Full Body Strength Pyramid Workout

Equipment: Weighted Objects (water bottles, dumbbells, household objects).
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 to High Pull Row

• Begin standing with your feet wider than hip distance. Allow your feet to turn out naturally.
• Hold your weighted objects in your hands, arms hanging straight down in front of you with your shoulders back and down to counter balance the weights pulling you forward.
• Send your hips back behind you, pulling your belly button in and up to engage your core, 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, drawing your weighted objects up and back evenly for a high pull row. Notice the muscles working between your shoulder blades.
• MOD: Use no weighted objects as you begin.

Bonus Move: Lateral Leg Lifts

• Begin standing, holding onto the back of a chair or tall object for support and engage your core.
• Brace yourself on your right foot and raise your left leg laterally, initiating this movement through your glute. (Be sure to keep your hips square and your core engaged rather than opening your hips or arching your back.)
• Optional: Hold a weight in your hand and rest it on your outer thigh, or use a mini band to increase the resistance.

Pyramid 2

2-Way Bicep Curl

• Holding your weighted objects in hand, turn your palms out to face in front of you and pull your shoulder blades back and down with your core engaged.
• Keeping the upper arms stationary, perform a bicep curl with both arms by curling the weights up to your shoulder while contracting your bicep (ending palms facing you).
• Reverse the movement to return to the starting position, externally rotate your arms, keeping your elbows by your sides to perform a wide bicep curl.
• Return to center and repeat a regular and wide curl back to back.

Bonus Move: Weighted Calf Raises

• Begin standing with feet hip distance apart, holding a weighted object in each hand.
• Lift up onto your toes and then slowly come back down (be sure you’re not rocking back and forth).
• MOD: Perform these with no weight.

Pyramid 3

Skater Lunges

• Begin in a standing position with your core engaged and chest upright.
• Perform a curtsy lunge by stepping your right foot back behind you and over to the left as your left knee bends behind you and reach your right hand down to touch the ground.
• As you stand up, power through your front heel and hop or step laterally (sideways) to switch legs.
• Alternate back and forth for the prescribed time.
• MOD: Take the hop out or do alternating reverse lunges.
• Optional: Hold a weighted object in each hand for added resistance.

Bonus Move: Standing Triceps Kickbacks

• Stand with your core engaged, chest up and weights in hand.
• Hinge forward at the hips into a chair pose, pull your shoulder blades down and back so they’re not rounding forward, allow your dumbbells to hang beneath your chest and keep your gaze neutral.
• Pull the weights to your sides, keeping your elbows close to the body and squeezing your back muscles like you’re pinching the base of your shoulder blades together.
• While in this row position perform a tricep kickback by kicking your arms straight back and contracting your triceps.
• Return to your row position with control, and repeat.

Pyramid 4

Bent Over Box Row

• Stand with your core engaged, chest up and weights in hand.
• Hinge forward at the hips into a chair pose, pull your shoulder blades down and back so they’re not rounding forward, allow your dumbbells to hang beneath your chest and keep your gaze neutral.
• Pull the weights to your sides, keeping your elbows close to the body and squeezing your back muscles like you’re pinching the base of your shoulder blades together.
• While in this row position, externally rotate to end in a wide row position with your palms facing behind you.
• Slowly lower your weights back down to hang below your chest.
• Pull the weights back up to your wide row position and while in the row position, pull the weights back to your sides, keeping your elbows close to the body and squeezing your back muscles.
• Bring your weights back down to your hanging position and repeat the sequence of narrow row to wide row, wide row to narrow row.

Bonus Move: Plie Calf Raises

• Begin standing with feet hip distance apart and toes pointed out, holding a weighted object in each hand.
• Lift up onto your toes and then slowly come back down (be sure you’re not rocking back and forth).
• MOD: Perform these with no weight.

FINISHER

Heismans (90 Seconds)

• Begin standing with your core engaged and drive your right knee out to your side as you bring your right elbow to meet it, performing a side crunch.
• Return to standing and repeat on the other side.
• Try to keep the knees driving up high at a fast pace, alternating back and forth.
• MOD: Take the run out of it to lower the impact and alternate driving your knees to your elbows focusing on the crunch portion of this move.