5. One-Legged Burpee
*Image above shows traditional burpee
What it works:
Already considered one of the best full-body exercises, burpees test your strength and aerobic capacities. With each repetition, you hit your chest, arms, quads, hamstrings, and abs—and you’ll burn an insane amount of calories. Single-leg burpees up the difficulty because you have to work harder to keep yourself balanced. This taxes your fast-twitch muscle fibers and really works your ankle and feet muscles. You probably will look a bit foolish the first time around, but the benefits are worth it—we promise. Note: You can put your elevated ankle in the strap of a TRX cable for more support in the beginning.
How to do it:
Start in a pushup position, and bring your left leg off the floor by 10 inches. Perform a pushup, then immediately thrust your right leg in toward your chest, driving your hips forward, and plant your right foot on the ground. “Make sure you keep your left leg off the ground throughout this entire movement,” Langowski says. Steady yourself on your right leg, stand up straight, then jump up, landing on your right leg. Bend back down at your waist and reverse the motion, jumping back with your right leg, keeping your left off the ground, and bracing yourself as you meet the ground with both hands.
Complete 3 sets of 5-8 reps per leg. Superset this with exercise #6: Lateral shuffle on treadmill.
6. Lateral Shuffle on Treadmill
*Image above shows traditional treadmill running
What it works:
This will be awkward for you and the person next to you on the treadmill since you’ll be grilling him or her, but, hey, all is fair in love and fitness (or something like that.) By side-shuffling on the treadmill, you really give your hips, inner and outer thighs, calves, abs, and obliques a killer workout. You’ll challenge your balance, strength, and coordination to boot. Just be careful with this one as it can be dangerous.
How to do it:
Start by walking (facing forward) on the treadmill at 3.5-4.2 speed. While holding onto the front of the treadmill with your left hand, turn your body to the right and immediately start to shuffle. “Take special care to stay on your toes and make sure your legs don’t cross over,” Langowski says. Do this for 1 minute. Come back to the center of the treadmill and face forward. Walk for 15 seconds, and then repeat this on your left side. (Hold onto the front of the treadmill with your right hand.) Note: You can gradually increase the speed and incline to make this more difficult.
Complete 3 sets of 3-minute reps on each side. Superset this with exercise #5: One-legged burpee.