This workout is perfect if you don’t have any equipment and space is an issue. If you can take 3 steps forward and 3 steps back you have everything you need to get a serious burn from this full body workout. I am using my Ipod Nano to keep time, but any watch with a second hand will do. The key to these body weight workouts is to keep track of your performance in your exercise journal. You are competing against yourself – your goal should always be to achieve more reps or a faster time the next time you do this workout. Continually striving to beat your previous record will ensure that you never plateau and that your body will continue to transform. The stronger, faster and more agile you are, the better you will look in the mirror, and the more confident you will become. If you can beat my time then thats great (and feel free to boast in the comments) – but more importantly just do your best and enjoy this process of becoming stronger. If you are trying to beat me, I did 4 rounds of the following exercises in 20 minutes and 10 seconds :)
Walk lunges are a simple exercise. Every time you make a step forward bring yourself down into a lunge. Do 30 Walk Lunges and then move on to the Prisoner Burpees Exercise.
Starting position. Stand with your feet together and make sure that you have some space behind you.
Squat down and put your hand on the ground in front of you shoulder width apart.
Jump back with your feet into a plank.
Brind your body down towards the ground and do one push up.
Bring your left knee towards your chest and then your right knee.
Repeat the push up and knee tucks one more time and then jump with your feet forward.
From the squat position push up off of your feet and jump up. Do 10 Prisoner Burpees and then move on to the last exercise.
Stand on one side of your chair and then kick the inside leg up and over the top of the chair. Then kick the other leg over in the same manner bringing both legs together on the other side of the chair. This counts as one rep. Do 30 reps total.
Zuzana, I’m so glad you are feeling better!! I have been following you on youtube and appreciate ALL your videos. You are the only one that I’ve found that is a GREAT inspiration and truly motivating. I appreciate that you’ve taught me how to become stronger from my own body weight and not rely heavily on equipment when not available. I’ve trained with a great trainer before but you are such a dynamic inspiration! I look forward to all videos you put out there to teach and motivate. Thanks for the pics too. I print them out and take them to the gym with me for backup. Forever a loyal fan!! Please keep it up and hope you get well soon!!!
Thanks Kristine! :)
One more thing.. can you possibly do a video on suggested food items for breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack for a typical day or week? I know you are a HEALTHY eater. Can you suggest some foods that are are easily and readily available to those of us in the states. Pre or post workout snack would even help. Thank you!!
I will do my best Kristine.
Hi Zuzana,
It’s great to see that you’re feeling better !
I just finished todays workout (the one you posted yesterday) … but i’ll do this one tomorrow for sure !
Keep up the good work !
Zuzana!!! I am so glad you are BACK & feeling better!!!
I bet you are excited to get that tooth out of your head! :)
Another rockin’ workout!!! Thank you!!!!
xx, Denise :D
cao!
drgo mi je da se osecas bolje:)
zelim da ti se zahvalim sto postojis,da nije tebe,bila bih izgubljena…
hvala ti!
zuzana,
thank you for beeing:)
im sorry,my english is not very well:(
i hope that you will understand what im saying.
im glad you are feeling better!
kiss from serbia
:)
Hey!!!
Just wanted to thank you for you videos. I founded them today on youtube and after long time now I found more inspiration for my workout :D I´m going to follow you and start exercising as you do and hopefully get into better shape! Already did my first workout today!! (I´m living in Finland so now its Thursday already, so I kind of will do the exercises one day delay)
I was just wandering ´cause I´m living the student life and there are parties and drinking every weekend, do you have some good advise for me how I won´t be attracted for drinking alcohol every time?? I know its not a good thing, but its in your culture that when we go out we drink and a lot :/ Should I just drink water in clubs?
Thanks
xoxo :D
Hi Essi,
Welcome to the site!
