Circuit 3: Butt and Leg Killer
Remember that all of these circuit workouts are whole-body workouts, but each one emphasizes a body part group more than the others. This one, will have your butt and upper legs tight in no time!
Perform indicated reps of each exercise, then move on to the next exercise. Rest at the end.
2-3 rounds!
1. Burpies
No pushup and be sure to jump high at position 4.
12 reps
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2. Kettlebell 2-handed Swings
12 reps. No kettlebell? Substitute with a heavy weight plate with handles or a dumbbell held vertically by the top. Careful not to throw it at anyone. Make sure you are “hitting hard” when you thrust with your hips by clenching your butt muscles (glutes). This will propel the weight upward, allowing you to use heavy weight.
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3. Kettlebell or dumbbell Front Squats
(kettlebells in front of chest)
With a heavy kettlebell or dumbbell squat all the way down like the man. Keep your back arched like the woman, but don’t stand all the way up. That’s resting. Instead, stop when your thighs are at around 45° to the ground.
12 reps
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4. Plank Madness
This will be a timed exercise. Get on your elbows as in picture 1 and raise your butt up and down by crunching your abs every second until you survive 30 seconds. Make sure you’re concentrating on contracting and squeezing your ab muscles to raise your hips. Super hard.
Then, without pausing, get on your left elbow like in picture 3 and raise/lower your hips again, every second until you hit 30 seconds/30 hip raises. When finished, switch to your right elbow and do the same. Then rest 30 seconds. Do this whole thing twice.
Wanna be a superhero? Add a weighted ball for the side raises. No ball? Raise your feet.
Reps: 30 hip raises in 30 seconds, each side (Straight, Left, Right)
Sets: 2
Rest: 30 seconds after Straight, Left, and Right sides are done
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5a. Doggie Glute Lifts
(if you are a man or otherwise don’t want to do these, see 5b)
- On hands and knees. Raise foot behind you by curling it like a scorpion. Really crunch it. Hold 1 sec.
- Back down, knee to chest. (foot doesn’t touch ground, keep raised)
- Kick leg straight out & high, then lower to almost touch ground. Raise & lower 5 times.
- Back down, knee to chest. (foot doesn’t touch ground, keep raised)
- “Doggie peeing”. Return knee to bottom but keep it suspended, then lift to side and straighten leg. Raise & lower 5 times.
5 reps, switch legs
5b. One Legged Lunge Jumps!
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No weights. Lunge deep down, most of your weight on your front foot, rear foot barely touches the ground with your toes for balance.
JUMP up high enough so that your leg is straightened and land on the ball of the same front foot, (not the heel) immediately hopping back up into your next jump.
10 reps, switch legs
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6. Lunges/Step Ups Superset
Stand with a barbell on your back and have a Step ready in front of you. The step should be high enough so that your upper leg is near parallel to the floor when stepping up.
Step forward with your left leg and go down slowly almost letting your right knee touch the floor. Then in one motion, stand up by bringing your right leg all the way forward and up onto the step. Now power yourself onto the step and bring your left leg up as well. You’ll now be standing completely on the step. Don’t just stop and rest up there! Immediately come back down slowly with your left leg so that your right leg is working hard to lower yourself. Don’t just drop! Now bring your right leg down and all the way back to its starting point while bending your left leg slightly so that you’re doing a reverse lunge. Lastly, slide your left leg back to the starting point where you stand up straight.
That’s HALF A REP! You now have to do it again but lead with the right leg. The full rep is done when you do both legs, “One—one. Two—two. Three—three”.
Just like the squats, use light enough weight so that you can do 3 sets of 10, but this time with only 30 seconds rest in between. If you’re starting to conk out during your 2nd or 3rd sets, you can adjust the weights accordingly.
Reps: 10
Sets: 3
Rest: 60 seconds only after both legs hit the 10 reps
Pace: around 1.5 seconds per move, non stop.
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7. Dumbbell Squat, Curl & Press
This next exercise combines squatting, biceps, triceps and shoulders in a lighter, faster exercise for maximum fat burn! Grab a pair of light dumbbells.
- squat curl and press
How to do it!
- Stand holding light dumbbells at your thighs. Women use 3-5 pounds, Men: 10 pounds. Adjust as necessary.
- Lower yourself to a squat position while curling the dumbbells.
- HOLD the squat to where your upper legs are parallel to the ground or at least 45°, do not rest your elbows on your thighs, don’t sit on your ankles.
- Extend your arms and rotate the wrists so that your arms are at a 45° angle to the floor, palms facing down.
- Still holding the squat, bring the dumbbells right back to your shoulders.
- Now stand back up slowly and controlled while uncurling your arms
- Right back to standing position, dumbbells at your thighs.
REPEAT!
No stalling, no pit stops. Each rep should consist of four 1-second moves (or faster. one second is a bit slow). This exercise will concentrate on speed and getting your heart rate up, thus burning a ton of fat while maintaining muscle! This isn’t meant for you to grow some huge shoulders, quads, or biceps or you’d be lifting real heavy for failure at around 6 reps. You’re still working on those muscles, but the fast, non-stop movements will ensure major fat burning throughout!
Reps: 10
Sets: 3
Rest: 30 seconds
Pace: steady 1 second per move or faster x4 moves per rep
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