Pool party season is here and you want to feel confident in your body. The best way to boost confidence, while slimming down, is to do a mix of weight training and cardio. Weight training builds muscle, which helps your body burn more calories at rest. Cardio, on the other hand, will scorch calories during the workout and increase your EPOC, otherwise known as “the afterburn effect.”
Get a mix of these two important fitness elements with this full body, 60-minute workout. Each exercise targets the areas you care about most when you slip into your suit, including upper arms, glutes and abs. The best part? All you need is a set of weights and a jump rope.
How to safely perform each exercise:
Squat + bicep curl: Stand with feet hip-width apart and weights in each hand, palms facing forward. Squat down, starting with your butt, keeping your chest open and upper body straight (don’t lean forward). When you complete your squat, standing straight again, do one bicep curl, bringing your hands toward your shoulders and keeping your elbows glued to your sides.
Burpees: Bend down so your knees are bent and your hands are on the ground (so your body is scrunched into a ball). Kick your feet out behind you, then use you core and quad strength to jump them back toward your body. Explode off the ground to jump straight up into the air. Come back down and repeat.
Alternative lunges + lat raises: Stand feet hip-width apart with hands at your sides holding weights—palms facing your body on either side of your hips. Step backward with one foot. Bend your back knee so that your quad is perpendicular to the ground and your knee is at a 90-degree angle. Once in the lunge, raise your hands out to the sides, so they’re parallel with your shoulders, palms now facing the ground. Drop back down, step out of the lunge and repeat on the other side.
Jump rope: Do whichever type of jump roping you prefer. See if you can jump faster or higher to boost intensity.
Triceps swing backs: Stand with weights in your hands, holding them at your sides. Hinge forward at the hips, keeping your back straight and eyes forward. Once you reach a 45-degree angle, brace your core, and raise your arms straight back, extending just past your body. Squeeze your triceps, return to start, and repeat.
High knees: Stand feet hip-width apart and alternate jumping on each foot, bringing your knee as high up as you can. Be light on your feet, with each foot on the ground for just a second as you bounce back and forth.
Wide pushups: Get into pushup position, with arms a little wider than shoulder width and feet shoulder-width apart. Brace your core and quadriceps, and lower your entire body down to the ground until your elbows are at a 90-degree angle. Push your entire body off the ground at the same time, not letting your hips or lower body sag. Remember you can modify by staying on your knees.
Skaters: Stand feet hip-width apart and leap laterally (to the side), stepping with your right foot and touching your left toes on the ground behind the right. Quickly leap back the other way on the left foot, repeating the same movement with the right foot.
Lying hip bridge: Lay on your back, knees bent and feet flat on the ground. Engage your core and push through your heels to lift your hips straight into the air, keeping shoulders flat on the ground. Raise your hips as high as you can, squeeze your glutes (butt) at the top, drop back down, and repeat.
Wide squat + shoulder raise: Get into wide squat position, with your feet wider than shoulder width and toes pointing away from your body. Hold weights in both hands in front of you, palms facing your body; squat down. Knees should go out to the sides, allowing you to feel this in your inner thighs. As you return to the top of your squat, pull your weights straight up toward your chin so that your elbows go out to the side. Return to start and repeat each movement.