Workout Week: Total Body Toner

Today, I've got a total body workout for you. It's three rounds of eight exercises, so it shouldn't take you horribly long to complete. Please make sure you warm up beforehand. As little as ten minutes of your favorite cardio will do, but you can be an overachiever if you feel so inclined! And if you'd like, do shorts bouts of cardio in between each set of eight exercises. Of course, this isn't necessary but it might up your burn (in a good way, of course).

Some things to consider:

1) Remember, goblet squats take your elbows down to your knees to ultimately create a lower-than-usual squat. Yeah, inner thigh!

2) Go right into your plank after your last pushup—keep those knees off the ground!

3) Squat thrusts are burpees without the the pushup and jump. Instead of standing up after each squat thrust, grab your weights and assume the position for a bent row. If your weights are hexagonal, you may even be able to keep them in your hands the entire time (as long as they don't roll out from underneath you when you squat thrust). Or, just place them on the ground, then move your hands to the ground before you squat thrust.

4) Calf presses, nothing crazy.

5) Pretty self-explanatory here, too.

6) Triple-stop lying triceps extensions are just like skull crushers, only you pause three times on the way down to increase the effort put forth by the triceps muscles. Lie down with your shoulders on an exercise ball, pushing your hips up toward the ceiling for an isolated gluteus exercise. Hold this position as you press the weights up toward the ceiling—this is your official starting position. Lower the weights (stopping three times along the way) toward your shoulders, press back up and repeat. Put the weights down when you're done and finish out the position with some hip presses.

7) Side-steps with an exercise band...tie one around your calf muscles and giant-step to the side 15 times, never letting that band relax. Follow up on the other side.

8) You can also do exercise ball pikes with a disk or ValSlides if balance is an issue.

Have fun! Let me know how it goes!
Tomorrow, another cardio blast.

(Don't forget to check out yesterday's 30-Minute Hill and Flat Treadmill Workout!)