Alright party people, time for another round of fit Friday fun, are you ready?!

Today I’m sharing one short, sharp Halloween inspired boooooooooty burning workout that you can get in and get done in just 30 minutes what do you say, 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 😉

So, here’s what we are going to do –

5 basic exercises – Deadlift – Reverse Lunge – Squat – Calf Raise and Walking Lunges – we will do 8-10 reps of each exercise and repeat the entire sequence through for a total of 3 rounds, sound good?

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 – I’m not allocating any specific rest breaks in today’s workout but I want you to listen to that beautiful body of yours and rest as needed.

Anytime you feel like you need to take a break to catch your breath and grab a little drink then by all means please do so, and take all the time you need. However, if possible try to wait until you get to the bottom of each round to do so but, do what you gotta do, OK?!

Catch your breath, grab a drink then get straight back into it and repeat for a total of 3 rounds, deal?

Now, for those of you are just starting out or are new to lifting feel free to do this workout without any added weight, believe me when I say 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.

For our more experienced lifters, 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 –

30 minute Booooooooty Burning Workout

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.

How does a nice tall, ice cold, decadent, rich, delicious, nutritious, secretly healthy, seriously chocolaty, chocolate mudslide smoothie sound?

I don’t know about you but it’s sounds preeeeety good to me, um hello did someone say chocolate?!

Let me tell you, if you think this smoothie sounds good wait until you taste it!

It’s subtly sweet, decadent and rich with a nice little hint of espresso and a gentle hum of cinnamon, this secretly healthy chocolate mudslide smoothie is deliciously indulgent, the perfect pick me up for anytime of day!

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 dark and delicious, secretly healthy chocolate mudslide smoothie outrageously delicious, it also happens to be vegan, dairy free and paleo friendly – so much to love I tell you ♥♥♥

Secretly Healthy, Chocolate Mudslide Smoothie
{Vegan. Gluten Free & Paleo Friendly}
Makes 1 all natural, thick, creamy, subtly sweet, decadent, rich, deliciously indulgent and seriously chocolate smoothie.

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 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 Tablespoon of cacao

1 shot of espresso – full strength or decaf works and you could sub 1 tsp of instant espresso granules if you prefer

A pinch of cinnamon

1/4-1/2  cup of ice – more or less to desired consistency.

For serving –

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

Coconut Flakes

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 and cacao nibs 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

_________________________________________

Question of the day –