This Upper Body Workout Takes Under 15 Minutes — & Will Make You “Good Sore”

When the pandemic hit, Kelsey Wells, like many of us, had to switch to at-home workouts. The trainer started, naturally, with her own program: PWR At Home, weight-training workouts that are available through Kayla Itsines' SWEAT app.

She knew, though, that there was "a massive amount" of folks who didn't have the proper equipment to complete that program, since gyms were closed. So she designed a workout just for them: PWR Zero Equipment, 10 weeks of bodyweight and cardio workouts, all of which can be completed in a small space, in under 30 minutes. It launches today.

It's a carefully crafted program, and it's an easy entry back into exercise for folks who've been a little less active amid the pandemic. Or, for people who are just sick of at-home workouts. "Over the last six months, I have personally felt less motivated to exercise than in the last six years," Wells admits. "I kind of wrote this program for who I was six years ago as a new mom. Back then, I was so new to it all. I was never [consistently] active in my life until after the birth of my son." She had no time, no equipment, and only basic know-how. PWR Zero Equipment is what she wishes she had then.

Bonus: Wells finds that the bodyweight-cardio combo is a massive stress reliever: "It's how I personally am able to cope with my anxiety that I've fought for my whole life."

To give Refinery29 readers a taste of her new program, she designed this
upper body workout just for us. It takes just 13 minutes to complete, and it's designed to wake up all those muscles in our back and shoulders that can get a little lazy while working from home. So while you might be sore after this one, it'll be good sore — not tech neck sore.

There's a two-exercise "activation" set to turn on your muscles, then a two-movement "circuit." Grab a yoga mat, cue up a killer workout playlist, and swipe through.