40-Minute Athletic High Intensity Workout

How To Do 3 Squats And 3-Second Squat Hold

1. Start standing, feet shoulder-width apart, knees bent. Hold one dumbbell in each hand at your sides.
2. Sit your hips back as you lower into a squat, striving for a 90-degree angle between your hips and knees.
3. Then, drive through your heels to stand tall (legs straight). Repeat for three squats.
4. Then, lower into a squat and hold at the bottom of the squat for 3 seconds, before driving through the heels to stand tall.

How To Do Single Leg Deadlift Taps

1. Start standing in a staggered position, right foot slightly behind your left foot, core engaged. Frame your front left foot with your dumbbells, making an “L” shape around your foot (pictured above).
2. Float or kickstand your right foot behind you, balancing on your left foot.
3. Hinge at your hips to perform a single leg deadlift on your left leg. Extend your right arm to tap the dumbbell in front your left foot. Press through your left heel to stand tall.
4. Then, hinge at your hips and reach your right arm crossbody to tap the dumbbell outside of your left foot (challenging your balance and core strength). Again, press through your left heel to stand tall.

Modification: Kickstand your foot instead of floating it behind you, performing a staggered stance deadlift instead of a single leg deadlift.

How To Do 3 High Knees And 2 Single Leg Plyo Lunges

1. Start in a neutral stance, feet under hips and core engaged.
2. Step your left foot back into a reverse lunge, then explode up, driving through the heel of your right foot as you pull your left knee towards your chest. Repeat for two single leg plyometric lunges.
3. After performing two single leg plyo lunges, alternate high knees for a 3-count, driving your knee up to chest height.
4. After the third knee drive, step back into a low lunge and repeat the sequence.

Modification: Make this low impact by performing two reverse lunges with a knee drive rather than a plyometric lunge. Then perform three high knees at a slower pace, alternating pulling each knee towards your chest.

How To Do Down Dog To Bear Crawl And Push Up

1. Start in a high plank position, hands under shoulders, core engaged.
2. Lower your chest towards the ground to perform a push up; elbows fall back towards your body. Exhale as you push back up into a high plank position.
3. Then hop your feet into a “bear crawl position”. Knees hover off the mat at a 90-degree angle (think of it as a floating table top hold).
4. Then, press your hips up and back, pushing evenly through your hands to find down dog.
5. Inhale to return to bear crawl, then hop your feet back to high plank to return to the starting position.

Modification: Omit the bear crawl, going instead from down dog to a modified push up from your knees.

How To Do A Back Row And Straight Arm Tricep Kickback

1. Start in a neutral position, feet under hips, core engaged. Hold a dumbbell in each hand, palms facing in towards each other.
2. Hinge at the hips to bend over to a 45-degree angle.
3. Squeeze your back to pull the dumbbells up towards your ribcage, performing a back row. With control, lower the dumbbells back to starting position.
4. Then, keep your arms straight as you extend the dumbbells straight behind you, performing a straight arm kickback. Think about bringing the dumbbells back towards your hips with straight arms.
5. With control, lower the dumbbells back to the starting position and repeat the sequence.

How To Do A Lunge Jump Bicep Curl And Overhead Press

1. Start standing with feet hip-width apart, holding one dumbbell in each hand at your sides (palms facing in towards your body).
2. Jump your right leg back into a reverse lunge, dropping your right knee down towards the ground as you lower your hips until both knees reach a 90-degree angle, front thigh parallel to the floor.
3. Hold this reverse lunge position, keeping your torso upright, then perform a bicep curl by curling the dumbbells up towards your shoulders.
4. Immediately press the dumbbells overhead as you hold the reverse lunge position.
5. With control, lower the dumbbells to your sides before exploding off your front leg to perform a jump lunge switch as your left leg lands in a reverse lunge.
6. Again hold the reverse lunge as you repeat the curl and press on the left side.

Modification: Make this low impact by omitting the jump lunge switch. Instead, step back into a reverse lunge.

How To Do A Rear Foot Elevated Lunge And Deadlift

1. Start in a rear foot elevated stance with the top (shoelaces) part of your right foot resting on a bench or couch, left foot about a foot in front of your bench. Hold your dumbbells at your sides.
2. Perform a lunge, bending your front knee to reach 90 degrees as you sit your hips down. Then, press through your left heel to stand tall.
3. Then, perform a deadlift by hinging at your hips, pushing your glutes back towards the wall behind you as your dumbbells slide down your front leg leg. Think about squeezing oranges in your armpits to engage your lats (keeping the dumbbells close to your body).
4. Then press through your front left foot to stand tall.

Modification: Omit the rear foot elevated and perform one reverse lunge and one staggered stance deadlift from the ground.

How To Do A Single Leg Plyometric Lunge

1. Start in a rear foot elevated stance with the shoelaces of your left shoe on a bench or couch, right foot in front of you. Keep a soft bend in your right knee.
2. Bend your right knee to lower down into a lunge, aiming to get your front thigh parallel to the ground.
3. Then explode off your front right foot, aiming to get your front foot to leave the ground.
4. Land softly, then repeat.

Modification: Omit the rear foot elevated and perform a reverse lunge and knee drive from the ground.

How To Do A Decline Plank Walk In

1. Start in a high plank position with your feet elevated on a bench or couch. Think about engaging your core to keep your lower back from dipping.
2. Slowly walk your hands back towards your toes, piking your hips into the air as you walk your hands in. Hips pike up to make an upside down “V” with your body.
3. Hold at the top for a second, then walk your hands out, returning to high plank position.

Modification: Remove the elevation, performing this move from a high plank on the ground instead.

How To Do A Lateral Shuffle Over Dumbbells

1. Place two dumbbells horizontally on the mat in front of you, about two feet apart.
2. Stand with feet hip-distance apart, one foot on each side of the dumbbell on the right side of the mat.
3. Lower into an athletic position, knees bent. Think about being light on your feet.
4. Shuffle laterally over the dumbbells, landing softly on your outside foot on the left of the mat. Pause for a second, hovering your right foot.
5. Then drive off your outside left foot to reverse the movement, shuffling towards your right. Think: chop, chop, drive.

Modification: You can always do this agility exercise behind your dumbbells instead of directly over your dumbbells (just using the dumbbells as a marker for the distance you travel laterally).

How To Do 180 Squat Jumps

1. Start by placing two dumbbells horizontally on the mat in front of you; about two feet apart. Stand between your dumbbells in a loaded squat position facing the left.
2. Explode up in the air, driving your arms overhead and rotating your torso and hips towards your right. Tap both feet on the mat as you face center for a moment.
3. Then continue rotating until you land in a loaded squat position to the right; facing the right dumbbell.
4. Repeat this movement rotating from left to right, and right to left.

Modification: Omit the squat jump, pivoting your feet from side to side as you reach your arms overhead.

How To Do Leg Lifts Over A Dumbbell

1. Start sitting on your mat, legs straight out in front of you and a dumbbell placed vertically on the mat in front of you.
2. Place your hands on the mat behind you, fingertips facing your butt. Bend your elbows to lean back, bracing your core.
3. Hover both legs off the mat on the right side of the dumbbell, left foot stacked over right foot.
4. Then squeeze your abs as you lift your legs over the dumbbell. First lift your left foot over the dumbbell, then your right foot. So now both feet are hovering off the mat on the left side of the dumbbell.
5. Repeat this pattern.

Modification: Instead of hovering your legs and feet off the ground, rest your bottom leg on the mat with each dumbbell leg lift to provide more stability and support.