Today I have a fun total body workout to focus on building muscular strength.
This is a great intermediate workout so if you’ve built a strong base with bodyweight training, adding some additional resistance in the mix (like dumbbells or stretchy bands) can help you start to see more gains in muscular strength.
We’ll be using a variety of equipment today, but all you really need is dumbbells and something to step up to.
How we move, look and feel is all directly related to healthy muscle tissue. It’s easy to get overly focused on weight loss and fat loss, but actually strengthening your muscle improves your metabolic health, and helps you be a more efficient fat burner.
Focusing on fueling and training for muscular strength rather than dieting for fat loss is also a great way to increase your energy and shift your body composition (muscle to fat ratio).
This workout is a little longer that some of my other workouts you may have done, but I’ve included dynamic stretching for a full body warm up, form tips and modifications so we make sure that we get the body ready for some of those heavier lifts.
This type of training uses “progressive overload” which is a fancy way of talking about how you can progressively get stronger by going up in either reps or weight. I recommend this type of training as part of a complete program (like the Lioness Strength Training program).
If you’ve gotten to a point with your training where you are looking for a different kind of challenge, this is something you might enjoy and I have lots of opportunities for you to do it in Rock Your Life as well as in the Lioness program.
Now join me, and let’s get strong together!
Unleash your power with progressive strength workouts designed to
sculpt lean muscle and build a fit physique with my Lioness Strength Training program!
It includes strength training, plyometric (HIIT) workouts, specialty core workouts, yoga and a complete 8 week healthy eating guide (gluten and dairy free) to help you fuel your workouts.
Total Body Strength Workout
Click to expand and see all workout move descriptions
Equipment: Weighted Objects (barbell and dumbbells), bench, chin up set up (high bar with optional band for support, or a broom handle laid across 2 chairs)
Format: Perform each move for the prescribed reps and repeat all rounds before moving on to the next move.
Warmup/Mobility:
Slow Burpees
- Begin standing at the top of your mat with your core braced and chest upright.
- Bend your knees, plant your hands on the mat, and step your feet back into a tall plank position with shoulders stacked over wrists, braced core, back flat and neutral gaze (not looking up or down).
- Bend your arms and lower yourself toward the mat for a push-up while keeping your shoulders away from your ears. Be mindful that your hips and torso are moving in one line.
- Maintaining a braced core and flat back, push yourself back up to the starting position.
- Step your feet back up to your hands and drive through the heels to stand.
- Repeat for allotted time.
- MOD: Complete the push-ups with your knees on the mat or complete the entire sequence with your hands planted on an elevated surface (bench/couch/chair) instead of the mat.
Dynamic Stretching
Band Shoulder Mobility
Workout
Single Leg Staggered Deadlifts (8-12 each side)
- Begin by standing with your feet staggered at hip-width distance, right foot in front, left in back.
- Hold a weighted object in each hand, your core braced and shoulders back and down (as if they were against a wall), and
- keep about 80% of your weight in the front foot.
- Maintaining square hips to the wall in front of you, push your hips back and hinge forward as far as you can while
- maintaining a flat back, slightly bending your right knee and keeping the weighted objects close to your shins.
- Drive through your entire front foot to come back to standing, pressing your hips forward, feeling your glutes working
- through this lift, and be mindful of not leaning back at the top.
- Repeat for your max rep range then switch sides.
Military Press (8-12)
- Brace your core from a standing or seated position and, holding a weighted object in each hand, bend your arms to a 90 degree goal post position, shoulders back and down (as if they were against a wall) and palms facing away from you.
- Maintaining a braced core, press the weights straight up overhead, preventing your shoulders from shrugging towards your ears.
- Lower the weights back to the starting position with control.
- Repeat for your max reps.
Dumbbell Step-ups (8-12 each side)
- Begin by standing tall in front of your elevated surface with your core braced and a weighted object in each hand.
- Plant your right foot on the elevated surface and, keeping your weight in your heel and your chest upright, drive through your right foot to stand fully on your right foot. Be mindful that your right knee is tracking in line with your toes.
- With control and keeping your weight in your right heel, slowly lower yourself back down, planting your left foot, then your right.
- Switch sides and continue alternating sides for max rep range.
- MOD: Remove the weighted objects and complete this exercise with bodyweight only.
