Workout I Did: Getting Hot and Sweaty with Hot5

Not too long ago, Jayme Boyle, my personal trainer from a few years back, sent me a new fitness app she’d been working on. Seeing as how Jayme got me in the best shape I’ve probably ever been in, I immediately downloaded the app, just knowing it would be good. It’s call Hot5, and the name fits: in just five minutes you will be on fire and sweating like crazy.

Hot5 offers high-quality videos of various trainers with different specialties. You’re started out with a number of points to unlock videos, and you can buy points to unlock more, but I think it’s way more fun (and way more free!) to earn more points by completing workouts. No matter the trainer, the workout is five moves in five minutes. Over the past several weeks, I’ve done several of the workouts with a few different trainers. I favored Jayme (of course!) because I loved her workouts, and the moves were true to Jayme and seriously a blast from my workout past.

There is no tutorial on the moves, so you really do just jump right into the workout, which is good and bad. Good because there’s no annoying lag waiting for the trainer to explain something you already know. Bad, because when you’re just learning a move, you may have to miss a rep or two to get the hang of it. I honestly prefer the fast pace though; I’d rather miss a few reps than always have an explanation of a move. Plus, many of the moves are simple enough that you can almost always jump right in.

Now, for the workout I did.

Hot5 Workout I Did

Warm-up: 20 minutes cleaning and vacuuming the house. Yes, really, it had to be done, so I was already sweaty when the Hot5 portion started.

Hot5: Jayme’s Interval Strength (1 minute each)

1. Knee Drive: Step-ups onto a bench.

2. Decline Push-Up

3. Side Step Kick: Step-up onto bench with a side kick at the top.

4. Tricep Dips: With a fun leg curtsy!

5. Swimming Frog: A total bun burner.

Hot5: Victor’s Amazing Abs (1 minute each)

1. Curl Up: Crunches.

2. Elevation Plank: From a high plank, drop to elbows and go back to hands.

3. Boat Rockers: Lift legs up to sky and then down to a 45-degree angle.

4. Spider Crawls: From a plank, bring your knee up to your elbow to work the oblique while the opposite hand crawls forward a step. Yikes!

5. Twist Ups: Sit-ups with twists at top.

Hot5: Jayme’s Amazing Core & Butt (1 minute each)

1. Side Bending Squat: Squats with floor touches to hit the obliques.

2. Twisted Lunge: Lunges with torso twists to hit the core.

3. Crouching Dog: Like downward dog with bent knees and a kick to the ceiling.

4. Cross Out and Back: In a slight squat, take one leg out to the side and then back behind you to the other side. Switch.

5. Flying Superwoman: Kick one leg back while reaching to the sky.

Don’t just take my descriptions for it: Download it for your iPad or iPhone and give it a try. (It’ll be available on Android at some point.) In just 15 minutes, I was dripping sweat like crazy. When you know you only have a minute of a move, you really push yourself for that minute. The trainers’ voice overs and the music also push you to keep moving, but the sound portion isn’t totally necessary. If you use apps at the gym, you could totally hit mute.

I’ll absolutely be trying out more of the Hot5 workouts. Will you test out Hot5 for yourself or are you loyal to another favorite app? —Erin