I have a guest post for you up today from my friend, Steve Mckinney. He has an interesting perspective and a great home workout for you. Make sure to comment and give your feedback in the comment section. Deal? Here you go…

Here's Steve and his beautiful wife Jennifer

It was Christmas morning 1988 and my mother woke me up. She was nauseous and her arm was numb. We jumped in the car to take her to the Hospital…she died on the way. She was 49 years old!

My Dad was a heavy drinker and a chronic 3 pack a day smoker. He developed lung cancer that eventually took his life…He was 49 years old!

Recently one of my closest friends developed esophageal cancer. He fought for about a year before it took his life. He was in his late 40’s.

My parents didn’t eat well and did virtually no exercise. My friend struggled with his weight and his eating habits. He did exercise on and off but wasn’t as consistent as he could have been.

That’s an interesting way to start a blog isn’t it?

All 3 of the loved ones mentioned above were great people and their lives were cut short.

It could have simply “been their time” and I’m not trying to imply anything negative about my friend and my parents.

I do think a healthy diet, some exercise and eliminating some of the bad habits could have possibly prevented or delayed some of the problems they experienced.

That’s my point. Working and watching my diet has benefits being just “looking good or getting toned” it has to do with staying healthy, enjoying our family and getting the most out of life!

I had a client years ago and she was desperate to lose weight. She wanted to lose weight and she wanted to lose it yesterday. I explained to her the goal was to lose fat and even gain a bit of muscle (she needed it) and to enhance her health. To do this would take a good game plan and consistency.

She started well and was actually doing great. However, in her mind it wasn’t happening fast enough so she decided she would go to the Dr. and get some “pills” to help.

She stopped working out and started taking her pills. She did lose the weight. She lost muscle too as well as skin tone and her overall sense of well being. Now she’s addicted to the “pills” and looks terrible…not only that she’s what I term “skinny/fat” meaning she has lost mostly muscle.

What I want to do to is simply encourage you today. If you’ve been working out and watching you diet I’d just want to give you a “virtual high five”! If you’re not or you’ve fallen off the wagon then let’s get going! You can do this! You’ll feel so much better for it.

How about this? Let me give you a great bodyweight routine that you can do today without any equipment. This will kick up the metabolism and give you a different workout.

Here’s the beauty of this routine. You can do it in 5 minutes or 10 or 20, it’s simply up to you! Do as many rounds as you’d like! The exercises are shown on the video at the bottom.

Here are the exercises:

Warm Up – Knee Lifts Alternating 30 Seconds

Burpees – 30 seconds (Beginner walk through burpees-Advanced Jumping)

Push Ups – 30 Seconds (Beginner Knees –Advanced Full)

Cherry bombs – 30 Seconds (Beginner and Advanced just do what you can)

Side Planks – 30 Seconds Each Side (Beginner Knees only – Advanced Feet)

Slow Squats with Pauses – 30 Seconds

I want you to rest about 10 seconds in between each exercise (unless you don’t want any rest at all) except for the last one (squats) to the first one (Knee Lifts Alternating) as the knee lifts are just going to keep your heart rate up.

One round takes close to 4minutes. I’d like you to do at least 3 rounds if you can and more if you’d like. Just do what you’re feelin!

Here’s the video:

Thanks and I hope this helps!

Steve McKinney

About Steve
Steve McKinney, is a certified personal trainer and owns his own company. He’s been training people for 24 years. His passion is fitness and helping people live a better life. He’s been a competitive athlete all his life, and was the 1990 Mr. Southern Illinois as well as a professional softball player. Steve has medaled at the last 2 IBJJF jiu jitsu competitions winning the silver medal in his division.  Steve is in 51 years old, married and has to grown kids. He’s also the pastor of a church so he understands how busy life can be! His favorite workout protocol is the 15 minute high intensity model and enjoys 1-2-1 sessions. His business also has boot camps and online information.

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