It’s often around 11.30am that I have my second cup of coffee. I have my first at 9am, but after the first meetings and emails of the day, I’ll need a little energy top-up. And it’s around that time that I start to feel a little cold – especially when working from home. I’m wrapped in a jumper in June, despite having been in a vest and shorts hours earlier on my morning walk.

Last year, I came across the New York Times’s seven-minute standing workout. I tried their joy workout last year and found that it actually worked, so would a shorter, less expansive regime have any energy-boosting properties?

The workout is simple. It’s low-impact, no-sweat and all-abilities. In fact, it’s the kind of regime you could imagine a senior’s fitness class might adopt.  

Each exercise lasts for 30 seconds, followed by a 5-second rest.

March on the spot (30 seconds)

• Rest (5 seconds)
• Chair-assist squat
• Rest
• Wall push-up
• Rest
• Standing bicycle crunch
• Rest
• Stand and box
• Rest
• Chair-assist split squat
• Rest
• Chair-assist push-up
• Rest
• Wall plank
• Rest
• Stepping jacks
• Rest
• Wall sit
• Rest
• Standing side crunch
• Rest

On paper, that sounds like a lot, but in practice, it’s over before you know it.

Miranda Larbi – SW editor

On Monday morning, I take a break at 11.30am to give it a go. I’ve just made a second pot of coffee, I’m about to find a thicker jumper and, generally, I’m starting to feel the events of the weekend catching up on me. So, I set my tabata app, stick on a short playlist and get going.

I chair squat at my desk and realise that having the chair there helps me to focus on form – sitting right back into the seat on each rep. Wall push-ups are a sweet, easy alternative to the usual floor moves, and by the time I get to the stand and box (I jab, hook and uppercut) section, I have to take off my jumper and joggers. I’m positively hot by the end of the chair push-ups and find that the wall plank helps to relieve the little laptop-induced niggles starting to develop in my wrists.

Stepping jacks are a great option for anyone who can’t jump (or lives in a flat) or doesn’t want to get too warm, but by this point in the workout, I’m ready to expend a little more energy – so I spend 30 seconds doing jumping jacks. 

By the end of the seven minutes, my coffee has gone cold and I don’t fancy warming it back up. I put on my joggers but go without my jumper until well after lunch. Amazing, considering how short and non-explosive the workout is.  

It really proves that you don’t need to do much to feel different; simply getting up and moving can be enough to refocus the mind and help your body reregulate its temperature. I get cold because I have moments of total inactivity at my desk. Rather than adding layers or reaching for a hot drink, I’m much better off simply taking a short break to get the heart pumping and circulation going. I absolutely intend to do this little routine on my home working days whenever I’m tempted to grab that extra layer. 

Lauren Geall – Strong Women’s senior writer

Having begrudgingly spent much of the last week in bed recovering from a cold, I’ve been itching to get moving in some way or another. So when Miranda proposed we try this quick, seven-minute workout, I was intrigued. Such a small about of time meant I could easily afford to take a break from my laptop, and although I was still feeling low on energy after my illness, I was excited to see whether it could help me feel any better.

After finding a suitable chair and wall to work with, I dived straight in. The moves were relatively simple to complete, but they worked all areas of the body, from my arms and upper legs to my core. There were also a few moves designed to raise my heart rate a little, which felt good after spending so much time in bed. But the best bit was that there wasn’t much jumping around, so I didn’t have to worry about annoying my neighbours.

All in all, the workout didn’t take long, but I found myself feeling a lot more energised and present afterwards – I was a bit more awake and with it than before I started. Knowing whether or not to exercise when you’re feeling under the weather can be tricky, but doing something so quick and simple really made a difference to how I was feeling, so I’ll be saving this little sequence for the next time I’m feeling a bit meh. 

Images: Getty