Family, work, and life obligations often leave us with no time to hit the gym. There are days and even seasons where we don’t even have the chance to go for a quick run. After my new baby, I was stuck in this situation and found a great way to workout at home or even the office in the smallest of time windows.

Six exercises that can be done almost anywhere have helped me in less than 15 minutes. First off, this a not a routine to land you a magazine cover; rather, one to help tone and sustain until your schedule opens up again.

The exercises and variations are:

Pushups: normal (hands shoulder width apart), wide arms (hands wider than shoulder width), triangle (hands close together with opposing thumbs and index fingers forming a triangle), and Spider-man (hands should width apart and as you go down bring your leg to your arm with the knee touching your elbow or as close as you can get; alternate legs with each rep)

Situps: normal (knees 90 degrees and arms crossed over chest), weighted (use a heavy book or other object to hug for a greater challenge)

Chin ups: this is the challenging one to do if no bar or sturdy door frame is available.

Iron chair: rest your back against a wall, door, etc. and lower your butt to parallel to ground as if you are sitting on a chair and stay there as long as you can.

Squats: feet should width apart and lower to ground like you are sitting on a chair and stop for a two-count and then return to starting position.

Body bridge: Get in a pushup position resting on your elbows and straighten your body. Hold as long as you can.

Now, how to use the exercises. I choose a few exercises and a daily goal. For example: I will do 200 pushups, 30 chin ups, and six minutes of iron chair. Then as the day progresses I attack each in sets. I will do 40  wide arm pushups, 6 chin ups, and two minute iron chair. Then, when I get another chance, I will do another set and another until I complete my daily goal. As this goal gets easier, I raise the bar.

This program works for me because it is different all the time. I can mix and match the six exercises like clothes in the closet. It is always fresh and can be done in sets back-to-back or throughout the day as I get the time. Just remember not to work the same body part multiple days in a row, and fight to find at least 20 minutes of cardio time as often as you can. Cardio is especially important when we are overloaded with work and possess less time to exercise.