Before 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.”

**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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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 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

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.

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.