer for 8 rounds of 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest (or follow along with the video). During the work intervals, you’ll alternate between the two exercises. In other words: 20 seconds Exercise 1 / 10 seconds rest / 20 seconds Exercise 2 / 10 seconds rest and so on. Rest as needed between tabata supersets, but try to limit it to 60 seconds if possible.

As with all workouts, you want to make sure you’re properly warmed up beforehand. I have two warm ups you can follow along with. A 5-minute warm up and a 7-minute gentle warm up with no jumping.

12-Minute Bodyweight Tabata Workout Series: Core - tabata superset workout focusing on core with follow-along video! #tabata #coreworkout #tabataworkout #hiit #bodyweightworkout

Workout Breakdown

Tabata Superset 1

Mountain Climbers | Start in a plank, hands stacked underneath shoulders, core squeezing in tight (don’t let your low back sag or your butt stick up in the air). From this position, drive one knee at a time up towards your chest, like running horizontally. The pace on these should be quick.

V Ups | Start on your back with arms stretched overhead and legs hovering just slightly above the ground. Pull your abs in tight and press your low back to the ground. You’ll then crunch up, bringing your hands towards your toes (keeping legs and arms straight). When done correctly, your body will make a “v” shape as you crunch. This means you’re not just reaching your arms up, your chest needs to move towards your knees. Lower back down to starting position. If possible, your feet should never touch the ground between reps.

Tabata Superset 2

Plank Jump Jacks | Start in a plank position with hands aligned underneath shoulders. Jump both feet up towards your hands and then quickly back to a plank. Then jump feet out to the sides (like a horizontal jumping jack) and quickly back together. That’s one rep. When doing the “jack” part of this move, try to hold a strong plank alignment with your upper body. Don’t let your butt pike up into the air or hips sag downward.

Bicycle Crunch Sit Ups (alternate) | Start laying on your back with your hands lightly behind your head, elbows bent out to the sides, and chest open. Engage your abs, pulling your bellybutton down to the floor as you lift your legs off the ground about six inches to a hover. This is your starting position. From here, bend your right knee in towards your chest as you crunch your left elbow across to meet it, lifting your shoulders off the floor like a twisting sit-up. Your left leg should remain outstretched in a hover as you do this. Slowly return back to the starting position and continue, crunching in the same direction the entire time.

The goal is to keep the legs off the ground the whole time, but if you need to modify, your left heel can quickly rest on the floor in between reps. Each round isolate one side. So you’ll do two total 20-second intervals on the right, two on the left, alternating between the two.

Tabata Superset 3

Side V-Ups (alternate) | Start laying on your side, balancing on that bottom hip/side butt area with your bottom hand on the floor in front of you for support. Top arm is bent with hand behind your head and elbow out wide. Legs should be extended and hovering off the ground. This is your starting position. From here, you’re going to crunch up and in, keeping your legs straight as you lift your torso up and in to meet them so that your sidebody forms a “v” shape.

Use that bottom hand for support, but try to push off it minimally. Slowly lower back down and extend back out to a hover. Each round isolate one side. So you’ll do two total 20-second intervals on the right, two on the left, alternating between the two.

Clapping Bike Crunches | With your lower body, think bicycle crunch. Start laying on your back with your legs extended straight out, hovering a few inches off the floor. From here you’re going to crunch the right knee in, keeping the left leg extended out at a hover. As you do this, crunch your upper back off the floor, clapping your hands behind the right thigh. Extend back out to starting position and then do the same thing to the left. Finish the combo by crunching both knees in together and wrapping your arms around them to once again clap behind your thighs. The purpose of the clap is to force you to really crunch and keep your shoulder blades off the floor.

12-Minute Bodyweight Tabata Workout Series: Core - tabata superset workout focusing on core with follow-along video! #tabata #coreworkout #tabataworkout #hiit #bodyweightworkout

Tabata Workout Series Quick Links

If you love this workout, check out the rest of the series. All use the same format but with different focuses and exercises.

xo Nicole

Filed Under: Abs, Bodyweight, Interval Training, Superset, Tabata, Video, Workouts Tagged With:

12-Minute Bodyweight Tabata Workout Series: Lower Body (Legs & Glutes)

June 14, 2016 by 5 Comments

legs-butt-tabata-workout

My triceps were FEELING IT after yesterday’s workout–anyone else?? Day 2 of this 12-minute tabata series is focused on lower body so that sore arms can rest. That being said … today’s routine is far from restful. I was gasping for air like a fish out of water during the last superset. Proof that you can get an effective workout with limited time!

