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In this weeks fav workout of the week I’m going to share an advanced full body routine from inside my monthly membership: The Body Gain Lifestyle.

It’s exactly the type of workout I would do if I trained 2-3 days a week for 30-45 minutes. Which, by the way is a good goal to aim for with your weights… especially if you’re at that stage where you see exercise as a little more like a necessary evil and a little less like a gorgeous self indulgent luxury!

I see exercise as a luxury – precious me time – a chance to focus purely on the work-out and take a break from all else that may be on my mind.

Anyway let’s power on with the work-out.

It’s designed as a ‘6’ exercise circuit with a bonus 7th exercise on the third round (to really get your heart rate up) and a ‘2’ exercise finisher at the end. 

With my fitter clients I design most of my programs with some type of finisher as I like to achieve a ‘cardio effect’ within their weights training and save them from:

1. A) boring cardio time AND also 
2. B) help them avoid the infamous carb-OVER-refuel.

For more on this please check out show #009: Why Lifting Weights Is The Best Way To Lose Fat

Here’s the work-out:

1. Step Down. 8-12 reps.

This movement is quite different to the much hated Step UP. It still works your quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes and core however it brings in the glutes a lot more. So, basically you want to be thinking firm butt with every single repetition! I was introduced to the lovely step down by a trainer I trained with for a while named Tiger. It’s tough to start however what Tiger says goes – and it wasn’t nearly as tough as posing practice in stripper heels which was the main reason I hired Tiger when I was training for a body sculpting competition!

It’s since become a staple in my weekly ‘Booty Love’ routine. Step downs that is – NOT posing… I link to my blog post on Booty Love below. In it I cover how I turned a previous problem area into an… Asset!

Back to your step down… Start standing on the edge of a step and the movement is to gradually lower one leg down so that your toes lightly touch the ground. Lightly – no thumping – think of egg shells on the ground and don’t crush my egg shells ok??! You need to keep your torso nice and upright and focus through the heel of the foot on the step. Slow and controled. I like these with a 7 plate/level step and holding 10kilos in each hand. Start with the height you are comfy with and body weight. I’ll put some pictures in the show notes too.

Let’s move on. In the third round only you have this little bonus…

=> Knee up and out. (third round only) 8-12 reps each leg.

Standing on the same step like you’re going to do a step down however with no weight. First bring your knee up in a kneeing the air in front of you movement. Now come down to touch the ground with that same foot and come out to the side with a straight leg to the side raise movement. Just go with the range of motion that you are comfy with. 8-12 reps each side will really get your heart racing. It’ll get a couple of funny looks too however just think ‘inner thigh love’ right? With every rep drive up through the heel of the foot on the step, it’s actually hard but you need to, to get your butt working and look out for your knees.

In circuit one and two you move straight from step down to…

2. Barbell Wide Grip Bent-over Row. 8-12 reps.
3. Swiss Ball Dumbbell Chest Press. 8-12 reps.
4. Side Plank Leg Raise. 20 reps.
5. Reverse Grip Lat Pull Down. 8-12 reps.
6. Standing Rear Delt Raise. 8-12 reps.

Finisher,

1. Advanced Burpee.

This is a lot more fun than a regular old burpee. It involves a jumping neutral grip chin up (even if you can’t do unassisted chin ups it’s worth trying as while you’re building up your strength it can be a little more jump than pulling yourself up) and then you jump your feet out and come into a push up position, do a low push up (again you can substitute hands and toes for hands and knees while you build your strength) and then you jump your feet in towards your hands at hip width apart and jump back up into that chin up again.

2. Sumo in out Jump Squat.

Starting with a sumo squat stance (so feet wider than hip width and toes turned out) now jump your feet into touching and toes straight ahead. And repeat. With this you want to land through your heels, keep your chest proud and stay as low as you can.

For the finisher start with 6 advanced burpees and 18 sumo in outs, the 5 advanced burpees and 15 sumo in outs then 4 advanced burpees and 12 sumo in outs. That’s it! If you get into the flow and want to work your way right down to 1 advanced burpee and 3 sumo in outs that rocks too.

Here’s the slide of the work-out:

To get actionable today, you know the drill – give this work-out a whirl and please let me know what you think? If there’s anything you’re not sure of just leave me a comment below and I’ll provide you with an explanation or alternative.

That’s it for me today. I hope you can join me tomorrow for the Friday FAQ show where I cover, How Your Childhood Habits Effect Your Current Results.

If you liked this you’ll also like: Booty Love

If you’re yet to share the Healthification love – just click here to zip over to iTunes and leave an honest rating and review. It’d help me out big time. With gratitude, Kate.