In a segment of NBC California Live’s Lifestyle show, fitness expert Reena Vokoun demonstrates a hybrid, no‑equipment workout designed for people staying active during the Omicron COVID surge. She walks through five core exercises—power squats, power lunges, side lunges with a knee lift, fast feet, and touchdowns—explaining proper form, safety cues, and simple modifications for low‑impact versions. Vokoun emphasizes that these moves combine cardio and strength, raise heart rate, and can help reduce inflammation, offering protective benefits against COVID. The conversation then shifts to digital fitness resources, where she lists mobile apps, livestream and on‑demand classes, YouTube channels, and home‑gym equipment such as Peloton, Tonal, and Mirror, advising viewers to choose tools with low barriers to entry and supportive communities that match their personality. The segment closes with a reminder that consistent exercise is key to maintaining health and resilience during pandemic conditions.
Chapters
Oh, oh, oh, whoa! California Life! California Life! Oh, oh, oh, California Life!
Coming up, Ross is going to show you how to kick a hybrid workout into high gear.
That's next.
It's important to stay active even as Omicron skyrockets, so you may want to take a hybrid approach to your fitness. And Reena is here to share 5 exercises to keep you going strong.
Hey, Reena! Hey Ross, it's great to be here. Thanks for having me.
Yeah, so good to see you. All right, take it away.
All right, so as you said, we're gonna go through 5 exercises. These don't require any equipment, so you can do them at home, you can do them while traveling, or at the gym or studio, whatever you feel comfortable with. So here we go. So I'm gonna take a spot back on my back here, and these exercises work cardio as well as strength building. The first one is called power squats. So you're going to come down and you're going to jump up off the ground using your core forward to kind of control your landing. Now, if you want to modify and you don't want to jump, you can just come up onto the balls of your feet. You want to keep your knees behind your toes and you want to tuck in your core. The second exercise is power lunges. You can do these full out or modified. So the full out way is you're going to come back into a lunge with sprinter arms and you're going to switch. You're going to go back with one leg and then the other. Now again, if you want to modify, you can take out the jump. And you can just come back with one leg at a time. The third exercise are side lunges with a knee lift. So you're gonna come out to the side. You're gonna come up using your core and lift that knee up to your chest so that you can work on core stability as well as strength building in the legs. This one will get your heart rate up as well. The fourth exercise are fast feet. So you wanna pick up your feet, bring those arms up and down, get them above the head and heart. This one is really gonna get your heart rate up. And then the last exercise exercise is touchdowns. So you're going to come down to the ground, keeping your chest lifted, and then come up. So you want to use your core and use your legs. Now, if you don't want to jump, you can simply step out laterally from side to side. Just make sure not to bend at the waist. So hopefully these 5 exercises can really get your heart rate up. Mine is up there, and it can build your strength as well.
I love it, Reena. And what I really love about the exercises that you just outlined for us is they are great strong, robust, powerful exercises that can really give us a good workout. But there's no excuse, you can really do that anywhere. I mean, you can do that at home, on the road, at the gym, no equipment required, just you and your determination.
Exactly. And it's going to get the heart rate up. It's good for cardiovascular health. With COVID right now, exercise reduces inflammation in the body. So really use this as a tool to not only stay active and in shape, but also to protect yourself from COVID Absolutely.
Absolutely. So for the folks out there who want to stay in shape, keep their fitness routines going, but maybe they don't want to go out into the world right now during this surge, maybe they don't want to go back to the gym, tell us about some of the tools that are available to them online, some of the communities out there that can help support their at-home workouts.
Absolutely. With technology, it makes it so much easier and more convenient and safe to still get your workouts at home. So there are mobile apps, there are livestream classes, there on-demand classes, YouTube channels, and then all the home workout equipment like Peloton, Tonal, Mirror, and more. So my advice to you is to figure out which of those is going to give you the least barrier to entry, maybe ease of use with technology, something that's motivating and realistic for you to fit into your day, and then find communities that are a fit for you and your personality.
