Low Impact Total Body Strength

Equipment: Weights (dumbbells, water bottle, pitcher, or other), optional elevated surface
Format: 3-4 rounds of prescribed time/reps per circuit.

Circuit 1 (4 rounds):

Downward Dog Stretch to Pushups to Plank (8-10)

• Start in a high plank position with shoulders stacked over wrists, core braced, back flat and gaze neutral (don’t look up or down).
• As you come into Downward Dog, pull your hips up and back, keeping your head in line with your arms. Your weight should be evenly distributed between your palms, and your heels should reach toward the mat (bending your knees helps with tight hamstrings).
• Staying in Downward Dog, reach back your right hand to touch your left toes, reposition your right hand and turn your body back into a plank position.
• Push your hips up back into Downward Dog, reach your left hand back to touch your right toes, and bring your left hand back next to your right.
• Put your hands back on the mat and move yourself back to the high plank position.
• Bend your arms and lower yourself to the mat for a push-up while keeping your shoulders away from your ears. Notice that your hips and torso move in a straight line.
• Press yourself back into a high plank, and repeat your sequence of max reps.
• MOD: Perform the push-up portion of the sequence with your knees on the mat, or perform the entire sequence with your hands on an elevated surface.

Staggered deadlifts to lunges and squats (8-12 reps per side)

• Start by standing with feet hip-width apart, right foot in front and left foot behind.
• Holding a weight in each hand, brace your core, shoulders back and down (as if they were against a wall), and place about 80 percent of your weight on your front foot.
• Keeping your hips against the wall in front of you, push your hips back and lean forward as far as you can while maintaining a flat back, slightly bending your right knee and bringing the weight close to your calf.
• Return to standing across your entire front foot, pressing your glutes forward and feeling your glutes work through the movement, being careful not to tip back at the top.
• Shift your weight to staggered legs to distribute them more evenly and keep your hips square as you bend your legs at 90 degrees into a lunge position. Take care to keep your torso upright, your core braced, and don’t let your bent knees touch the mat.
• Push through the heel of your front foot to return to stance, shifting your weight primarily to your front foot to repeat the staggered deadlift.
• Repeat this sequence for maximum rep range, then switch sides.

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Circuit 2 (3 rounds):

Military Press (8-12)

• Brace your core from a standing or seated position, hold a weight in each hand, and bend your arms into a 90-degree goalpost position with shoulders back and down (as if they were leaning against a wall) and palms facing away from you .
• Keeping your core braced, lift the weights directly overhead to keep your shoulders from shrugging toward your ears.
• Lower the weight to the starting position under control.
• Repeat for your maximum reps.

Reverse Lunge to Curtsy Lunge (one leg, the other) (8-12 reps each side)

• Begin standing with feet hip-distance apart, core braced, chest straight, and a weight in each hand.
• Step right foot behind you and bend knees into a reverse lunge, keeping feet hip-distance apart in an upright position.
• Return to standing across your front foot, and briefly step your right foot back onto your left.
• Then step the right foot back to the left as the left knee bends (the right knee will line up behind the left heel).
• Bend both knees to lower into your bent-knee lunge position, making sure your chest stays upright and your front knee doesn’t shoot out of your toes.
• Return to standing across your front foot, and briefly step your right foot back onto your left.
• Repeat this sequence on one side for maximum reps, then switch sides.
• MOD: Perform this sequence with body weight only and/or grab the back of a chair or wall to help maintain balance throughout the sequence.

Terminator:

Squat Press (1:00)

• Start standing with feet about hip-distance apart and shoulders back and down (like leaning against a wall) while placing weights on shoulders
• Push your hips back as you squat, brace your core and keep your chest up, keeping your knees in line with your toes.
• Push back using the power of your hips and lift your arms overhead. Your weighted objects can be facing forward or facing each other. Bring them back over your shoulders, and repeat the squat.
• Repeat the assigned time.
• MOD: Use a raised surface like a couch, chair, ottoman, or bench to check your squat form and make sure you’re using the correct muscles. Consider starting this move without any weights, but with soft fists raised overhead.