My student days are not so far behind me that I can’t remember what you are going through with the parties and drinking. Drinking with your friends may be fun, but ultimately it’s not going to support your fitness progress. Try to cut it back as much as possible – make it your thing when you are out to drink Perrier (or some other non-alchoholic sugar free beverage) , which is what I do now when I am out socially. Trust me, you will still have fun :)
Dear Zuzana,
Thank you so much for your daily workouts. I am absolutely loving and following them religiously. I do hope you keep your daily workouts as simple as possible (ie equipment-free) because that gives people like me who don’t have equipments/home gyms a chance at an excellet workout. Keep up the excellent work!!!! you ROCK!!
YEAH, YOU’RE BACK!! Happy to see that the swelling is down and you don’t seem to be having any or as much pain. As for this workout, I’ve been waiting all day(it’s now 4:54pm)and I am going to get into my sweat gear and go for it. I know I can’t do it in 20 minutes-goodness gracious! It will take me probably an hour, but I will complete it. THANKS A BUNCH….P.S., I love that top your wearing. Is it from that same brand you always wear?
It is nice to see you back and feeling good,we have missed you:)great workout.Every day I visit your site at least 10 times to see what is new:)your the best,thanks for helping to all of us to be in shape.
Best!Natali Macedonia
Great to have you back and feeling better.You look like a real soldier that got out of the Prison camp (Toothache)…
I have recorded most of your exercises. I used to go to the gym alot and since after I stopped due to financial reason I have been working out at home. I did hit plateau and wanted to join a bootcamp to get out of my rut..Now I don’t have to spend a cent on gym membership or Bootcamp. You are my inspiration. I have now met my personal trainer, just a click away. I am spending the money on the equipment i didnt have-Dumbbells and Medicine Ball and I also invested in a good pair of jump rope-..I was never fat or anything. I do have mucular definition but i wanted something at another level.
You are my inspiration. I hope you take your fitness to another level. Like being on the cover of a magasine or your own personal DVD. I will definitely support you.
Great job and keep them coming.
hey zuzana
great to have you back
i hope you feel better :D
anyways im sort of confused on the time limit or how many sets needs to be done?
does it have to be four rounds or twenty mins long?
I just want to clarify that.
thanks
marissa
18 minutes 41 seconds. I cant believe I just did that, my hands are shaking! Woooo! Thanks Zuzana, that workout rocked my body :) !!!
glad that u feel better, and like Frederick said…U will be back with a vengeance!
Welcome Back, Z!
Great work out. I just have one thing to say: I hate burpees.
That is all.
Y.
Hi Zuzana,
I’ve been wanting to say this for a while, but I am finally now getting to it…
I am sure you are already aware of this, but I just want to state this because sometimes, just hearing things you already know is such a good feeling. You make a BIG difference in A LOT OF PEOPLE’S LIFE. You are such a motivation in everything you do and every time I want to give up, you don’t let me :)
Please keep doing everything you do, just the way you do it!
I LOVE YOU (in the friendly way of course)
ps. I hope I don’t sound too corny. lol.
Hi Maryam,
I am actually enjoying nice comments and I don’t think they are ever corny :) Thanks for writing me, it makes me really happy.
oh yeah…one more thing…the day before yesterday, i went to the whole foods market after a long time, and i bought so much…and some things that i have never tried before that i heard of from your site (quinoa, flax seed, and salba!).
thnx so much agn
I did it! It took me 1 hour and 10 minutes to do all reps and rounds. Between each set I did cardio for 20 seconds and after each round I did standing high kicks; maybe that slowed me down. That last round was a killer on my thighs and knees, but I forced myself to do them. I especially liked the “OVER THE CHAIR ROUND KICKS”. At the start of every workout I can pretty much tell if I’m up to doing the required reps and rounds you indicate. Usually, I do 2 rounds with lots of cardio between every other set to make up for the rounds I don’t do.
Hi Texas! I think it’s really cool the way you add your own little modifications to the workouts. Keep going!
