F-F-Friday baby!!!!

You know what that means, it’s time for another round of fit Friday fun and boy are we gonna have some fun today!

Today I’m sharing a short and sharp total body workout that you should be able to get in done in around 15 minutes – with or without equipment, totally your call!

I don’t know about you but, as much as I love my to get my workout on, I don’t like spending hours at the gym and the thing is, you don’t need to! With the right combination of exercises you can have an awesome workout in next to no time at all.

In today’s workout we are going to do just 5 exercises that incorporate most of your major muscle groups, I’m talkin’ quads, glutes, hamstrings, back, lats, delts/shoulders, chest, biceps and abs/core which means you get serious bang for your workout buck!

Just because your workout is short doesn’t mean it’s not effective, trust me. When you’re done with this workout, your heart rate will be pumping, endorphin’s flowing, metabolism firing!

Ah how I love that post workout rush!

So, here’s what we are going to do –

♦ Squat
♦ Curtsy Lunge
♦ Push Up
♦ Mountain Climber
♦ Russian Twist

We will do 10 reps of each exercise  (count reps per side for lunges, climbers and twists) and repeat the entire sequence through for a total of 4 rounds or, as many rounds a pretty in 15 minutes.

The aim here is to move from one exercise to the next with minimal/no rest in between – That being said, 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, deal?

For those who are wanting to making things a little more challenging, feel free to grab yourself a weapon of choice – a set of dumbbells, a barbell, your EmPack, 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.

I want you to really push yourself, the final rep of each exercise should be a challenge!

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 –

Short & Sassy
Full Body 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 onto our smoothie recipe . . .

How does a nice tall, creamy, dreamy, subtly sweet, perfectly spiced, iced vanilla chai latte sound?

Oh, you guys, this smoothie . . . insert all of the heart eyed emojis !!!

The dreamiest chai latte you’ll ever have and I promise you, it’s anything but “vanilla”.

It literally tastes like chai spiced soft serve!!

It’s luscious and creamy, spiked with a hint of vanilla and the perfect heart and belly warming hum of chai inspired spices.

It’s the ultimate nice cream!

Decadent to enjoy as a late night dessert but healthy enough to serve for breakfast! Ice cream for breakfast = living your best life!

Oh and , I should probably mention that not only does our delicious, nutritious, pretty little latte taste like straight up heaven in a cup but, it also happens to be Dairy free (if you want),  BANANA FREE, DATE FREE,  Sugar free, Low Carb, Vegan, Keto and Paleo friendly – so much to love I tell you and love it you will!

It really is simply divine, the perfect way to treat yo’ self on this fabulous Friday.

Creamy Iced Vanilla Chai Latte
{Dairy Free – Sugar Free – BANANA FREE – DATE FREE – Gluten Free – Grain Free – Low Carb – Paleo – Keto – Vegan }
Makes 1 creamy, dreamy, subtly sweet, deliciously indulgent, secretly healthy, perfectly spiced chai latte

Ingredients –

1/2 cup vanilla yoghurt

1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or milk of choice) – more to desired consistency

1/2-1 teaspoon of chai spice mix – more or less to taste

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 Tablespoon of cashew butter – sub 2 Tablespoons of raw cashews, soak in boiling water for 10 minutes before blending if you don’t have a high powered blender

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

Optional add ins;

 

Dark Chocolate, melted – Antioxidants?! To swirl your glass with happiness.

1/2-1 cup cauliflower or zucchini (pre-steamed & frozen works best)  – a great way to get an extra (undetectable) serve of veg & make your smoothie extra thick

1 teaspoon of maca – for hormone balance

1 teaspoon of uplift food – daily dose of prebiotics

1 teaspoon of flaxmeal – ground flax- healthy fats & extra fiber

1-2 scoops of collagen – for  gut healing goodness

1 scp protein powder – for extra protein (vanilla, or unflavored would work best here)

Method –

1 – Place all smoothie ingredients into your blender and process until smooth, creamy and well combined.

2 – Pour into a chilled glass or mason jar then top with toppings of choice – I use coconut shreds, cacao nibs (or a shaving or dark chocolate) always.

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 remember;

and have yourself a killer day xoxo

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Question of the day –

What’s your fave way to workout? Upper Body? Lower Body? Total Body?

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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