This is For You: An Action-Pack 20 Minute Work Out

You should know that warming up and then loosen up after a workout is better than doing a darn killing session.

The best thing is organize your workout to include a 5 minutes warm-up, 10 to 15 minutes of strength training exercises, followed by short period of cardio activity : Jumping rope, treadmill, or jumping jacks. The cool down will take another 5 minutes.

To start, that is a pretty efficient way to get a healthy cardio benefit while strenght training. You can do better if you follow these multitasking strength training moves.

You will need free weights:

• 3 and 5 Pounds for women
• 8,10 and 12 for men, depending on your fitness level

Working the upper and the lower body at the same time while targeting all the mayor muscules, is what we are going to show you.

The lunge is a strength training exercise that is used to strengthen the quadriceps muscles, glutean and the muscles comprising the "hamstrings", the semitendinosus, the semimebranosus, and the biceps femoris. A long lunge emphasizes the gluteals whereas a short lunge emphasizes the quadriceps--

Wikipedia

In order to work the lats, quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes just follow our steps

• Stand with your feet parallel, hip-width apart and knees soft
• Hold the weight against your hips, palms in, elbows bent at right angles and close to your sides.
• Stabilize your shoulder blades by drawing them down and together
• Step forward with one leg bending both knees, for strength

• Straighten both arms as you lower the weights toward your thighs.
• As you spring back, pull the weights right up to your hips.
• Make sure to alternate your legs for 6 to 8 reps with rep equal to both sides

Just relax and go for this second routine:

• Stand with your feet parallel, hip-width apart
• Hold two small weights at shoulder's height
• Extend one arm up and extend the opposite knee to hip height.
• Balance, then march in place, alternating sides for 8 reps (1 rep equal to both sides)

• Hold 1 weight horizontally with both hands ( arms straight down in front)
• Stand in a wide stance, legs turned out 45 degrees
• Bend your knees and lift that weight to shoulder height. keeping the arms straight
• Lower the weight and straighten your legs to return to the starting position
• Do 1 set of 8 to 12 reps.

Now, If you are new to exercise or just getting back tot a routine, build yourself a solid foundation before pushing yourself. Once you've got used to these routines for 4 or 6 weeks, switch to heavier weights with fewer reps or reverse the order of the exercise.

Very important: Alternate your days of straight train with other day of aerobics, such as walking or jogging. The target is to build strong muscles, not get them sored.