With just five total body exercises and twenty minutes you can have an amazing, heart pumping workout! Remember it’s about the quality of what you do, not the quantity. If you spend 20 minutes working your butt off, it’s better then 30 or 45 kinda-sorta working. These exercises use every muscle in your body! Using every muscle and keeping your heart rate elevated will help to burn more calories and build strength as you go!
For a great calorie basting strength routine, try this circuit!
Burpies (10)
Start in a frog position -bend at your knees and drop your hands on the floor in front of your feet, keeping your hands shoulder width apart. Kick your feet back and jump to a push up position. Make sure that your back is flat and your core is activated. Jump your feet back to meet your hands (frog). Then jump up to a standing position! Repeat!
Deadlifts (15)
Using a weighted bar or two dumbbells, stand with feel hip distance apart. Keep the weights in front of your body. With a nice flat back, bend at the knees and drag the weights/bar in front of your legs. (You want the weights to skim your knees as you bend. I like to run my thumbs along my legs as I bring the weight down.) As with all squats, keep your weight behind you – (it helps to imagine you were going to sit in a chair). Once the weights are an inch or two past your knee cap, push through your heels and come back to standing. In standing – squeeze your glutes (butt) and squeeze your shoulder blades together. Repeat!
*Pick a heavier weight with this one. You’re using your whole body to move the weight so you can probably lift more than you think you can! Start with 15’s or 20’s ( 30 or 40 pound bar) and go from there.
Renegade Row (10 on each side)
This exercise has a primary focus on a large majority of your back muscles but it’s also fantastic to build core strength and stability.
1. Come into a plank position with a weight in each hand. ( 2.5 or 5 pounds to start)*Try to maintain a tight core throughout the whole sequence.
2. ‘Row’ your right hand up to the side of your body so that you are squeezing your right shoulder blade into the middle or your back. Then bring the weight back down to the ground- lightly.
3. Switch Sides.
Squat and Press (15)
Stand in neutral with a chair 5 or 6 inches behind you.. Feet hip distance apart, knees over your second and third toes. Hold a pair of weights in your hands. (Start with 5 or 8 pounds.) Squat down to as if you were going to have a seat in the chair, but don’t sit. Come back to standing by pushing through your heels and squeezing your buttocks. (Activate your core throughout this motion to prevent your lower back from arching.) Once in standing, bring the weights up to shoulder height- with arms bent to 90 degrees, your elbows should form a straight line with your shoulders. Press the weights up so that they ‘kiss” over your head and come back to the 90 degree position you started with. Bring the weights back to your sides and Squat! Repeat!
* I know, ghetto pictures! But at least they show you the correct form! Whether you are using a band, weights or your own body weight- the form is the same.
Jump Rope (2 minutes)- click to read why I love jump rope so much!
Rest for 2 minutes and repeat the circuit for a total of 3 times!
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cake now! Well, I’m sorry to say that the treadmill was 
Great motivation to keep you going. Things like push ups, step ups and plank . Check out my series on exercises you can do with your own body weight. 