Zuzana,
So glad to see that you are feeling better. This workout looks intense. I will try it after I complete your 6 week summer workout (which is kicking my butt lol). Could you tell me what you do to cool down after a workout? Thank you for being such an inspiration
xxoo, Juanette
Good stuff Zuzana and you’re looking GREAT as ever. My time was 29:40:05. It was a little longer because I performed the over the chair round kicks as inside leg swing over, then outside leg, then back to the other side as one rep. Then I came back to reread your instructions and learned both legs to one side was one rep. I probably could have cut back on time, but it was good practice for those round house kicks since I don’t do them often. Thanks for this great workout. It was what I needed after an intense weight training exercise the past 2 days. Glad you’re feeling better. Cheers ^_^
Zuzana! thank you for the new post and I’m glad to here your doing better. I love all your workouts and fitness tips.. I was wondering if you would be able to post a kettlebell workout? Thank you
Hello Zuzana!! Thanks God…you are feeling better…Even though you are sick, you still doing exercises … you are an example that we have to follow that if you can … .. you are a champion and all my inspiration on bull..
How many reps of the prisoner burpees do you do each round?
I heard you say 30 for the other two exercises
Hi Kurt,
Scroll down on the post to the pictures – all the rep and form info is there.
I’m sorry, I think you’re great — but the skull and bones on your cap is giving me the creeps.
At the start of the “Prison Cell Exercises” a bell could even be heard tolling in the background!
:-S
Came across your videos on youtube and have to say you actually live what you preach. Nice to see good routines with great form.
Glad you’re feeling better. Thanks for the great workout. I have never seen any of those exercises before, so I found it really useful.
Thanks again!
-Joel
I LOVE YOU FIRST OFF :)
I found your website about a month ago. I spent that time looking around your site while at work, admiring everything you post and your outlook on fitness. I love that you inspire women all over the world to get in shape in as little as 20 minute a day. We need more sweet women out there willing to show us less motivated girls, we CAN do this too.
This is the first workout I tried, after a month of admiring or procrastinating. WOW. Girl, you are amazing. I was sweating beads by the end, totally dripping. I did the routine in 17:38. Although, my form was lacking. With the burpee’s I was doing half hearted push-ups, because that’s all i had the strength for, and my jumps at the end were more of half hearted hops. I didn’t realize how challenging those really are! My chair kicks were lacking strength and stability in the core. Your strength and stability is really inspiring. I have you bookmarked. I am hooked.
Thank You So Much!! I really appreciate your dedication and time spent making these videos. I REALLY look forward to getting back in shape with my new secret weapon, YOu!
ps- tooth pain is the worse :( glad you took the time to get that taken care of.
Love & Appreciation
Hi Rachelle,
Zuzana and I both really appreciate the positive comments – and it makes us both very happy that you started to workout with us!
Feeling better? Great!
I like the burpee-training Ross Enamait shows on his site.
Its part of my daily workout routine.
Hi zuzana I’m glad too that you feeling better,,
you are an inspiration for many people.. this routine is great but i have a question..
four rounds but how many repetitions
in each???
Hi Nas,
The reps are below each picture in the post. Enjoy the workout!
HI Zuzana,
I love working out, and I think its a way of me appreciating my body. I have a baby and she is one year old now. Ever since I came back to the gym after the delivery, I have been following your workouts. It was really hard at first but now I can really see the result. My abs are even better than before I was pregnant. I feel stronger and feel very fit. I just want to thank you for posting your workouts and been a great inspiration for me. One question, I would always start my workout with 20 mins of running and sometimes i get drain from it. DO you think I should just skip the cardio and just go with the workout?
Thanks
Trixie
Hi Trixie,
your warm up shouldn’t make you tired, so yes I would skip the cardio or I would do it after the workout.
hi Zuzana,
happy to know you’re feeling better today. hope you won’t have any problems with that tooth any more after the removal.
i just finished today’s workout. it’s really intensive. the only thing, i did it in 26 minutes and 36 seconds. i hope i’ll do better next time.
thanks for that workout i feel great now.
take care
xxx, LisaG
Hi Zuzana,
Glad that you are feeling better. Is it 30 reps total of walking lunges and over the chair round kicks (i.e. 15 per leg)? Thanks!
