Get your heart rate pumping with this total body workout by February 2017 cover model Brooke Stacey.
This total body workout is as much about balance and coordination training as it is about building strength. This means you not only train the whole body, but you also make your entire body a stronger and more cohesively functioning machine. Try to put as much power as you can behind each compound movement to get your heart pumping.
Words/workout: Brooke Stacey (pictured)
Photography: James Patrick
Perform each exercise for 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps in each set (or on each leg).
Step-Up with overhead press
1.Stand on the floor behind your step with weights held at your sides.
2. Step right foot on to bench and squeeze glute of back leg as it lifts behind you. While body is lifting up, press weights overhead.
3. Step down to start position and lower weights back to sides. Switch feet and repeat.
NEXT: Walking Lunge with Bicep Curl
Walking lunge with bicep curl
1. Stand upright, feet together, holding a dumbbell by your sides.
2. Take a controlled step forward with your left leg, keeping your elbows close to the body. Lower hips toward the floor and bend both knees (almost at 90-degree angles). The back knee should come close but never touch the ground. Your front knee should be directly over the ankle, and the back knee should be pointing down toward the floor.
3. Push off with your right foot and bring it forward, raising your leg, curling the dumbbells to your shoulders, then lowering the dumbbells to your side. This completes 1 rep.
4. Next, step forward and repeat with the right leg.
NEXT: Dumbbell squat to shoulder press
Dumbbell squat to shoulder press
1. Begin in a standing position with a dumbbell in each hand. Look directly forward, keep your chest up, and place your feet about shoulder-width apart.
2. Initiate the movement with a squat, flexing the knees and hips to lower your body. Descend as far as flexibility allows, maintaining good posture in the spine, hips and knees.
3. Pause for a brief moment at the bottom of the squat before returning to a standing position by extending the hips and knees.
4. After fully rising to a standing position, press the weights overhead by extending the elbows and flexing at the shoulder.
5. Return the weights to the shoulder before repeating the entire movement for additional repetitions.
NEXT: Dumbbell side lunge
Dumbbell side lunge
1. Stand erect with your feet about shoulder-width apart, holding a pair of lightweight dumbbells together in front of you, palms facing in. Your chest should be out, shoulders back, and knees unlocked. Maintain the natural curvature in your back.
2. Facing forward throughout and staying as upright as possible, take a big step out to your side, angling your foot just slightly out. Descend into a moderately deep squat, keeping your trailing leg straight.
3. Push back up and bring your leg back to the start position.
4. Repeat on the opposite side.
NEXT: Single-Dumbbell Front Lunge to Back Row
Single-dumbbell front lunge to back row
1. Stand upright with a dumbbell held in your right hand at your side and your feet about hip-width apart.
2. From the starting position, lunge forward with your left foot, dropping down through your back knee and thigh, and being careful not to let your front knee come ahead of your toe. Your left foot should be pointing out in front of you, with your left knee bent and your left foot firmly on the ground; your right heel may come up slightly depending on how deep you have lunged.
3. Holding at the bottom of your lunge, incline your chest forward at a 45-degree angle, engaging your centre and keeping your shoulder blades together and back flat. Perform a powerful upright row, bending your right elbow as you pull it quickly straight up and back toward the ceiling, until it is at least level with your back. Contract across your right shoulder blade as you lift, and keep your right arm fairly close to your body – it should travel in a straight rather than arcing line.
4. Bring your arm back down out of the row, straighten your upper body back to vertical, and then push off with your left foot to return to the starting position. Repeat for a set on each leg for the desired number of reps.
NEXT: Ice Skater
Ice skater
1. Begin in a standing position with your feet shoulder-width apart. You should be looking directly forward, with your chest up, knees and hips unlocked, and your back straight.
2. Begin the exercise by jumping to the right with a slight bend in your knees.
3. Next, in the same motion, reach down and toward the outside of your right foot with your left hand. Perform this same movement on the opposite side.
4. Repeat this movement for the desired number of reps.
NEXT: Single-Leg romanian deadlift
Single-Leg Romanian deadlift
1. Assume a single-leg stance. Hold a dumbbell in the opposite hand of the supporting leg. Keep the back straight and the torso tight. Look straight ahead with the shoulder blades retracted.
2. Lower the upper body by bending at the hip. Keep the back straight. Lower the dumbbell down the thigh and shin of the supporting leg. Push the hips back and slightly bend the knee during the descent.
3. Swing the free leg back so it stays in line with the torso. Lower the upper body until a mild stretch is felt in the hamstrings. Return to the starting position.
4. Perform the prescribed number of repetitions and switch sides. Focus on pushing the hips back and not on bending at the hips. The movement occurs at hip level. Keep the spine neutrally aligned throughout the entire exercise.
NEXT: Stationary lunge to overhead press
Stationary lunge to overhead press
1. Stand tall with your feet hip-distance apart and dumbbells parallel overhead. Step left foot behind you, keeping heel off the ground.
2. Bending knees, lower your body toward the floor as you bring the weights down to a 90-degree angle. Both legs should bend to a 90-degree angle at the bottom of the lunge.
3. Straighten legs back to standing as you raise dumbbells back to overhead position. Repeat for desired number of reps and switch feet.
NEXT: Box Jumps
1. Begin with a box of an appropriate height 30 to 60 cm in front of you. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. This will be your starting position.
2. Perform a short squat in preparation for jumping, swinging your arms behind you.
3. Rebound out of this position, extending through the hips, knees and ankles to jump as high as possible. Swing your arms forward and up.
4. Land on the box with the knees bent, absorbing the impact through the legs. You can jump from the box back to the ground, or preferably step down one leg at a time.
NEXT: Target your core with these three exercises.
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