These 5 Exercises Work your Whole Body

I can’t believe the first long weekend of summer 2016 is over already! I don’t know about you, but I managed to squeeze in 2 workouts over the weekend and a round of golf, between having a terrific summer kick-off with friends, at my parent’s cottage.

To help keep my energy up over the weekend (I didn’t get as much sleep as I normally get, having 14 people in our cottage tends to do that), I performed the following moves that I think will also help me get ready for our next beach weekend planned in July. I picked these 5 exercises because they are focused on working large, calorie burning areas including the glutes, quads, chest and abdominal regions. Try doing the whole circuit 2 or 3 times.

1. Mountain Climbers (1 minute)

This is a great total-body cardio move bound to get your heart pumping right away. Start in a high plank, and bring one knee at a time, up between your arms. Pump your legs faster if you want to make it more of a cardio exercise and slower if you want to push your core more.

2. Squealing Squats (10 reps)

This squat variation adds in a jump, making it harder and helping you get more cardio work in. Stand with your arms in front of your chest, feet ~2 feet apart. Sink your butt to the floor, bending at the knees, keep your knees back behind your toes as you squat. When you’ve gone down as far as you can, hold for 1 second. Use your leg strength to jump as high off the ground as you can, tucking your knees to your stomach. Land lightly on your feet and move back to starting position.

3. Push-ups (10 reps)

This exercise is one of the hardest upper body exercises out there. Start in a high plank position with your hands wider than shoulder width, slowly lower your whole body down until you’re 2 inches away from the ground. Push yourself back up to starting position. You may have to try this move on your knees at first. In this image, the Halo Trainer is being used.

4. Burning Bridges (10 reps)

You should really feel your glute muscles working throughout this exercise! Lie on your back, shifting until your fingers can touch your heels. Squeeze your butt off the ground, lifting your hips up high. When you’re up as far as you can go comfortably, hold for 3 seconds. Slowly lower yourself down, hovering 1 inch off the ground. Keep the pressure off your back by tightly squeezing your glutes the whole time. For more of a challenge lift 1 leg straight out while performing the move, making your other leg do all the work.

5. Crunches (10 reps)

This is a great exercise that can help tighten and tone the whole abdominal region. Sit on the floor with your feet flat on the ground; lie down on your back, with your arms hovering out by your sides and your knees bent at ~45 degrees. Lift your body up, getting your shoulders off the mat by ~1 foot then move back down into lying position until your shoulders are flat on the floor. When starting out, don’t place your hands behind your head, this can harmfully strain your neck. The work should always be felt in your core; stop if you get to the point where you’re “throwing” your upper body to sit-up.

 

Remember to build an appropriate a warm-up and cool-down into your exercise routine and to only perform what you are comfortable doing – listen to your body. Please connect with me here  if you have any questions about these exercises.