Hi BADE,
that is correct. I have written the amount of reps with the instructions underneath the pictures.
I just read the directions again and I have an answer to my question about the over the chair round kicks. I’m still wondering about the lunges. Thanks!
I’m SO going to follow this every day! THANKS and don’t ever stop!!
Zuzana welcome back, so glad you’re doing better, I love all of your workouts they are very challenging for me, but doable, one thing I simple am unable to do push ups like you, I’ve been doing them with my knee down, any suggestion on how to do push ups like the way you do them, thanks, in advance
Hi Barbara,
keep doing the push ups with your knees down. You will get stronger eventually to do them like I do. Every once in a while test yourself if you can do them on your toes and write down how many reps you were able to complete. Don’t get discouraged, because every rep counts even if you were able to do just one, it is a victory and foundation that you can easily build on.
Hi Zuzana,
Until I started doing your workouts I hadn’t done Burpees since High School. I find I love them! Interesting variation with the left leg then the right leg tuck in. Is this more challenging? As you probably can tell I haven’t done this workout yet. I’m a few days behind those who are doing your workouts religiously.
A few decades ago, when I was a preteen and at Wellington Junior Secondary (up in Canada) I was very into running and was a long distance track team member. When I was running track I would make up scenarios as to why I must bet everyone else. Usually some animal was chasing me. Your Prison Cell Exercise scenario reminded me of that a little.
Anyway, I’m glad you feel better.
Best wishes,
–Chris
Hey Z.,
another great workout routine for me! I enjoyed it a lot!
I made it through in exactly 19 minutes! Although I have to say
that my form at the last exercise (the leg over the chair) was not perfect,
but not because I did not trying, but because I can not kick that high with perfect form!
I hope I will soon.
I was not sweating much, but I was catching my breath! :)
I am very happy that you are feeling better Zuzana, I wish you all best next week,
when you are seeing the dentist for the final touch. You will be in my mind. I wish you all best!!! You will be just fine, you will see. Lots of positive thoughts around you :).
I love your outfit in this workout. I love this Adidas top and hat and trousers! Which brand are the trousers? They are really nice! You look great in them.
Can you tell me this: in march 2008 when you have a little bit more kilos, were you less fit? I mean, do you now, when you are more ripper find yourself more agile, balanced and fit? Please answer, I am now at about the same kilos as you were in march, so I wanted to know where it will take me, if I would lost some of my body fat. I am at around 18% now.
Can you tell me how much kilos do you have now? I am 167 cm high and have 56 kilos.
You truly are my role model, inspiration and motivation!
Love you,
get well
Tina
Hi Tina,
I bought those pants when I was in Kingston, but I don’t remember the brand. I do feel more agile and fit now when I am slimmer. It is less weight for me to carry so every move feels easier then when I was heavier. I am 166cm tall and I don’t know my weight, but it is probably somewhere around 53kg. I haven’t measured my body fat for some time either so I will let you know in one of my new posts. You must be already very good looking regarding your measurements ;)
Completed in 17 minutes and 45 seconds…although, without a hurting wisdom tooth :)
sorry, I meant in march 2009 ;).
Zuzana, thanks for updating-great workout! Is your tooth still hurting? It looks like it might still be hurting you. I hope you are doing ok. Take it easy and don’t feel like you have to rush to make videos for everyone if you aren’t feeling well. Everyone can be patient :) Blessings!
Hi Zuzana! I loved this workout and also the article about body types. It finally helped me understand why it is so hard for me to build muscle even though i’m fairly skinny. And, to top that, i am also a vegetarian. So it is really hard for me to eat all the protein i must eat daily to build muscle. I was wondering if you knew any protein supplements (i think they call it protein powder, right?) that would work for a vegetarian ectomorphic like me :D. But, it scares me a little that i should gain the weight in bodyfat instead of muscle. Please, Help!! Thank you soo much!
