Pounding the pavement but the pounds just won’t come off? Try these five workouts instead of running to leap forward in your weight loss.
The Pop Squat
Pop it like a squat! This type of exercise is one of the best for lifting your glutes and toning your thighs.
What To Do
Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Sit your hips back and down into a squat position. Jump straight up into the air and land softly, sinking back into the squat position, Repeat 30 times.
Why It Works
In addition to building booty strength, you’ll be toning your thighs and targeting your hamstrings. But the pop squat doesn’t stop at your lower body.
Both your rectus abdominis (your inner ab muscles that tighten that “mama pooch”) and your external obliques have to work 10 times harder during a pop squat than a regular bodyweight squat. Landing softly helps protect your joints on the way back down.
The Jumping Lunge
Lunge your way to lean legs! This exercise strengthens your quads, hamstrings, glutes, hip flexors, and calves. It also recruits your cardiovascular system, ramping up your calorie burn.
What To Do
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and a slight bend in your knees. Step forward with your right foot, planting it firmly on the ground. Lower your body so that your left knee is bent at a 90-degree angle and your right knee is just above the ground.
Push off your right foot, jump, and switch legs midair. Land softly with your left foot forward and sink down into the lung position. Switch between legs, and repeat 30 times.
Why It Works
This exercise improves the entire lower body and helps you become more coordinated, agile, stable, and balanced. The rapid motion of jumping squats simultaneously improves your leg strength and cardiovascular endurance.
The Squat Walk
Squat walk it out! Squats are a compound, multi-joint movement. This means that they exercise several muscle groups at once. Push it up a level with a squat walk.
What To Do
Start standing with your feet shoulder-width apart and your toes slightly angled outward. Press your hips back and lower into a squat. Keep your knees aligned with your toes (not collapsing inward). Lift your arms forward in front of your body.
When you are in your deepest comfortable squat, take a few steps forward, keeping your squat as steady as possible as you walk. Press into your heels to stand up from your squat walk. Repeat for 30 steps.
Why It Works
Squat walks are excellent at “burning out” your muscles. This movement strengthens your gluteus maximus—that’s your largest, most powerful rump muscle that allows you to squat and lift heavy objects. Along with adding some extra booty bulk, studies have shown that strong glutes help prevent injury.
Lunge Kicks
Kick your weight loss up a notch. Performing lunge kicks allows you to work your legs and glutes while giving you a great cardio boost and a serious core workout.
What To Do
Stand straight with a tight core and flat back. Keep your gaze focused straight ahead as you step back with your right leg. Lower into a lunge.
As you press forward into the starting position, launch your right leg into a front kick. Use your left hand to touch or reach toward your toe. Return your right leg to the starting position. Alternate legs. Repeat 30 times.
Why It Works
Lunges work the large muscle groups in your lower body, which builds lean muscle and reduces body fat. They can increase your resting metabolism, which allows you to burn more calories and trim excess weight. Adding a kick to the end of your lunge boosts balance and stability. A strong, stable core reduces your chance of injury and also improves your posture.
Squat Twists
Come on baby, let’s do the squat twist! This combo move tones your entire body.
What To Do
Start by standing straight with your feet wider than your shoulders. Lower down into a wide squat. Push through the heels of your feet and straighten your knees.
Upon reaching the top of the squat, simultaneously lift one knee and lower your opposite elbow until they meet. Return to the start position and repeat, leading with your other leg and elbow. Repeat 30 times.
Why It Works
Your back, biceps, shoulders, core, glutes, and legs will all benefit from this move. Squat twists challenge so many muscle groups they could be a workout all on their own.
I Won’t Give You The Runaround on Weight Loss
Weight loss isn’t easy and can feel confusing at times. That’s why you’re here, right? Let me clear up the confusion. I’m a direct woman, especially when it comes to answering your weight loss questions.
After working as a Registered Dietitian for many years and with many clients, the same struggles keep popping up. So many people are feeling overwhelmed on their health journey, telling me:
- I’m hearing so many opinions about how to lose weight and I don’t know which ones really work.
- I’ve tried so many diets, but after some rapid weight loss I’ve gained it all back and more.
- I know what I’m supposed to be doing, I just am having trouble sticking with it.
Do any of these sound frustratingly familiar? Hop on over to my testimonies page. You’ll see story after story of people in the exact same place who, after joining LEAN, lost weight. Years later, they’ve kept the weight off and are thriving in their health.
See how much their lives have changed with LEAN!
