It's Day Three of Public Body's "12 Days of Fitness!"

 

It’s day three of Public Body’s “12 days of Fitness” and on the 10th day of Christmas, the lords won’t be the only ones a-leaping. We’ve put together a lower body circuit that includes some fun and explosive plyometric exercises.

Here’s how the circuit works: Perform each exercise for 10 reps, then rest for 1 minute, then perform each exercise for 8 reps and rest for 1 minute. Continue with 6 reps, then 4 reps, then 2, always resting for 1 minute between rounds. For a rockstar version of the workout, continue in reverse, starting with 2 reps then progressing to 10 reps.

-Squat Jumps: A squat jump is like a regular bodyweight squat, but instead of standing up at the top, you jump as high as you can. Remember to land softly and avoid landing with your knees locked. Keep your joints relaxed to absorb the impact. You can do them jumping in place or up onto a stable object like a bench or platform.

-Step Ups Right: Start standing straight in front of a sturdy bench or stable chair. Place the right foot on the elevated surface. Step on the platform by pressing into your right heel to lift your body up and lifting your left knee toward your chest.  Step down with the left leg then right leg. Repeat with the right leg stepping up for each rep. This exercise can also be done with dumbbells in both hands. 

-Step Ups Left: repeat the exercise as above, but this time step up with your left leg for all reps.

-Broad Jumps: The broad jump is essentially the same as the squat jump except you jump forward, not up. Lift your legs high as you jump to help you clear more distance. If you don’t have a lot of space to broad jump, simply jump forward in one direction one or two times then turn and jump back in the other direction.

-Glute Bridges:  Lie flat on the floor on your back with the hands by your side and your knees bent. Your feet should be around shoulder width apart. Push with your heels to lift your hips off the floor while keeping your back straight. Hold at the top for 5 seconds. Slowly lower back to the starting position. A more challenging version is to perform this exercise with one leg raised forward, just be sure to alternate that leg with each set!

-Jumping lunges: Start in a split stance position with your knees about bent at a 90-degree angle. Lower your rear knee toward the ground in a lunge while keeping your front shin  vertical. Push explosively off the ground, jumping and switching the position of your legs while in mid-air, landing into the lunge position with the opposite leg forward. Repeat, switching legs on each jump.

We have a new workout for you every day until Christmas at publicbody.com and on our facebook and Instagram pages.

Stay hot and awesome!

Public Body