The current COVID-19 pandemic is not only forcing us to stay indoors, but it has suddenly turned every Tom, Dick & Harry into a personal trainer, with a barrage of at-home workouts dominating social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok.
While we’d always recommend following the workout of a fully qualified trainer, it’s always entertaining when an account with no real association to fitness at all, weighs in with their own program. That’s exactly the tactic MINI Australia has taken, with the BMW-owned car company giving you ideas as to how you can use your most-likely-currently-unused MINI for a workout with an incredibly clever difference.
It’s a relatively simple four-step program using all aspects of the car, and the best part is anyone will be able to complete it. The first step is Boot Dips, which is essentially tricep dips that you would normally carry out using a low bench, table or chair. For this move, put your hands on the top lip of the rear bumper while facing away, and slowly lower and raise your body.
Move two is what MINI Australia calls Grille Crunches (or ab crunches to you and I). Lock your feet underneath the front of the car and raise your upper body until you’re facing the grille, making sure to squeeze your core as you do so.
Grille To Boot Taps is an extreme variation of toe taps (we think), but we’re pretty sure nobody is going to have legs long enough to stretch from one end of the car to the other. Instead, you will simply need to walk, run or jog between the trunk and the bonnet. MINI doesn’t give an indication as to how many you should do, so we’ll suggest you keep going until failure.
Finally, there’s MINI Laps, which is pretty self-explanatory, as it just requires you to run laps around your car. At just under four-metres long, the third-generation MINI Cooper Hatch will have you working up a sweat in no time. If you have the Clubman, then you’ve got an extra 45cm to travel.
We’re well aware there’s currently a sea of workouts to complete at home, but MINI’s offering not only offers something a little different, but it will even give you the chance to get outdoors, even if you don’t actually go anywhere.