A Total Body Workout 

Total body exercises are those that work each of your major muscle groups simultaneously. These can be great for not only reducing your workout time but to ensure that you are giving each muscle group the attention it needs to reach its highest potential and achieve a balanced look.

It does not matter what area of your body you are trying to tone; if you have excess body weight you must lose overall body fat before specifically targeting one area of your body. The great thing about total body exercises is that they can combine cardio endurance training with strength training and work to burn fat as well as build muscle. 

The following workout was given to two groups of my clients. One group did the workout once a week and worked out each muscle group separately for the remainder of the week.  The other group did the workout 3 times per week on nonconsecutive days. At the end of one month each participant in the second group lost ten inches or more. This little experiment is far from being scientific since we didn’t factor in other lifestyle influence that may have affected the results (i.e. eating habits). However, it showed us that total body exercises can be effective if done correctly. 

Before you begin the workout make sure you drink enough water throughout the day and after your workout make sure you immediately (within 30 minutes) help your muscles recover by drinking protein (I prefer the all natural, plant-based Sunwarrior Protein) by mixing it in your water bottle or making a fruit smoothie. 

Here is what you do:
Warm-up for 5 minutes and stretch for 5 minutes before you begin.

If possible complete a 1 minute PLANK in between each set.  

The important thing to remember when doing a tough workout like this is to focus on what you can do and forget about what you can’t do. This is not all or nothing. If you can only do a half burpee and you give that half burpee your all then you did great; keep moving to the next exercise.

SET 1:  10 Burpees    10 Deadlifts   10 Turkish Get ups   
SET 2:   9 Burpees      9 Deadlifts    9 Turkish Get ups   
SET 3:   8 Burpees      8 Deadlifts    8 Turkish Get ups   
SET 4:   7 Burpees      7 Deadlifts    7 Turkish Get ups   
SET 5:   6 Burpees      6 Deadlifts    6 Turkish Get ups   
SET 6:   5 Burpees      5 Deadlifts    5 Turkish Get ups   
SET 7:   4 Burpees      4 Deadlifts    4 Turkish Get ups   
SET 8:   3 Burpees      3 Deadlifts    3 Turkish Get ups   
SET 9:   2 Burpees      2 Deadlifts    2 Turkish Get ups   
SET 10:  1 Burpee       1 Deadlift      1 Turkish Get up  

You can watch me do this exact workout by CLICKING HERE. There will also be a printable version of this workout that you can take with you anywhere.  

I am happy to announce to you guys that I have started my very own podcast. It’s like a free health and nutrition radio show that you can listen to on your phone, computer, or anything that plays mp3 files. You can find the podcast here. There will be new episodes each week and interviews with fitness industry experts who want to see you reach your goals. I look forward to your reviews of it.

Remember I am always here on Sundays to give you fitness advice and tips. You can also find me at http://www.keepitmovingfitness.com/ and chat with me on Facebook.  We have almost reached our goal of losing 1000 pounds in the month of August doing the Drop 5 First Program. Join us.

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