A pair of dumbbells is all you need to light up your legs with this five-move workout from the new TRUCONNECT app.
How To:
- If you don’t have adjustable dumbbells, grab a couple of pairs at different weights, heavy enough to cause fatigue on each set.
- Always lift and lower under control.
- On the two plyometric exercises, land softly to reduce impact on the knees and ankles.
- There are 2 supersets to complete: do 15 reps of each exercise in the superset, rest 1 min at the end of the set and repeat each superset for a total of 4 rounds.
- Rest for 2 mins between supersets.
- Complete standalone sets of the final exercise, for 4 sets of 15 reps.
1a. Dumbbell Box Squat
- Select a box or bench at a height that means your knees will hit 90° when you sit down with your feet flat on the floor.
- Stand half a stride in front of the box, facing away with your head up and chest lifted, feet approximately shoulder-width apart and your toes pointed out slightly.
- Slowly sit back onto the box, pushing your hips and bum backwards and then bending at your knees to lower yourself down.
- When your bum touches down, pause but keep your muscles contracted. Push through your heels to raise yourself up to the starting position, trying to avoid leaning forward for momentum.
- As you come up, concentrate on pushing your hips forwards and using your glutes to drive the movement.
1b. DB Walking Lunge
- Stand with your feet together, chest lifted and your head up.
- Lift your left knee up towards your chest as high as you can without tucking your pelvis under or dropping your chest down, then take a long step forward and immediately lower yourself towards the ground, into a lunge position, by bending both knees.
- Don’t allow your left knee to overshoot your toes, as that will puts undue pressure on the patella tendon and could lead to injury.
- Now contract your quads and glutes to lift up from the lunge and bring your right foot together with the left. Repeat, but this time lifting your right knee and taking another giant step into a lunge down.
- At all times, keep your shoulder blades drawn back and down, with a good distance from your ears to your shoulders and your abs pulled in.
2a. DB Step-Up
- With head up and shoulders back, step onto a box or bench with the right foot, ensuring the whole of the foot is stable.
- Now press through the right heel to straighten your right leg and stand tall.
- Bring your left foot to meet your right foot on top of the step but don’t put any weight on it, just touch lightly for balance.
- Bend your right knee and slowly step down with the left foot, under control at all times.
- Bring the right foot down to meet the left foot on the ground.
- Perform sets 1 and 3 with your right leg, sets 2 and 4 with your left.
2b. DB Jump Squat
- Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart with toes pointing to the front or just slightly angled out.
- Bend your knees to lower your body to a point where your thighs are just below parallel to the floor.
- Now immediately explode upwards vertically.
- Don’t hold a squat position before jumping up – keep the time between dipping down and jumping up to minimum. Land on both feet, with your weight evenly distributed and descend directly into the next repetition by bending the knees.
3. DB Bulgarian Split Squat
- Stand a long stride length in front of a box or bench, facing away from it, then raise your left leg and reach behind to rest it on top.
- Ensure the left foot is in good alignment and not turned outwards. Ensure your feet are not in line but hip-width apart to assist your balance.
- Bend your right knee to lower your body down, taking the left knee directly down towards the floor. Take care not to twist your left knee or let the right knee collapse to the side.
- Go as low as you comfortably can, then contract through your quads and glutes to lift back to the starting position, keeping your stomach pulled in tight and your head up throughout the movement.
- If your right knee shoots forward at the bottom of the lunge, lengthen your stride position.
- Perform sets 1 and 3 with your right leg, sets 2 and 4 with your left.
The complete ATLAS PROJECT workout series is available exclusively on the TRUCONNECT by TV.FIT app. Download a free seven-day trial at truconnect.fit