12-Minute Bodyweight Tabata Workout Series: Lower Body (Legs & Glutes)


This workout is made up of three tabata supersets. For each tabata superset, set an interval timer for 8 rounds of 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest. During the work intervals, you’ll alternate between the two exercises. In other words: 20 seconds Exercise 1 / 10 seconds rest / 20 seconds Exercise 2 / 10 seconds rest and so on. Rest as needed between tabata supersets, but try to limit it to 60 seconds if possible.

12-Minute Bodyweight Tabata Workout for Legs & Butt -- this workout is broken up into three 4-minute tabata supersets

Tabata Superset 1

Low Surrenders | Start in a squat position with feet hip’s distance apart, elbows bent and hands behind your head. Your hands will stay up like this the entire time. Step your right foot back behind you, planting the ball of the foot on the floor lowering down until the right knee rests on the ground. Both knees should be at opposing 90-degree angles. Step your left foot back to meet the right so that you’re kneeling on the ground. Step your right foot forward, and then step the left foot to meet it so that you’re in the same low squat position you started in. Make sure to alternate your lead foot each time. It sounds confusing but you’re essentially just going from a squat to kneeling back to squat.

Squat Jumps | Feet about shoulder-width apart, squat down, sending your hips and butt back and down (not the knees forward!). Bring your hands in front of you as you sink down. From there, explosively jump straight up, swinging your arms back behind you as you do. Land softly and sink right back into a squat, hands swinging forward.

Tabata Superset 2

Lunge Hops | Start in a split-stance lunge position: both knees bent to 90 degrees, one foot flat in front; one foot in back, ball of the foot planted on the ground. Keeping the same foot in front/back, you hop a few inches into the air and land softly back into your starting position. Your legs are never fully straightening during this; it’s a small upward hop, pushing off the balls of the feet. Alternate your lead foot each round (so twice total on the R, twice on the L). If you need to modify, just hold a low lunge and pulse.

Jump Lunge | Start in a split-stance lunge: right foot in front, ball of left foot planted on the floor behind you. Both knees should be bent to 90 degrees, front knee aligned over ankle, back knee hovering just a couple inches off the floor. From here, push off your feet to jump up in the air, switching feet in mid-air and landing back in a lunge with left foot forward and right foot planted behind. Continue, alternating feet with each jump. If you need to modify: do alternating back lunges (step instead of jump).

Tabata Superset 3

Sumo Squat Leg Lifts | This is a wide-stance squat with alternating side leg lifts. Feet wider than hip-distance apart, squat down low. Shift your weight into the right side and, staying as low as you can (it’s natural for the right to straighten a little, but don’t come out of the bent knee all the way), lift the left leg straight up and out to the side. Lower it, bringing your weight back to center in that deep squat. Repeat to the other side.

Squat Jacks | Start in a low squat position with feet wide, weight in your heels, low abs engaged, hips back. Staying low in a squat, jump your feet in close together and then jump your feet out wide again to the starting position. Every time you jump the feet out wide, tap the floor with your fingertips, alternating the hand each time. Continue jacking your feet in and out, staying low in the squat.

low-body-tabata-workout-12-minutes

WEARING | Lululemon tank (scored for 50% off on ThredUp!) // Booty By Brabants leggings // Nike sneakers

Enjoy! Sorry this post went up so late. Joe and I are apartment hunting and the rental market is so ridiculously cutthroat that when we find a place we like I seriously have to drop everything I’m doing, disrupt my whole day and run to go see it. On the bright side though, I’m grateful that I have a job that allows me the flexibility to do that! Hopefully the hunt will be over soon…

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Filed Under: Bodyweight, Butt, Interval Training, Lower Body, Superset, Tabata, Video, Workouts
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