You’ll Want to Try this At-Home 30-Minute Core and Butt Workout!
Are you looking for an excellent workout for your core and butt? Try this 30-minute circuit in your living room (minimal equipment required), and then binge on your favorite Netflix show!
Time: 30-35 minutes
Frequency: 1-2x week
Focus: Lower Body/Core
Reps: 15-20 reps
Format: You may choose whatever exercise you want from each category, but perform the categories in order (Squats, Planks, Lunges, Planks, Random Legs). You may exchange any of the following based on availability: a dumbbell (DB), medicine ball (MB), Sling Shot Resistance Band (Affiliate Link), a suitcase, or a book. You must complete every exercise (25 total). Check off the boxes as you complete each workout to help keep track.
SQUATS
☐ Explosive air squats (quick stationary squats while thrusting your arms upward)
☐ Squat with weight raise (raise the weight from your chest to the overhead position while squatting)
☐ Squat weight slam motion (start with the weight overhead and swing it downward as you squat) or weight swing squat (like a kettlebell swing)
☐ Explosive squat with weights at your side (explode upward without leaving your feet, squeeze your glutes at the top of the movement)
☐ Explosive squat with weight on the chest (explode upward while leaving your feet on the floor, squeeze your glutes at the top of the movement)
Personal Trainer Wisdom: Please remember to keep your lower back in a neutral position and straighten feet (keep your feet hip width). Maintain the natural curve with your heels under your hips. If you notice a posterior tilt (rounding of lower back) in your hips as you squat, stop just before and squeeze your glutes as you return to the standing position.PLANKS (30-60 SECONDS)
☐ Different variations using the floor, couch, or chair
Personal Trainer Wisdom: You must maintain a neutral spine no matter the exercise…especially on a plank. Too much flexion (rounding of your lower back) or extension (arching of the lower back) will wreak havoc on your sweet little disks (the impact buffers between the vertebrae of your spine). That said, maintain the neutral spine with your elbows planted below your shoulders and your hands placed in the “I’m holding a square box” position (not trademarked yet). Think your thumbs up, and your hands are spaced shoulder width. If your hands are any closer, you are transferring the energy from your core to your shoulders (and you don’t want to do this).LUNGES
☐ Walking lunge with light dumbbell twist (slightly rotate the weight two inches past your bent knee, keep your shoulders and hips squared up, and don’t lean while rotating to each side)
☐ Walking lunge with overhead weight press (press the weight overhead as you lunge downward…like a shoulder press)
☐ Walking lunge with weight on chest (keep the weight in the same position)
☐ Walking lunge with weight swing (swing the weight up as you lunge downward from your hips…like a kettlebell swing)
☐ Forward and back lunge (only drop knee halfway and return to the starting position as if you’re performing a single leg squat…which means limit the weight on the back foot, or your knee will be barking at you)
Personal Trainer Wisdom: Unfortunately, lunges shouldn’t be named lunges. An “alternating stepping kneel” may be more appropriate (less sexy, though). Think about it: A lunge insinuates that you’re allowing forward momentum (energy) to push forward at a downward angle while sacrificing your knees and overusing your quads (similar to lunging at a person with a sword in a movie). We’re cutting out other essential leg muscles and reinforcing a dysfunctional dependence on the quads. Instead, it would help if you stepped forward into a kneel and then return to a standing position like a single leg squat (isolating your hamstrings and glutes on the leg in front of you). Use the big muscles in the posterior chain and explode from the kneeling position! While the quads are part of the equation, they shouldn’t be the main focus here!PLANKS (30-60 SECONDS)
☐ Different variations using the floor, couch, or chair
RANDOM LEGS (30-60 SECONDS)
☐ Mountain climbers, 2x (hold onto a chair with your straight arms and drive your knees toward your chest (alternate) without compromising your neutral spine)
☐ Stairsteppers or chair-steppers while holding a weight at your chest, 2x (start by standing on a chair against the wall and step down with each foot, return each foot to the top before dropping the other)
☐ Mountain climbers with a twist (hold onto a chair with your straight arms and slightly drive your knee towards the opposite shoulder to engage the obliques (alternate) without compromising your neutral spine)
As part of the Amazon Affiliate program, Michael Moody Fitness may be eligible for a small commission for purchases at no cost to you. We will only recommend tried and true products that we use ourselves!
Photo Credit:
fitnessmagazine .com–How will you lunge into this weekend?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: MICHAEL MOODY, PERSONAL TRAINER
As an author, a personal trainer in Denver, and podcast host, Michael Moody has helped personal training clients achieve new fitness heights and incredible weight loss transformations since 2005. He also produces the wellness podcast "The Elements of Being" and has been featured on NBC, WGN Radio, and PBS.
Michael offers personal training to Denver residents who want to meet at the 2460 W 26th Ave studio….or in their homes throughout LoHi (80206), LoDo (80202), RiNo (80216), Washington Park (80209), Cherry Creek (80206, 80209, 80243, 80246, 80231), and Highlands (80202, 80211, 80212). Michael also offers experiences with a personal trainer in Jefferson Park (80211) and Sloan's Lake (80204, 80212).
If you’re looking for a personal trainer who can curate a sustainable (and adaptable) routine based on your needs and wants, Michael is the experienced practitioner you’ve been looking for. Try personal training for a month…your body will thank you!
