Your Summer Body Is Hiding From You – These Workouts Will Help You Find It
It's not too late to get your summer body on track.

November 20, 2017

It's not too late to get your summer body on track.

With summer heating up you don’t have much time to get that summer body unpacked. Fret not, we’re here to save the day (as usual). Follow this routine and you’ll have something to show next time you rock your swimming trunks.

Directions:

Alternate between workouts A and B three days a week for the next two weeks. For each workout, you’ll follow one of the two routines described below. You can switch up the days you exercise, but always allow at least a day of rest between sessions. Proper recovery is what will shift your gains into high gear.

Workout A:

101/Push-up – Get down on all fours and position your hands so they’re slightly wider than your shoulders. Set your feet together, straighten your arms and legs, and squeeze your glutes [A]. Lower your body until your chest nearly touches the floor [B]. Pause at the bottom, and then push yourself back to the starting position as quickly as possible.

Related: You Can Build A Massive Chest With This One Tweak To Your Pushup Technique

202/Split Squat Hold a pair of dumbbells at arm’s length next to your sides, palms in, and stand in a staggered stance with your left foot in front of your right [A]. Slowly lower your body as far as you can [B]. Pause, and push yourself back up to the starting position. Complete the prescribed number of reps, switch legs, and repeat.

303/Chin-up – Grab a chin-up bar using a shoulder-width, underhand grip, and hang at arm’s length; this is known as a dead hang [A]. Pull your chest to the bar [B]. Once the top of your chest touches the bar, pause, and then slowly lower your body back to a dead hang.

Related: 9 Ways to Shred Your Core Using Only a Pullup Bar

404/Lateral Step-up – Hold a pair of dumbbells at arm’s length next to your sides and stand with your left side facing a bench or step. Place your left foot on the step [A]. Push your body up until both legs are straight [B]. Slowly lower your body back to the starting position. Complete the prescribed number of reps, turn around, and repeat with your right foot on the step.

505/Hip Raise – Lie face up on the floor with your knees bent and your feet flat [A]. Raise your hips so your body forms a straight line from your shoulders to your knees [B]. Pause, and then slowly lower your body back to the starting position.

Routine 1: Do a set of exercise 1 and then a set of exercise 2. For each exercise, choose a weight (if applicable) that you can lift 12 times, but do only 5 reps per set. Rest only as long as needed to keep knocking out those 5 reps – just go by how you feel. Repeat this superset as many times as you can in 10 minutes. Do the same for exercises 3 and 4. Each time you do this workout, try to do more total reps than you did in the last session. (Note: you won’t use exercise 5 from either workout in this routine.)

Related: Build Your Glutes With The Barbell Hip Thrust

Workout B:

601/Goblet Squat – Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell vertically next to your chest with both hands cupping the top end [A]. Push your hips back and bend your knees to lower your body as far as you can [B]. Pause, and then push yourself back up to the starting position.

702/Kneeling Dumbbell Single-Arm Supported Row – Grab a dumbbell in your right hand and place your left hand and knee on a bench. Let the dumbbell hang at arm’s length, palm in [A]. Pull the weight to your ribs [B] and lower it back down. Complete the prescribed number of reps, switch sides, and repeat.

Related: 10 Deadlifts You Can Do With Just a Pair Dumbbells

803/Arnold Press – Grab a pair of dumbbells and stand holding the weights in front of your shoulders with your arms bent and your palms facing you. Your feet should be shoulder-width apart [A]. Press the weights directly overhead as you twist your hands so your palms face forwards [B]. Slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.

904/Lateral Squat – Hold the top end of a dumbbell vertically in both hands in front of you and stand with your feet twice shoulder-width apart [A]. Keeping your right leg straight, push your hips back and to the left as you lower your body until your left thigh is parallel to the floor [B]. Pause, and return to the starting position. Do all your reps, and repeat to your right.

Related: Do This Kettlebell Workout To Chisel Your Abs And Lower Body

1005/Single-Leg Straight-Leg Deadlift – Grab a pair of dumbbells with an overhand grip and let them hang at arm’s length in front of you. Lift your left leg so your foot is a few centimetres off the floor behind you [A]. Lower your torso until it’s almost parallel to the floor [B], and then rise back up to the starting position. Complete the prescribed number of reps, switch legs, and repeat.

Routine 2: Perform all 5 exercises as a circuit, doing a set of each exercise in succession. For each exercise, choose a weight (if applicable) that you can lift 12 times, but use the chart below to guide your reps and rest for each exercise in successive circuits. Do up to 10 circuits total.

  • Circuits 1, 7 – 8 Reps / 30 Seconds rest
  • Circuits 2, 6, 8 – 6 Reps / 20 Seconds rest
  • Circuits 3, 5, 9 – 4 Reps / 20 Seconds rest
  • Circuits 4, 10 – 2 Reps / 10 Seconds rest