A fortnight ago, before I got into bed, I picked up my alarm clock to set it to 5.30am so I could lift weights the next morning, as I’ve done for the last seven years, more or less. But in an unprecedented display of rebellion… I didn’t. Tomorrow, I suddenly decided, I’m going to leave my dumbbells alone. And the day after that. And the day after that, if necessary.
I was having one of those weeks where everything unravelled. My son needed hospital treatment. My workload was stifling, my insomnia acute, my nose tingling with what felt like the start of a cold.
Not that any of this would ordinarily have stopped me. The opposite, in fact. The more unmanageable life feels, the more I rely on exercise to stay sane. But that evening, something shifted, and I simply didn’t have the physical or emotional capacity for my usual workout.
Without any weight training, which I usually do for an hour every other day, however, I knew I’d end up feeling even worse.
So I cut myself a deal. While I felt this overwhelmed, I would simply do three of my favourite bodyweight exercises every day. Combined, my SOS strength training plan, as I called it, would engage most major muscle groups and take around eight minutes – short enough not to seem like a big deal, but, I hoped, taxing enough to keep my self-esteem ticking over.
Personal trainer Kate Rowe-Ham, who coaches midlife women like me on her app Owning Your Menopause, approves of my decision to cut myself some slack. “You don’t get tired for no reason – it’s a signal you’re headed for overtraining,” she says. “We’re often fed the idea from influencers on social media that we have to be ‘go, go, go’ with exercise, but battering your body gives it no time to recover. Doing less for a week or so probably did you the world of good, allowing you to come back stronger.”
She was right. While my SOS plan, which can be done in one go or split up, didn’t give me the same I-can-conquer-the-world euphoria I get from an hour’s lifting, it still raised my mood.
It reminded me to grant myself some grace – so easy to forget in a world of constant comparison. It gave me time to walk and do gentle cardio, which I enjoy, and it maintained my fitness enough for me to pick up where I left off when I returned to my regular routine 10 days later.
It requires no equipment, and if you’re too frazzled to commit to a full workout, it might lift your spirits, too. Here’s what I did.
A one minute plank before breakfast
The plank appeals because it works multiple muscle groups, including the transversus abdominis (TVA) – the deep abdominal muscle which wraps around the trunk; the rectus abdominis on your abdomen, which helps give definition; the obliques at the sides and the erector spinae running down the back, important for posture. Support yourself on your forearms, elbows below shoulders, toes curled under. Keeping your body in a straight line, which also engages your shoulder muscles, glutes and quadriceps, hold the position, breathing throughout.
“The plank is a modifiable move you can do anywhere – although it isn’t suitable for pregnant women,” says Rowe-Ham. “If you’re new to it, try holding for 30 seconds. Rest 30 seconds, and repeat.” Ordinarily, I do two one-minute planks and two one-minute side planks (supported on one forearm and the side of one foot) a workout. Under my lower stress SOS plan, I held one plank for one minute, my forearms resting on a Core Master – a type of wobble board which makes your muscles work harder because you have to balance.
“To make a plank more challenging without equipment, lift one leg, without rotating your torso or hips, and then repeat on the other side,” says Rowe-Ham.
I did mine every morning, waiting for my children to emerge for the school run.
A five-minute wall sit after dinner
I’ve written about the wall sit before and for good reason – it’s ridiculously simple and can be done anywhere there’s a wall. Stand with your heels around 40cm away from it, your feet just over shoulder width apart, and slide your back down the wall, bending your knees until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Keep your back and shoulders against the wall, breathe normally, and hold. Since I rediscovered wall sits this February, I’ve worked my way from three minutes to five minutes, “but if you’re a beginner, start with 20 seconds and build from there,” suggests Rowe-Ham.
An isometric movement, meaning you contract your muscles without moving your joints, they’re shown to be beneficial in lowering blood pressure – a study last month in the journal BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine found just one session of wall sits a week was enough to maintain a reduction. Granted, wall sits don’t engage my hamstrings and glutes as much as my regular squats and lunges, or constitute the same functional “push” movement, priming my body for everyday activities. But nor do they require as much psyching myself up for the stillness of them, somehow suiting a low-key exercise spell. I did them after dinner listening to an audiobook, and the time (sort of) flew.
Thirty five press-ups before bed
Press-ups are brilliant for pectorals (chest muscles) and triceps, while activating supporting muscles in your shoulders, core, back and glutes. Put your palms on the floor, in line with your shoulders, feet together, toes curled under. Keep your elbows tucked in and bend them to lower your body towards the floor, before pushing back up. Keep your core braced and body in a straight line from head to heels. If this is too difficult, try the same movement but with your knees on the floor.
“Or place your palms against a wall and lower yourself towards the wall, before pushing back,” says Rowe-Ham, who says three sets of eight is a good number for beginners to work towards.
Ordinarily, I do one set of 35 and one set of 30 press-ups every workout, but as I tire, my back dips and elbows flare, making the move less efficient and risking lower back strain and shoulder pain. For my SOS plan, I stuck to 35 reps split into two sets, and focused on improving my form, lowering closer to the floor and keeping my hands as close together as I could manage, “which uses the back and triceps more, and puts less pressure on the chest,” says Rowe-Ham.
These took around one minute and 40 seconds and I did them before bed, which might sound bonkers but seemed to help me sleep. Some evidence suggests I wasn’t imagining it – a study in the journal BMJ Sport & Exercise Medicine found three-minute spells of bodyweight exercises in the evening increased average time spent asleep by 29 minutes.