Beach Body Workout

With summer just around the corner its time to unpack those board shorts and bikinis as well as get ripped for the upcoming beach and pool weather. Whether you’ve been in the gym all year or are just getting back to exercising, this workout will help you transform your body, speed-up your metabolism and help you to become a fat-burning machine.

This workout will consist of a high-intensity routine that combines volume hypertrophy training with high-intensity anaerobic cardio by incorporating aspects of strength training, plyometrics and bodyweight exercises so that you can both burn fat and build muscle at the same time.

Perform this workout three days a week with at least one day off in between sessions. Perform the circuit 5 times, resting 90 seconds at the end of each circuit. Each exercise should be performed at 65% of your 1 repetition max for 10 reps with 30 seconds rest before moving onto the next exercise

Barbell Back Squats

• Begin with the barbell placed on the top of the traps. The chest should be up and the spine neutral. Take a hip-width stance with the feet turned out as needed.
• Descend by flexing the hips then knees. This requires that the knees travel forward. Ensure that they stay align with the feet. The goal is to keep the torso as upright as possible.
• Continue all the way down, keeping the weight displaced in the heel. At the moment the upper legs contact the lower legs reverse the motion, driving the weight upward

Kettlebell Swings

• Grasp the bell with both hands and flex your hips by pushing your butt back and bending at the knees to get into the starting position.
• Make sure that your spine is neutral and look straight ahead. Swing the kettlebell between your legs forcefully.
• Quickly reverse the direction and drive though with your hips taking the kettlebell straight out. Let the kettlebell swing back between your legs and repeat.

Barbell Bench Press

• Lie back on a flat bench. Using a medium width grip (a grip that creates a 90-degree angle in the middle of the movement between the forearms and the upper arms), lift the bar from the rack and hold it straight over you with your arms locked. This will be your starting position.
• From the starting position, breathe in and begin coming down slowly through a full range of motion
• After a brief pause, press the bar back to the starting position as you breathe out.

Burpees

• Start standing and squat down placing hands on the ground out in front of you
• Place the weight in the palms of your hands and simultaneously shoots your feet out behind you into a plank position with a neutral spine
• Hop your feet back in just outside your hands and reverse the position until you are standing back at the starting position

Inverted Bodyweight Rows

• Position a bar in a rack to about waist height. You can also use a smith machine.
• Take a wider than shoulder width grip on the bar and position yourself hanging underneath the bar. Your body should be straight with your heels on the ground with your arms fully extended. This will be your starting position.
• Begin by flexing the elbow, pulling your chest towards the bar. Retract your shoulder blades as you perform the movement.
• Pause at the top of the motion, and return yourself to the start position.
• Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Barbell Thrusters

• Set the bar in a front squat rack position just atop the clavicle.
• Step away from the rack and position your legs using a shoulder-width medium stance with the toes slightly pointed out. Keep your head and elbows up at all times. Your triceps should remain parallel with the ground. Keep a neutral spine. This is the starting position.
• Descend into a squat by pushing your hips back and knees out slightly. Continue down until the upper legs are at or just below parallel to the floor. Inhale as you perform this portion of the movement.
• As you prepare to ascend, push through your heels and begin to wrap your fingers tightly around the bar for a firm grip. As you near the top of your squat, begin pressing the bar up towards the ceiling, allowing your neck to hyperextend so that the bar has room to move.
• A final position will be one in which your arms are fully extended overhead and your legs straight. Maintain tightness from head to toe.
• Lower the bar slowly, allowing your knees to bend to lessen the blow. Immediately transition back into the squatting movement to continue into the next repetition. Repeat for recommended number of repetitions.

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