Trinny Woodall has shared the quick resistance-band workout she relies on when she’s travelling and short on time.
‘Good morning from New York! I’m so happy to be here. We’ve got a lot on today. I’m going to do my quick morning workout,’ the entrepreneur said in an Instagram post while away in the city.
‘This is my favourite travel-friendly workout to do when I’m away from home. All you need are a couple of resistance bands and around 10 minutes. It’s incredible what these bands can do,’ she added.
Before getting started, Trinny warmed up with her usual tapping routine, moving over her arms, legs, chest and stomach.
‘You’re going to tap down one side [of your arm] and up the other…then tap down your legs,’ she explained.
‘This just gets your lymph moving and…is just waking everything up,’ she said before moving into the banded sequence.
Trinny Woodall’s 5 resistance-band moves for a quick travel workout1. Rising arm pulses
- Place a resistance band around your wrists.
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart and raise your arms to around chest height, shoulder-width apart, with your palms facing each other.
- Keeping tension in the band, pulse your arms slightly outwards as you gradually raise them overhead.
- Continue pulsing as you lower your arms back down to just below chest height.
2. Standing crab walk with arm Ys and Ts
- Place the resistance band around your calves.
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart and soften your knees, hinging slightly at the hips.
- Step your left foot out to the side to create tension in the band. At the same time, raise your arms out into a ‘T’ shape.
- Step your right foot in to return to a hip-width stance, lowering your arms.
- Step left again, this time raising your arms up and out into a ‘Y’ shape.
- Bring your right foot in and lower your arms.
- Repeat the sequence in the opposite direction.
‘This is going to get your upper trapezius [a large triangular muscle in your upper back] open,’ Trinny said.
‘I always sleep badly when I’m in any new bed – I curl up like a ball – so I need to open up my back again. So make sure your back’s straight when you do this [as it] gives you good coordination,’ she added.
3. Seated leg extensions
- Sit on the edge of a chair with a resistance band around your calves.
- Keep your feet hip-width apart and your knees bent to around 90 degrees.
- Keeping your hips level and your core engaged, straighten one leg by extending your knee and lifting your foot off the floor.
- Keep the opposite foot planted and maintain tension in the band.
- Lower with control and complete all your reps on one side before switching.
‘If you want really good knees that last forever, this is something that PT Nathalie Hayward taught me to do,’ Trinny said.
‘I do it now every morning [as I drink my] hot water and lemon. It’s just strengthening your [quad] muscles,’ she added.
4. Shoulder dislocates
- Stand upright with your feet hip-width apart and hold the resistance band with both hands using a wide overhand grip.
- Start with your arms straight in front of you at around shoulder height.
- Keeping your elbows straight, raise your arms overhead and continue moving them behind your head as far as is comfortable.
- Reverse the movement, bringing the band back overhead and down in front of you with control.
‘This has got to be my favourite exercise,’ Trinny said, although she admitted it isn’t always the most comfortable.
‘I find when I first do it I’m like, “Oh God, help me,” but it’s so good for us – for our posture [at] any age…it reminds us to take breaths because we’ve opened out our chest,’ she said.
5. Around the world
- Hold the resistance band overhead with both hands, keeping your arms straight and the band under tension.
- Bend your torso gently to one side, then continue moving down and around in a circular motion while keeping the band overhead.
- Return to the starting position, then repeat in the opposite direction.
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