20-minute Lower Body Pyramid Sculpt

Equipment: Weighted Objects (water bottles, dumbbells, household objects), Elevated Surface (optional).

Format: Round 1: 15 seconds | Round 2: 30 seconds | Round 3: 45 seconds | Round 4: 30 seconds | Round 5: 15 seconds. Resting 15 seconds between each movement.

Pyramid 1

Sumo Squat Side Knee Drive

• Begin standing with your feet wider than hip distance and your core engaged.
• Send your hips back behind you, keeping your chest up tall (don’t bend forward), weight back in your heels and knees tracking in line with your toes.
• Drive through your heels and squeeze your glutes as you power back to standing and as you stand, bend your right knee and crunch your knee up toward your elbow for a side knee crunch.
• Repeat the sumo squat and alternating side knee crunch for the allotted time.

Bonus Move: Standing Glute Kickback

• Begin standing, holding onto a wall or elevated surface if needed and support yourself on your left leg with your right leg straight back behind you.
• Keeping your hips square and your back leg straight, lift your leg back behind you to contract your glute.
• Lower your leg down slightly and repeat for the allotted time. Switch legs each round.

Pyramid 2

Romanian Deadlift

• Begin standing with your hip distance apart, core engaged with a weighted object in each hand.
• With a slight bend in your knees, slowly hinge forward at the waist while pushing your hips back and keeping the weights close to your body.
• Bend forward as far as you can while maintaining a flat back and then drive through your heels to come back to standing and squeeze your glutes at the top.
• MOD: Remove the weights and do this move with just your bodyweight

Bonus Move: Liberty Lunges

• Begin standing with your core engaged, chest up tall and your weights in your hands at your shoulders.
• Step out to the right in a wide stance, bending the right knee as you shoot your hips back into a lateral lunge position. Keep your chest up tall and ensure your front knee is in line with your toe and keep your weight back in your heel and hips.
• Power through your right heel to come back to standing and repeat on the other side.
• MOD: Perform this move with no weights.

I ❤️ Vanilla Protein is a 100% ORGANIC, high protein (20g per serving), nutrient-dense whole food protein powder combining 4 plant-based protein sources into a delicious vanilla shake to support an active lifestyle!

Pyramid 3

Goblet Squats

• Begin standing with your feet hip distance apart, core engaged and holding a single dumbbell with both hands by one end.
• Keeping your chest up tall and weight back in your heels, squat straight down and shoot your hips back slightly. Ensure your knees aren’t buckling in and your chest is upright.
• Drive through your heels and power through your posterior chain to return to standing.
• MOD: Sit down to an object (chair, ottoman, bench, etc) OR remove the weight and just perform a bodyweight squat.

Bonus Move: Split Squat Jumps

• Begin in a forward lunge position with your knees bent, chest upright and core engaged.
• With your weight in your front foot and your knees tracking your toes, jump up and switch your front and back legs, landing lightly back in your lunge position.
• MOD: Perform alternating reverse lunges to make this low impact or hold onto the wall or back of a chair for help with balance.

  

Pyramid 4

Squat Thrust

• Begin standing with your core engaged and chest up tall.
• Bend your knees and plant your hands on the floor or mat in front of you (hands stacked directly below shoulders) and jump or step your feet back into a tall plank position, keeping your core engaged.
• Jump or step your feet back into your hands and come back to standing, loading your weight in your heels and using your momentum to power you up into a jump and repeat.
• MOD: Perform this movement with your hands on an inclined surface, like a chair, couch or ottoman. You can also take the impact out entirely by stepping back and forth rather than jumping, and coming up to a body squat rather than a jump.

Bonus Move: Calf Raises

• Begin standing with feet hip distance apart.
• Lift up onto your toes and then slowly come back down (be sure you’re not rocking back and forth).
• Optional: Hold weighted objects in each hand.

Finisher

Mountain Climbers (90 Seconds)

• Begin in a tall plank position with your shoulders stacked over your hands, core engaged, and back flat.
• Keeping your hips down, run your knees into your chest and back out by pulling each knee in as far as you can and then back out, one at a time.
• MOD: Do this move on an elevated surface by placing your hand on the edge of a couch or table.