How To Work Out With No Equipment In Small Spaces

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- We all have our favorite excuses for skipping the gym, but you can save your breath. Now there is a new "no excuses" workout.

Chris Clark, co-founder of Tiger Athletics, took Natalie Kane through the five-step workout that requires no equipment and very little space.

In fact, this is one you can do right in the office or your bedroom. Clark says you won't even break a sweat, but you will still feel great and notice a change in your midsection.

Here are Clark's five steps:

Core Activation: Hand/Knee Press
Clark says to sit nice and tall, and press your legs against your knees. That will flatten your belly and allow you to fire up your abs at any time, whether you're running or sitting.

Seated Leg Lift
This is an activation exercise, or what's called "a pump." You put your hands below the knee and lift up nice and tall. Then sit your knee back down. It may feel weird because you're shortening the hip flexors, but that increases blood flow through the legs. Do that ten times on each knee and then relax.

Chair Squat
Another simple exercise: Simply stand nice and tall then sit back down, leading with the gluteal muscles. Do it again and again. It activates your core and lower body.

Leg & Back Stretch
For this exercise, stand tall with your legs not fully locked but almost straight. Reach for your desk and slide your rear back. You should feel a stretch in the back and hamstrings. Flatten your back, drop your head and keep your neck neutral. Clark said it may look like a simple stretch, but when muscles shorten or lengthen, you're strengthening them.

Pump: Calf Strength & Stretch
The fifth exercise strengthens and lengthens our second heart: the calf muscle. Lean forward with your hips, take a step back, drop your hips and feel that stretch in the top of your calf. Clark says the calves get very tired because they get dense and lack blood flow.