Alright party people, today I’m sharing one short, sharp lower body workout that you can do anywhere, anytime in just 20 minutes – no equipment required, are you in?

You guys know how how much I love, love, love my lower body workouts, The lower body is where your powerhouse muscles are (I’m looking at you quads, glutes and hamstrings) which means you get a serious bang for your workout butt, I mean buck 😉

Your heart rate will be pumping, endorphin’s flowing ah how I love that post workout rush!

So, here’s what we are going to do –

5 basic exercises – Glute Bridge – Reverse Lunge – Step Ups – Calf Raise and Squats – we will do 8-10 reps of each exercise and repeat the entire sequence through for a total of 4 rounds, got it?

Nothing complicated, basic movements done with good form for a short but effective lower body workout.

We will move from one exercise to the next with minimal/no rest in between then once we have completed all reps of each exercises we will take 1 full delicious minute of rest and recovery – catch your breath, grab a drink then we get straight back into it and repeat for a total of 4 rounds, deal?

Now, for those of you who follow along on Facebook and Instagram you may recall that a few weeks ago I triggered an old hip/lower back injury and after taking almost 2 full weeks rest I’m feeling things have improved enough for me to slowly and carefully start rebuilding strength in this area which is why I’m doing this workout without any added weight.

I should warn you though just because you’re “only” using your body-weight as resistance doesn’t not make this an easy workout. Your quads and glutes will be burning by the final round and you will definitely be feeling the effects of it tomorrow I assure you.

Body-weight workouts are great for those who are just starting out and they are also really effective in checking form which is so, so important

For our fully functioning/more advanced lifters who might be looking to make things a little more challenging by all means, feel free to add some weights – grab yourself a weapon of choice – a set of dumbbells, a barbell, kettlebells, some resistance bands or any combination you like. Make sure you choose something appropriate for your strength but, don’t be afraid to challenge yourself.

Although, we want quality not quantity, always! Never compromise your form, ever! If your form starts to fail your done, got it?

Take your time, concentrate, focus and breathe through each and every exercise. You are strong, you are amazing, you have big energy! You’ve totally got this!

And because nothing makes a workout challenge more fun than getting a buddy to join you. Why not grab your BFF or a family member or your fave workmate and have them join you, power in numbers baby!

Don’t forget to come back and let me know how you did once you’re done. Either leave me a message in the comments below, or you can give me a shout on the Facebook page or tag me (@EmSwanston) on Twitter , or Instagram (@emsswanston) . I mean it, I wanna hear how you did!

Ok enough chit chat time to work –

20 minute Lower Body Blast

As always make sure you are nice an warm before you start your workout – Run on the spot, do jumping jacks, jump rope, dance around your living room, anything to get you warm then it’s time to get serious.

Finish with a nice little cool down and stretch, maybe take a walk or something anything to help bring your heart rate down. Finish with a few of your fave stretches. Please don’t skip the stretch people, its like dessert for the body.

Now for our post workout refuel –  Smoothies are a great option for your post workout refuel, they are so quick and easy to prepare and a great option for those of us who don’t have much of an appetite post workout.

It’s so important to nourish and re-energize your body post workout, you want to make sure  you give those muscles some fuel so that they can rebuild and repair themselves after working so hard.

Today I thought I would share another bonus smoothie recipe for us to enjoy – how does a nice tall, ice cold, delicious, nutritious, choc-banana milkshake sound?

This bad boy will help refuel and re-energize that beautiful body of yours. It also happens to be vegan, dairy free and paleo friendly but, most importantly, it’s downright delicious.

Choc-Banana Milkshake
Makes 1 subtly sweet, dark and delicious, seriously chocolaty, banana infused milkshake

Ingredients –

1 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk (or milk of choice)

1/2 Frozen Banana (I prefer to used pre-sliced and frozen bananas in my smoothies but fresh works just fine)

1 Tablespoons of Cacao

1 teaspoon of maple syrup

1 teaspoon of maca (optional – I use this maca smoothie blend with cacao by Power Superfoods and I just love, love, love it!)

1/2-1 cup of ice

Optional for serving –

Cacao nibs – I actually use this Cacao Crackle by Orgamix – it’s so, so good!

Method –

Place all ingredients into your blender and process until smooth.

Taste and adjust to desired level of sweetness. FYI – This milkshake isn’t very sweet, if you prefer things on the sweeter side you might want to bump up the maple syrup, add a splash of vanilla or even a little stevia to sweeten things up.

Enjoy xo

Don’t forget to give me a shout out when you’re done – hit me up in the comments below via the Facebook page on Twitter or on Instagram

Now go have yourself a killer day xoxo