Support your workouts by using ROCK AND RESTORE, my free-form essential amino acid formula. This great tasting fruit punch formula contains 30 servings of all 9 of the essential amino acids (including the BCAA’s) in their free form for rapid absorption and metabolic use so you can rock your workouts, build lean muscle, recover faster, boost your immune system and improve cognitive function.
Chin Ups: AMRAP (as many reps as possible)
- Begin by gripping the pull-up bar with your palms facing toward you at about shoulder-width. If you’re unable to grab the bar, stand on a sturdy elevated surface like a bench or plyometric box.
- Step off of the box and allow your legs to hang with your arms extended with a slight bend in the elbows to maintain engagement.
- Squeeze your glutes and quads and engage your core, rotating your shoulders outward to engage your lats and prevent shoulders from shrugging.
- Initiate the pull-up by pulling your shoulder blades toward your spine and squeeze your upper back and lat muscles until your collar bone reaches the chin-up bar. Be mindful of keeping your chin tucked throughout this movement, as if you were holding an egg under your chin.
- Pause for a second at the top of the movement.
- Lower yourself to the starting position with control.
- Repeat for max reps.
- MOD 1: Loop a long stretchy band on your pull up bar. Place a foot in the band to lessen the amount of bodyweight you need to lift.
- MOD 2: Alternatively, perform an inverted row by keeping your feet on the mat, gripping the band with your palms facing upward.
- Angle your body at about 45 degrees with the mat, keeping your body braced in a straight line.
- With core braced, shoulders back and down, and keeping your elbows beside your ribcage (not flaring out to the sides), squeeze between your shoulder blades to bend your arms and pull the band to meet your chest.
- Lower back to starting position with control.
- To make this move more challenging, move your body closer to parallel with the mat.
Reverse Flyes (8-12)
- Stand with your core braced, chest up, shoulders back and down (as if they were against a wall), and weighted objects in both hands.
- Hinge forward at the hips at a 45 degree angle with your body, and engage between your shoulders, so they’re not rounding forward. Allow your dumbbells to hang beneath your chest and keep your head and neck in a neutral position.
- Using the muscles between your shoulder blades, lift both arms out to the side leading with your shoulders and elbows rather than your wrists. It’s natural to have a slight bend in the elbows.
- With control, Return to the start position and repeat for your max reps.
Elevated Bodyweight Single Leg Hip Thrust (10-20 each leg)
- Sit yourself on the mat in front of your bench (or couch/chair/ottoman), press yourself up with your elbows and feet to position your back against the elevated surface; the edge of the surface should be at the base of your shoulder blades. Place your feet on another elevated surface.
- Brace your core and extend your right leg off of the elevated surface, parallel with your left thigh.
- Drive through your left heel to lift your hips to the ceiling, squeezing your glutes, maintaining a braced core and working to keep your hips in line with one another. When pressed up, your planted leg should be bent to around 90 degrees.
- Lower your hips back down toward the mat with control and repeat. Perform your max reps on one side before switching sides.
- MOD 1: Perform this with both feet on the elevated surface.
- MOD 2: Perform this with one or both feet on the mat rather than an elevated surface.
- MOD 3: Make this more challenging by placing weighted objects in your hip creases.
Great job Rockstar! How did you like this workout? Leave me a comment below to let me know what you thought of it. I love hearing from you!
If you enjoyed today’s workout and want workouts like this formatted into a full body program, check out Lioness, my ultimate Women’s Strength Training Program!
With this program you will:
- Strengthen: Build lean muscle with specially sequenced workouts using progressive overload to define sculpted legs, a lifted booty, a strong back and arms, and flat abs.
- Sculpt: Watch body fat drop as you fuel with the right nutrients and do the right workouts to create an optimal state in your system for body composition changes.
- Shred: Enjoy the versatility of training from home or in the gym with both full follow along video guides, and short video tutorials so you can move around with ease on your own time frame.
Plus this program has options for doing it with different types of equipment and modifications for beginner, intermediate and advanced fitness levels.
Check out the Lioness program today and get ready to rock your fittest physique ever!
Zelda was incredibly impressed with her results with this program!
“For the first time in my life at age 54 I was complimented on my posture and was told several times I looked ripped
When I joined Rock Your Life I looked at the Lioness programme and thought it was out of my reach at my stage of life. 10 months later I was doing it with fantastic results.”
Get Started Today!
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