Alright party people, it’s that time again, time for another round of Fit Friday Fun, are you ready?!

Today I’m sharing one short, sharp lower body workout that you can do anywhere, anytime in just 12 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 –

Just 4 simple exercises, we will alternate between 2 variations of squats and 2 variations of lunges – Standard Squat – Reverse Lunge – Sumo Squats & Walking Lunges – we will do 10 reps of each exercise (10 per leg for lunges) then take one full minute to rest 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 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 3 rounds, deal?

Now, for those of you who are just getting started or may not have access to a gym of any kind of weights you can absolutely do with workout without any added weight and let me tell you, you will be feeling it.

Not even kidding, this was me the day my first attempt at this workout –

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.

You have been warned 😉

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 –

12 Minute Squat-Lunge Madness Challenge

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 onto our bonus smoothie recipe . . .

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.

How does a nice tall, light, fresh, delicious, nutritious, decadent, rich, subtly sweet, secretly healthy rocky road smoothie sound?

You guys, this smoothie is so insanely delicious it’s kind of ridiculous!

Seriously, I think this may very well be one of my best yet!

It’s all natural, thick and creamy, subtly sweet, decadent and rich and simply divine!

The tart tangy coconut yogurt combined with the subtle sweetness of those frozen strawberries and the rich, decadent, indulgent cacao  . . . and don’t even get me started on those crispy and crunchy, salty-sweet smoothie toppers!

Sweet and crunchy coconut flakes, crispy freeze dried strawberry crumbles, crackling cacao nibs and let’s not forget those slightly salty, deliciously nutty crushed pistachios – so much deliciousness I can hardly stand it! ♥♥♥

It really is simply divine, the perfect way to refuel and re-energize that beautiful body of yours on this fabulous Friday.

Oh and I should probably mention that not only is our rocky road smoothie “get out of town” delicious, it also happens to be vegan, dairy free and paleo friendly – so much to love I tell you ♥♥♥

Healthy Rocky Road Smoothie
{Vegan. Gluten Free & Paleo Friendly}
Makes 1 all natural, light, fresh, thick, creamy, deliciously dreamy, decadent, rich, subtly sweet, secretly healthy rocky road smoothie that is simply divine!

Ingredients –

1/3 cup coconut or Greek style yogurt

1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or milk of choice)

1/2 an overripe banana (preferably pre-frozen)

1/4 cup frozen strawberries

1 Tablespoon of cacao

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1/4-1/2  cup of ice – more or less to desired consistency. FYI –  because I used frozen fruit in my smoothie I didn’t need to add any ice, just so you know 🙂

For serving –

Cacao nibs – I use this cacao crunch by Power Superfoods ♥

Coconut Flakes

Freeze Dried Strawberries, crumbled

Pistachios, crushed

Method –

1 – Place all smoothie ingredients into a blender and process until smooth and creamy.

2 – To serve, pour into a chilled glass/mason jar or bowl and top with shredded coconut, cacao nibs, freeze dried berries and crushed pistachios if desired.

Note – You could also add in a scoop of protein powder (vanilla, chocolate or unflavoured would work really well in this recipe) and some great lakes gelatin for an extra boost of protein if you’re into that kinda thing – do what you feel baby 🙂

Enjoy xoxo

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,

and have yourself a killer day xoxo

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Question of the day –

What workouts are you loving lately?!

Feel free to share recipes, or links to your fave recipes in the comments below or on the Facebook page and please for the love of all that is good in this world when you do make this smoothie (or any of the recipes you find on this blog of mine) go ahead and snap a pic and share it either on the Facebook page, or tag me on twitter or Instagram. Sharing is caring remember.

Do it, do it You know you want to 🙂

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