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THE JOURNAL

5 MINUTE READ

The Seven-Day Barry’s Bootcamp Workout You Can Do

At Home
Words by Ms Mollie McGuigan
8 April 2020

B
efore coronavirus, we might have baulked at the idea of giving up hours of
free time to toil away in a gym. And yet, on what feels like day 357 of
isolation, we’re now so desperate to do more exercise, we’re at risk of
being told off via police drone. At least we still have freedom in our living
room – but what do we do in it, other than watch Netflix’s Tiger King and eat another
pack of Jaffa Cakes? Mr Sandy Macaskill – founder of Barry’s Bootcamp UK – has a
good idea.

His seven-day quarantine workout plan, which can be repeated over the weeks (and
possibly months) of lockdown, is a condensed version of the Barry’s workouts. Most
days feature just 12 minutes of exercise a day, which, says Mr Macaskill, is “a realistic
amount to maintain six days out of seven, but, if you find the sessions easy, add on
another 12-minute block, and another, and so on until fatigue”.

Each day’s workout is made up of two rounds: round 1 is a six-minute warm-up; round
2 is a nonstop six-minute workout. Rest for one-to-two minutes between rounds and
end your sessions with light stretching.

“You will feel good immediately after these workouts,” says Mr Macaskill. “Within two
weeks, you should start to find the movements easier – and two weeks after that, you
should start to see physical improvements.”
THE JOURNAL The Seven-Day Barry’s Bootcamp Workout You Can Do At Home

Monday

Upper body and abs

“As you can see below, every session starts with a gentle six-minute warm-up,” advises
Mr Macaskill. “Today’s workout ticks off your upper body and abdominals, but it also
gets your heart rate up.” Forget what you’ve read about using tins of food and wine
bottles as weights – the most effective resistance, says Mr Macaskill, is your own body
weight. Try to do as many reps as possible during each 60-second block.

Round 1

Walkouts – 60 seconds. Stand with your feet hip-width apart and walk your hands
forward until you reach a plank position.

Push-up and shoulder tap – 60 seconds. Alternately tap your shoulders at the top of
each push-up.

Side tricep push-up (right) – 60 seconds. Lie down on your right side with your knees
bent, pushing yourself up with your right arm to activate the tricep.

Side plank rotations – 60 seconds. Start in the plank position before rotating your
body to the side, reaching your arm into the air and alternating sides.

Side tricep push-up (left) – 60 seconds. As above, but this time with your left side.

Side plank rotations – 60 seconds

Round 2

Push-ups – 60 seconds

Tricep dips – 60 seconds

Mountain climbers – 60 seconds. Get into a press-up position and rapidly bring your
knees to your chest.

Bicycle crunches – 60 seconds

Push-ups – 30 seconds

Tricep dips – 30 seconds

Mountain climbers – 30 seconds

Bicycle crunches – 30 seconds

Tuesday

Quads and hamstrings

Today is all about legs. “I like to alternate the areas of focus each day to give your body
a rest,” says Mr Macaskill. “You can skip a day if you like, but you should make sure
the next session works a different area than the previous workout.” He also
recommends you take in protein after each workout to help muscles repair (he makes a
shake with Hermosa protein powder, a company he founded in 2014, and which is
stocked in Barry’s studios, but a grilled chicken breast would be fine, too).
 Round 1 The Seven-Day Barry’s Bootcamp Workout You Can Do At Home
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Squats – 60 seconds

Lunges – 60 seconds

Sumo squats – 60 seconds. Stand with your feet wider apart than your shoulders and
turn your feet slightly outwards, squatting to activate your inner thigh muscles.

Side lunge (right) – 60 seconds

Side lunge (left) – 60 seconds

Mountain climbers - 60 seconds

Round 2

Squats - 60 seconds

Lunges - 60 seconds

Sumo squats – 60 seconds

Reverse lunges – 60 seconds

Squat jumps – 30 seconds

Flying lunges – 30 seconds

Squat pulse – 30 seconds

Flying lunges – 30 seconds

Wednesday

Upper-body challenge

Your abs get a rest today, but your upper body does not. “This is your Hump Day mini
challenge,” says Mr Macaskill. “The exercises are all super basic but the format gives
you little targets to reach for.” There are two rounds for the challenge, which should be
performed in order. Each round alternates exercises and recovery, and then requires
you to match or beat your previous best, so make sure you note down your PB each
time. Before round 1, complete a two-minute dynamic stretch: arm circles forwards for
30 seconds, reverse circles for 30 seconds and walkouts for one minute.

Round 1

Push-ups – 60 seconds; as many reps as possible

Lower back raises – 60 seconds; slowly, treating as a recovery exercise. Lie on your
front with your hands at your sides, pushing your chest upwards.

Push-ups – 60 seconds; record same number reps as R1, or more.

