Lunch breaks are for lunch, sure, but they can also be a good time to move your body, especially if you're working from home and aren't getting up as much. Doing your 9-to-5 desk job duties outside of your 9-to-5 office [1] space might eliminate the parameters of a regular work day. Translation? You could find yourself glued to your computer for longer than you intended to be online, which is why you should definitely take advantage of lunch breaks at home (though lunch breaks in general are always a good idea).
Ahead, check out a list of trainer-led workout videos you can do during your designated lunch break, whether you're combining a few to take up the whole time, or you're just squeezing in one quick sweat session to energise your muscles before you shower off and get back to work. There are some videos that involve minimal equipment — a medicine ball, dumbbells, one booty band, etc. — and others that are entirely bodyweight [2]. They range from HIIT and full-body to booty, arms, or abs focussed. Take your pick!
15-Minute Full-Body Tabata Workout From Class FitSugar
This no-equipment workout from Class FitSugar is a Tabata [4] workout consisting of 20-second maximum-effort intervals followed by 10 seconds of rest. This goes on for eight rounds, or four minutes straight. Moves include alternating reverse lunges, squats, wide-grip push-ups, and swimmers.
12-Minute Kettlebell Tabata Workout From Heather Robertson
There are two different circuits in this Tabata workout with moves such as single-arm swings, lunge drives, cross presses, and toe taps. All you need is a single kettlebell (Robertson is using a 15-pound one).
10-Minute HIIT Workout From Sydney Cummings
Cummings, a NASM-certified personal trainer, is here with a HIIT workout that features six different moves you will be repeating as many times as you can within 10 minutes. You'll be doing 10 reps of the following: plank jacks, plank knee to elbows, inchworms, lunge pops (aka, lunge jumps), high knees with knee taps, and drop squats with heel taps.
15-Minute Beginner's At-Home Cardio Workout From Class FitSugar
This Class FitSugar beginner workout requires zero equipment. It's a cardio session that includes squat and knee raise, lateral crab walks (like you have a booty band around your ankles or thighs), high-knee skips, and more!
14-Minute Office Break Yoga From Yoga With Adriene
There's nothing like a good yoga session to loosen you up and find a bit of clarity. Here, Adriene Mishler will lead you in modified Pyramid Pose, a side-to-side twist, Forward Fold, and other poses. This might be the option for you if you aren't looking to really sweat in the middle of your work day, but you want to get moving and release some tension.
12-Minute Full-Body Slider Workout From Nicole Pearce
All you need for this workout from NASM-certified personal trainer Nicole Pearce is a pair of sliders, socks, or towels if you're on hardwood flooring, or paper plates if you're on carpet. You will be working through progressions that add exercises together to make them "combos," and then you'll take moves away to work on individual exercises. Pearce will explain this in the beginning of the video.
10-Minute Abs Workout From SugarySixPack
This workout consists of two rounds of five exercises. Each move will be a 50-second interval. Get ready for what SugarySixPack calls "pop-scoot-pop," (a variation of reverse crunches), tap outs (in a bicycle crunch position [5]), hip lifts in a forearm plank, cross touches (in a starfish position), and planks with knee circles.
10-Minute Cardio Jump Workout From Class FitSugar
This 10-minute sweat session from Class FitSugar consists of jumping moves, which makes it a plyometric workout. Exercises include jump rope drills, jumping jacks, forward and back hops, and more.
15-Minute Back and Butt Workout From Sydney Cummings
Cummings brings us a workout with moves specifically for your butt and your back. You'll only need a set of dumbbells, and you'll be doing five rounds of three-minute circuits. Each circuit consists of a back exercise and a butt exercise. For example, you'll have alternating bent-over rows and sumo squats with calf raises for one circuit.
15-Minute Full-Body HIIT Workout From Heather Robertson
No equipment is required for this 15-minute full-body HIIT workout. Robertson walks you through five bodyweight exercises that you'll be doing for three rounds total — each set is 40 seconds. The five moves are as follows: up and out jacks; push-up, shoulder tap, and plank jack combo; in and out squat hops; inchworm bear hops; and boxer burpees.
10-Minute Weighted Arms Workout From Sydney Cummings
This 10-minute workout from Cummings is made up of supersets, which are a pair of exercises that you do without stopping. It's a tricep and bicep workout, and you'll need a set of dumbbells. Here's how to choose the right weight [6] for you.
15-Minute Dance Cardio Workout From Class FitSugar
What's better than a lunch break? A lunch break with dance cardio! This 15-minute workout will get your heart rate up and have you smiling in no time.
15-Minute Booty Band Workout From Heather Robertson
Robertson walks you through 20- and 10-second intervals of banded exercises such as variations of glute bridges, clamshells, squats, hamstring curls, and fire hydrants. (Note: the 10-second intervals are when you'll do more of the pulsing moves.) She repeats the circuit of exercises two times through.
5-Minute Yoga Break From Yoga With Adriene
Here's another yoga session just in case you're in need of some quick stretches! As Mishler often says on her YouTube channel, it's a "little ditty" for you. Get into moves such as Cat Cow, Bird Dog Crunches, Downward Dog [7], and more.
10-Minute Standing Abs Workout From Class FitSugar
You will complete this workout for your abs without needing to roll out your mat even once. Grab a medium or light dumbbell for woodchops, trunk twists, high-knee march with figure eight, and other exercises. Get up and get ready to move.
10-Minute Full-Body Burner From Sydney Cummings
Cummings is back with another quick workout. It's a full-body burner using a pair of dumbbells (so you might want to have a few options). You'll work through 45-second intervals of moves such as plié squat and shoulder press, row and straight-leg kickback, pulsing sumo squats and bicep curls, etc. Set up your space and press play!
10-Minute No-Squat Booty Workout From Class FitSugar
This Class FitSugar session is taught by Love Sweat Fitness creator Katie Dunlop, and she'll have you doing glute bridges, clamshells, and much more. Grab a booty band and get to it.
12-Minute Medicine Ball HIIT Workout From Heather Robertson
The only thing you'll need for this HIIT workout from Robertson is a medicine ball. The sweat session features six different exercises: lunge and twist, toe taps, dead bugs, wall balls, ball crunches, and ball burpees. You'll do the moves for three rounds total, and each interval is 30 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest.
