I am a big fan of home workouts, and ones that you can get done in a short period of time, you sweat a lot, & don’t need any equipment – except a yoga mat is nice for floor exercises, I recommend the Gaiam Premium Yoga Mat . It is textured, non-slip and its free of the toxic phthalates that some of the cheaper mats will have. Good for you and for the planet. Yoga is a real good workout. Sometimes I am shocked at how sweaty I get in such a short time, but its great. Summer is going to be here before we know it. If you haven’t already, its time to start working out regularly and getting in shape for any bikini-wearing situation! I know I am!

I wanted to share with you an example of a circuit I do regularly. This is a core workout which is great for strengthening your abs and back muscles – but these exercises also work your legs, your butt and your arms. For this circuit you will work 30 sec, rest 10 seconds – Use any sort of interval timer – such as a the Gymboss Interval Timer for this workout.

Repeat this set of 6 exercises (cycles) 3 times (tabatas) in a row. Because you move so fast between exercises, this is a mix of cardio and strength exercises… the best of both! For best results I recommend you do this at least 2 times a week, or better yet, every other day (as long as you are not too sore to do it). The cool thing is that it only takes 12 minutes to do the whole thing (if you do it 3 times through) – we all have 12 minutes that we can take out of our day to do this! No excuses! Find time, grab your Interval Timer and Yoga Mat and get started on this workout!

1. Tall Plank In-n-Outs – get into a plank position on your hands and jump your feet in toward your body with your knees touching your chest and back out, trying to keep your back flat when you go out. Repeat until the 30 seconds is up.

2. Russian Twists – sit on your bum with your knees bent. Lean back so your back is at about a 45 degree angle from the floor and you’re engaging your abs to hold yourself up. Have your arms in the air above you and raise your feet off the floor. Slowly rotate from side to side until the 30 seconds is up. If this is too hard for you, you can do it with your feet on the floor. The farther back you lean, the harder this will be.

3. Plank – get onto your Yoga Mat into plank position with your forearms on the floor and your hands clasped, balancing on your toes, and hold for 30 seconds.

4. Side Plank with Leg Raise (right)- Get onto your Yoga Mat in a side plank position, balancing on your hand and knee with your knee bent (if you can balance on your foot, feel free to do it this way for a more advanced move). Raise the top leg in an up and down motion until the 30 seconds is up.

5. Side Plank with Leg Raise (left) – repeat the above exercise on the other side.

6. Plank - get onto your Yoga Mat in plank position with your forearms on the floor and your hands clasped, balancing on your toes, and hold for 30 seconds.

Want to do this workout but don’t have a yoga mat yet – get one right now at Amazon.com delivered right to your doorstep: The Giaim Premium Yoga Mat is highly recommended and pretty!