Lower back raises – 60 seconds; slowly, treating as a recovery exercise.

Push-ups – 60 seconds; record same number reps as R2, or more.

Lower back raises – 60 seconds; slowly, treating as a recovery exercise.

Round 2

Close push-up/wide push-up – 60 seconds; as many reps as possible.

Lower back raises – 60 seconds; slowly, treating as a recovery exercise.

 Close push-up/wide push-up – 60 seconds; record same number reps as R1, or more.
The Seven-Day Barry’s Bootcamp Workout You Can Do At Home
THE JOURNAL

Lower back raises – 60 seconds; slowly, treating as a recovery exercise.

Close push-up/wide push-up – 60 seconds; record same number reps as R2, or more.

Lower back raises; 60 seconds; slowly, treating as a recovery exercise.

Thursday

Glutes and abs

“This is a slower workout than the others,” says Mr Macaskill. “You should focus on
the mind-muscle connection: think about squeezing your glutes and making them
work, rather speeding through each movement.” With the glute thrust (where you lie
down and push your hips up in the air before dropping all the way down to the floor),
Mr Macaskill recommends playing around with the position of your feet and angle of
your knees to get the best muscle contraction.

Round 1

Glute thrust – 60 seconds. Lie on your back with your knees bent, thrusting your pelvis
into the air.

Sit-ups – 60 seconds

Glute thrust pulse – 60 seconds. Hold the position and pulse.

Sit-ups – 60 seconds

Glute thrust pulse – 60 seconds

Mountain climbers – 60 seconds

Round 2

Fire hydrant right – 60 seconds. Get onto your hands and knees and lift your right leg
up 90 degrees (like a dog next to a fire hydrant – get it?).

Pulse – 30 seconds

Fire hydrant left – 60 seconds

Pulse – 30 seconds

Jack-knife crunch – 60 seconds. Lie on your back with your arms extended straight
behind your head. Then bend your waist, bringing your arms and legs up to meet in
the jack-knife position.

Toe touch – 30 seconds

Bicycle crunch slow – 60 seconds. Lie on your back and bring your right knee to your
left elbow. Alternate.

Bicycle crunch fast – 30 seconds

Friday

Full body

“This is nasty,” laughs Mr Macaskill. “It’s about the most comprehensive workout you
can get without weights – it works your legs, triceps, chest, back, abs and glutes.”
Today’s exercise uses the principles of Tabata, Japanese high-intensity interval
training, which alternates 20 second bursts of exercise with 10 seconds of rest, for four
 minutes. Do your warm-up as usual, but for round 2, you should count your reps on
The Seven-Day Barry’s Bootcamp Workout You Can Do At Home
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the first segment and then match or beat them in the following segment.

Round 1: 4-minute warm-up

Walkouts – 60 seconds

Walkouts and twist – 60 seconds; hold the twist for 2 seconds then repeat. Perform a
walkout, then bring your right foot up to your right hand, before twisting your body to
point your right arm to the sky. Alternate.

Squat, walkout and twist – 60 seconds

Squats – 60 seconds

Round 2: 8-minute Tabata challenge

Alternate 20 seconds of squats and 10 seconds of rest for 4 minutes

Rest for 1-2 minutes

Alternate 20 seconds of squats and 10 seconds of rest for 4 minutes

Saturday

Cardio

For this, you will of course need to leave your house (only do this once a day). “This
interval running workout, which takes around 30 minutes, is shaped around one of my
Barry’s classes,” says Mr Macaskill. “Start off with five minutes at a gentle jog pace,
and as you feel yourself become more pliable, increase the pace until you’re starting to
sweat and your heart rate is up.” Then start the intervals.

Interval run 1

“Our first interval alternates between slow jog and fast run speeds,” advises Mr
Macaskill. “Jog for 60 seconds, and then accelerate for a 30-second burst of speed.”
Maintain this for nine minutes.

Interval run 2

“This section is a version of a Tabata run, with 20 seconds of speed followed by 10

seconds of complete recovery, on repeat for eight continuous minutes,” says Mr
Macaskill. “This run is pure speed work – it gets your heart rate up like nothing else.”

16 sets of 20 seconds of sprint and 10 seconds of recovery

Warm down

Revert back to your super slow and gentle meandering jog speed for a five-minute
period, followed by a proper stretch.

Sunday

Rest

“You need a day to recover from this plan – your muscles will be tired,” advises Mr
Macaskill. His rest days usually involve cooking and watching Amazon’s sports
docuseries All Or Nothing, now in its fifth season. He doesn’t stretch – instead do
some dynamic stretches before and after each workout. But he does massage his
muscles with a Theragun, an electric massage tool that looks a bit like an electric drill,
which uses “percussive therapy” to help speed up muscle recovery. Alternatively, a
foam roller will achieve a similar effect.