The 4-week beach workout

Budgie smugglers and bikinis at the ready, we’ll have you bulging in all the right areas in no time!

Right, you’ve got a few weeks before you jet off on your holidays and you need a helping hand to get you ‘beach ready’. Praise be, for Janine George, Optimum Nutrition’s Gold Standard Fitness Instructor of the year (www.onacademy.co.uk). Janine’s META BURN workout begins with an athletic warm-up followed by a 17-minute ‘block’ of work of seven different exercises done in 30-second intervals. These exercises are uniquely chosen to provide a different stimulus to the body, with some of the exercises focusing on strength and others on cardio. The exercises are done at the participant’s own pace. Some cardio moves with tax the body aerobically (oxidative) while others anaerobically (glycolytic or phosphagen). The strength moves are done with a focus on form and technique.

So, six exercises in two parts then which, when combined together, will have you super toned. Time to feel that burn…

Part 1: Meta Burn challenge

Complete each exercise for 30 seconds
Complete three rounds

1. Goblet Clean to Squat to Overhead Press
Stand with legs slightly wider than shoulder width with your dumbbell placed upright in between your legs. Proceed to squat down to collect the dumbbell with both hands and immediately come to stand, keeping the dumbbell in front of your chest. Drop down into a goblet squat, aiming to get both elbows to touch the knees. Then rise back to standing, pressing the dumbbell over head

Repeat.

2. Bear Row Donkey Kick
Start in the prone position with knees bent on the floor. Hold onto the dumbbells and raise the knees off the ground, bringing them in line with hips . Begin to row one arm at a time, keeping your hips locked and your core contracted, then force both legs up into the air for a donkey kick.

Repeat.

3. Double Tucks/Heel Kicks
Jump vertically as explosive as possible, bending both legs tap the knees with your hands, repeat this twice. Then immediately with the same energy jumping high again apply the reverse move, bringing both heels to the glutes, repeat this twice.

Repeat.

Part 2: Ultimate ab exercises.

Complete each exercise for 30 seconds
Complete three times.

1. Lying Down Over Head Leg Switches (Dumbbell)
Start by lying on your back with legs extended, placing a pair of dumbbells above your head. Whilst holding on to your dumbbells, begin to raise your legs and glutes off the floor vertically. Focus on pulling your navel to spine and begin switching each leg at a time towards your face, aiming to keep your legs as straight as possible throughout the move.

2. Sit Up/Hip Up (Bodyweight)
Lying on your back fully extend both arms and legs. Rise up bringing the arms forward, placing hands onto the floor. Spread out the fingers to stabilise the arms. Simultaneously bend the knees, with heels firmly on the ground and thrust the hips upwards.

3. Single Arm Side Crunch (Resistance Band/Dumbbell)
Standing tall, extend one arm laterally keeping it isolated and extend the other arm vertically. Bend the knee on the side of the vertical arm lifting it towards the elbow, while simultaneously bending the elbow toward the knee, crunching the side of your body.

This high-intensity metabolic conditioning workout uses a mix of upper and lower body exercises combined with cardio intervals designed to overload the muscles and tax your cardiovascular system, for a super-toned physique. Weight-based work and compound power moves are all incorporated to help build a lean and strong body. Burn it, firm it.

Metabolic conditioning is focused on burning fat above all else. Metabolic conditioning involves the use of resistance training and utilises compound exercises that work multiple muscle groups across several joints like squats, burpees, or deadlifts

All healthy, active people should be able to participate in this workout.

Although with proper modifications and variations you can make this format accessible and enjoyable for almost all.

1. Burn – This is the feeling inside the muscle of metabolic failure or the feeling to stop because of an intense burn in the muscles.
2. Breathless – Each workout should have the goal of making you breathless periodically as if you have been running wind sprints. Going breathless correlates to the degree of EPOC (Excess  Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption).
3. Heavy – The resistance must be heavy to induce mechanical failure, or the inability to overcome the force of gravity
4. Heat – Sweating is a sure sign you are generating the desired heat effect. Sweating is a great biofeedback tool.