PS: Im so glad your tooth is better!
Zuzana,
Thanks a lot for your answer, means a lot to me! :D
I will try to loose some more fat, although It is pretty though for me, because I eat too much ;). I must be more careful about that! My hunger is crazy ;).
Thank you, well I do not look bad, I only have problems with my thighs and butt – I store all the fat JUST there…aggghr! :S
But, I will change that, I am determined and you are helping me a lot.
I also have almost no breast tissue, so a few years ago, I got my implants and now I am much more confident! It feels great. And my tummy looks pretty good too. You know…everyone have their own issues. ;)
Hugs & kisses,
Tina
@ Alexandra..
there are many soy protein powders and milk protein based powders that u can use to supplement your diet..if you are vegan try hemp protein powder..North Coast Naturals is the highest grade hemp protein i have found..it is completely plant based..15 grams per serving at 110 calories..it also is high in fiber and contains omega 6 and omega 3 fatty acids..
xo
Angi
Hi, this is the first time I leave a comment and I must say that I am truly inspired with all the workouts. I got into a workout rut sometime ago and while searching the internet for new ideas I came across your site. I must tell you that it has made a great difference in my body and in my workouts. I actually dropped the little weight I had put on in a matter of a few weeks and feel better than ever. Thank you so much, and keep the up the good work.
Great workout. Zuzana, can you please respond to this if possible? I recently worked with a personal trainer who had me do practically everything on a bosu ball, including doing compound free weight exercises. I consider myself an advanced exerciser who is in good shape with great balance and wanted to learn new techniques. While I’m trying to be open minded about learning new information, I noticed that only the women in the gym were doing these kinds of workouts on the ball with free weights and not guys. Part of me feels like the trainer is doing this to call attention to his “unique” workouts to get more work as I feel like a dork doing these on a bosu when the guys in the gym don’t. Has my workout been “girly-ised?” I’d appreciate it if others who’ve had a similar experience can comment on this too. Can you comment on this? Thanks, Jax
Dear Zuzana,
I really enjoyed your work out video, you’re gorgeous and in excellent condition! I was wondering if you might ever consider adding some music to your work out videos (such as trance music, or samba/ capoeria, dnb/ Jungle or break beat music to add some more rythm to your work out routines)? Best wishes to you and keep up the great work.
Thanx,
Fabian.
Haii Zuzan
I´m realy happy that i can see a new video from you.
Im 17Years and have tried all thing to get a nice body but nothing helps.
And now i have tried your workout from the last week 1week long and it´s incredible, I can see mi abdominals im so happy.
Thank you sry about mi english im from German but realy your workouts are the best and it makes Fun.
Pls don´t stop withe your workouts im sure we need it all here^^
Four rounds in 18 minutes. I know I should’ve kept pushing until 20 minutes, so I technically failed the challenge. In my defense, I misunderstood the instructions and did 30 prisoner burpees on the first round before I realized I was only supposed to do 10. And I kept losing count on the chair round kicks. I think I actually did 60 the first two rounds through.
But I’m not saying all that to boost myself up. I should’ve kept going to 20 minutes. But I just wanted to say that 2 weeks ago, I was knocked out for a week with the same problem you’re having now, Zuzana. I couldn’t even swallow water, because my throat swelled up so much. So, definitely, working out was out of the question. But now I’m back full force, so don’t beat yourself up over having to take some time off. If anything, I’m more determined and focused now. I think you’ll be surprised when you come back. I was only sore for one day when I started back, and then my body found its groove. I know you’ll be back to kicking ass in no time.
I did 4 rounds in 24 minutes
it was hard Prisoner Burpees !
bye!!!
its awesome,i am gone try it ,i am pretty sure i’m gone love it,i like to chalenge myself,good job zuzana
Wow, just wow, its my second training I do with your workout and its very effective. Thanks to post them, and continu your exellent work! (Sorry for my english)