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Work out at home or on the road.

If you’re pressed for time but still want to squeeze in a quality exercise routine, give my body weight circuit training routine a try.

It happens to all of us: you start your day with the intention of getting in a great workout, but then life happens and you have to cut it from your schedule. When work and family commitments threaten to throw your healthy, active lifestyle into disarray, you need to try to avoid sabotaging your plans and squeeze in a quick blast routine that hits all major muscle groups.

It takes a lot of discipline and perseverance to create a healthy habit. But it only takes a few days of missing your workout to fall out of your positive daily routine. If you start to think of your body as your own personal gym and understand that you can accumulate your exercise minutes throughout the day, you’ll get better at prioritizing your health goals and making your hectic schedule work.

A circuit style workout is in my opinion the absolute best choice for those days when you’re pushed for time. I aim to get through the circuit at least three times, but even if I only have enough time to make it through once, I know that doing some exercise is always better than doing none at all.

You can work out almost anywhere while you use your own body weight and gravity to create enough resistance to help you build strength and tone up. So, with that in mind, here are five great body weight exercises for you to try.

Body Weight Circuit Training Routine

Perform each move for 45-60 seconds and don’t rest in-between each exercise. Once all five moves are complete, rest for two minutes and repeat.

Backward Lunge with Oblique Reach

This move adds a little extra core focus to a traditional reverse lunge, targeting your legs, glutes and obliques.

• Stand with your feet together and arms overhead.
• Step back with your right leg into a deep lunge position.
• Reach down toward the floor with your left arm. You should feel a stretch on your right side. Bring your arm back up overhead and then stand up. Repeat on the other side.

Rocking Plank with Front and Side Reach

This is a total body exercise that especially targets your core muscles, while challenging your balance.

• Start out in a plank position with your elbows on the floor. Keep your tummy pulled in tight and back flat.
• Shift your weight onto your left arm and simultaneously lift your right arm as you activate your calf muscle, pushing from the balls of your feet onto your toes.
• Return to the starting position and do the same motion—only this time your arm goes out to the side.

Prisoner Squat Holds

This move is a great lower body exercise.

• Stand with feet a little wider than shoulder-width apart, hips stacked over knees, and knees over ankles. Hands behind head to open up chest—do not push your neck forward.
• Start to sit as if you would in a chair. While the butt starts to stick out, make sure the chest and shoulders stay upright and the back stays straight. Keep the head facing forward with eyes straight ahead for a neutral spine. The best squats are the deepest ones your mobility allows. Optimal squat depth would be your hips sinking just below the knees.
• Engage your core and with body weight in the heels. Hold for as long as you can while maintaining your form and without rounding your spine. At 60 seconds, or before if needed, push back up to standing, driving through heels.

Spider Push-Up

This is a total body exercise with added emphasis on chest, back and core.

• Come into plank position.
• As you bend your elbows out to the sides and lower your torso toward the floor, bend your left knee and touch it to your left elbow.
• Straighten your arms and come back to plank position with your left foot next to your right.
• Lower again and touch your right knee to your right elbow. Return back to plank position.

Sometimes life gets in the way of working out, but you can make the best of your time by working out the few minutes that you do have. Always make an effort to stay active and you’ll reap all of the benefits.