Body Weight Plyo Tabata

No weights workout to get your heart and muscles pumping!

Hey there! You know what day it is. Workout Wednesday! 💪🏼 I have the funniest story for you all. If you follow me on Snapchat, you already saw (and if you don’t, you should! Just search afitcado :)), but my dad last weekend tried planking. Like the workout kind. He brought it up over dinner that he heard about it at work and he wanted to give it a try. Mind you I’ve been trying to get my dad to workout for as long as I can remember and for some god forsaken reason he wants to try to hold a plank after eating a four-course Easter dinner.

He asked how long everyone thought they could hold it. The consensus was 1-2 minutes max. So we went into the living room and got out the timer. No frickin’ joke my dad held a plank for 4 minutes. He wasn’t even shaking! Freak of nature. He hasn’t worked out since high school, which was 40 years ago. That’s nuts.

Anyway let’s talk about this workout. Body-Weight Plyo Tabata. Let’s see how many Tabata workouts I can post in a row 😂. If this is your first, it’s pretty simple. You complete each move for 20 seconds, resting 10 seconds in between moves. For this tabata, complete all 4 moves and then repeat them once more. So you’ll to #1 – 4 consecutively and then go through for a second time. Once you have completed the full tabata (20 seconds of work 8 times), rest for 1 minute before moving on to the next tabata. Simple as that! This workout focuses on upper and lower body, combining both strength and cardio. It’s great for boosting metabolism and you can get your sweat sesh in in under 20 minutes. Let’s get to work!

(p.s. – don’t mind the belt kicks photo, I forgot to shoot speed skaters and this is all I could find that worked lower body without weights hahahh! So I had to make due with what I had)

Body Weight Plyo Tabata

Warm-up: 5 minutes of jumping jacks, high knees, butt kicks, squats, and jump rope combo. Or just walk/jog.

–Tabata 1–

1. Side Vertical Jump + Jabs – in squat position, jump into air, moving right. In the air do 2 quick jabs, Jab right arm first, then left, and land back in squat position. Repeat, moving left and jabbing first with your left hand. (Always jab with the hand in which direction you’re jumping.)
2. Squat Jacks – feet together arms straight overhead, jump feet out into jumping jack position, while moving your body into a wide squat stance, (hips back, butt down, chest up, core right), move arms down to sides in squat position. Jump feet together, driving out of the heels, and returning arms back overhead. Repeat.
3. Hurdle Jumps – body slightly forward jump laterally over a pretend bench. Bring right leg up first and then bring the left leg up and over, land soft, one foot at a time and then hop back over in the other direction.
4. Pogos – in standing position, bring left leg behind your body (slightly bent), bending right knee slightly. Touch the floor with left arm. Then drive left leg up into chest, while jumping on right leg. Land soft and repeat on same leg.

–Tabata 2–

1. Push-up Jacks – in high plank, jump legs out to jumping jack position. When legs are out, lower body into a push up, hop legs back together and lift body back to high plank. (keep butt down and hips tucked)
2. Low Plank Side to Side Hops – (sorry the photo sucks) in low plank, feet together, hop legs left and right over your mat (butt down)
3. Spider Lunges – in high plank position, hop right foot up to right hand and left foot back (leg mostly straight). Hop feet back to high plank position and repeat, alternating legs. (If you want to make it his move more difficult, take out the hop to high plank out and switch feet from hand to back position.)
4. In/out Jumps – in high plank position, feet together, hop feet in toward hands and back to high plank position (butt down), repeat. (You’re butt will come up in the air when feet are in, make sure your hips come back down in high plank position, so back is flat.)

–Tabata 3–

1. Suicide Drills – sprint for 3 feet, turn, bend knee and touch the ground, sprint 3 feet in the other direction, turn before touching the floor.
2. Belt Kicks – step laterally right and squat half way down. Lift body back to standing and kick left leg out front. Strike with your heel and try to lift leg above hip height. Lower leg back down and squat left laterally. Kick right leg front and repeat alternating directions.
3. Standing Mountain Climbers – in high plank position, bring right knee into chest. Bring leg back down and repeat with the left knee. For beginners: trying stepping first, when you feel comfortable add the hop.
4. Jack Jabs – one jumping jack followed by right jab. Add a step with the jab and keep your elbow high. Repeat the jacks and side jabs, alternating arms.

–Tabata 4–

1. Ski Abs – in high plank, feet together, hop legs to right side up by hands (butt will rise in air), then hop legs back to high plank position. Hop legs to other side and repeat.
2. Moving Pushups – in pushup position, hands just outside shoulders, core tight, butt down, do one regular position, rise and then move left hand to the side and right hand follows. Back in push-up position, do one pushup, rise, walk hands back to center, pushup, walk hands to left, push-up.
3. Tricep Dips – with fingers pointed to toward your butt, lift hips toward the ceiling, core tight. Bend your elbows, lowering your upper body so that your butt taps the ground and then squeeze the back of your arms (triceps) to lift.
4. 4 Wide Push-ups + 4 Spider Knees – with fingers pointed out, butt down, core tight, do 4 push-ups (you should feel it in your lats (sides of back). Elbows will go wide. Bring your chest down to elbow height. After 4 pushups,  follow with spider knees. Bring your right knee into your right elbow. Bring leg back to plank position and repeat on your left side. One right and left counts as one rep. Do 4, then back to the wide push-ups.

Go kick this workouts butt! 🍑