Morning Too Early? Night Too Late? Lunchtime Workout

Fitness contributor Minna Lessig showed the Early Show what she calls a lunchtime workout. If your excuse to exercise is that you never get to wake up early enough or that by the time you get home it is too late, then this work out is right for you. And the great thing about it is that at the gym, it doesn't matter if it's raining outdoors.

Here's a total body workout that will take you 35-45 minutes max, but best of all, it will leave you filled with energy for the rest of the day.

Warm-up

Start with a 5-minute warm-up on the treadmill. So, after 5 minutes of warming up, take 2 minutes to gently stretch your body. Gently stretch your body. It's not a time to increase flexibility. Just continue to warm up your body before you start.

Squats

Always train large muscle groups to smaller. So we're starting with legs and the squat first. You can do a plie (ballet style) squat or a regular basic squat. Plie squats are great for targeting the inner thighs and the gluts. Regular squats are great for targeting the whole legs, front and back, and the gluts as well.

Hamstring Curls

Start with a set of 10-15 leg extensions. Then do a set of 10-15 hamstring curls. As you're pulling in, use the back of the legs to squeeze as heard as you can without popping your butt up. Keep the butt down and gradually release. Keep your lower back relaxed and use the back of your legs and hamstrings to pull the weight in toward your gluts.

Seated Chest Press

Now a seated row and a seated chest press. This exercise is so good for posture, strengthening all the upper back muscles. Again, a set of 10-15 reps. After one set of that, hop over to the chest exercise and do two sets total per exercise.

Overhead Press

Press forward just like you would do if you were doing a pushup. Only you're seated here you're really isolating and targeting the chest muscles, the shoulders and the triceps. Keep the spine long and straight and keep your abdominals tight in every exercise you do.

Rear Delt Flies

Now we're working the back portion of our shoulder, the rear deltoid. Really helps with improving posture, helps you to be able to stand up tall.

Bicep Tricep Curl

Our last superset here. Working the biceps and the triceps by doing a seated dumbell curl. Exhale as you squeeze up, inhale on the way down.

Situps

Last, but not least, the abs. Grab an exercise ball--so good for your lower back for support. Keep your hands behind the head, or cross in front, and do your crunches.

Stretching

Finish off the workout with just a few simple stretches. Thirty-five to 45 minutes max and we're good to go.
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