Workout of the week: 15-min metabolic strength workout

ALL LEVELS / metabolic strength workout / 15 minutes

Equipment: Dumbbells & kettlebells

After the festive season, everyone flocks to the bikes and treadmills to burn those extra calories. Yet, in the shadows of these obvious choices lies the underrated but highly effective metabolic resistance training. In case you’re not familiar with this type of training, metabolic resistance training is a workout strategy that optimizes calorie burn both during and after your session. Achieving this, it incorporates a blend of high-intensity and moderate-intensity compound exercises.

Reap all these benefits during this 15-minute metabolic strength workout. Divided into 2 groups, each comprising 3 exercises to complete in 4 rounds before moving on to the second group. You must perform each exercise for 30 seconds, without resting between them. Last but not least, you’ll get 30 seconds to rest between rounds and 1 minute between groups.

1st group

Dumbell lunges
Renegade row
Dumbbell deadlift

2nd group

Kettlebell swing
Kettlebell squat
Kettlebell ab twist

Now, let’s burn some real calories!

WORKOUT SETUP

2 groups with 3 exercises
4 rounds each group
30-sec on for each exercise
No rest between exercises
30-sec rest between rounds
1-min rest between groups
20 minutes

WORKOUT EXERCISE LIST

1st GROUP

4 rounds

1 – DUMBBELL LUNGES

30 seconds

Stand tall and hold the dumbbells by your shoulders.
Step your right leg forward keeping the heel down.
Raise the heel of the left leg.
Then, lower the torso until the back knee touches the ground, with a full hip and knee extension.
Repeat.

2 – RENEGADE ROW

30 seconds

Grab two dumbbells and set your body up in a high plank position.
Your hands and feet should be more than shoulder-width apart.
Now lower your body until your chest is parallel to your hands.
Push up with power and start rowing one dumbbell up to your chest, and then the other.
Slowly return to the starting position.

3 – DUMBBELL DEADLIFTS

30 seconds

Begin in standing, holding a dumbbell in each hand. As the video shows, the dumbbells can be positioned in front of the body; however, if this puts too much stress on your lower back, hold the dumbbells by your side.
Engage the core and begin the movement by bending the knees slightly and hinging the hips. Then continue the bending by pushing the hips backwards, lowering the dumbbells as far as comfortable.
At the bottom of the movement, actively engage the glutes, push the feet into the floor and drive the hips upwards and forwards to return to the start position.
Repeat for time or reps.

2nd GROUP

4 rounds

1 – KETTLEBELL SWING

30 seconds

Hold the kettlebell with both hands.
Hinge the hips to initiate the swing movement.
Rapidly drive hip extension to swing the kettlebell upwards.
Control your swing descent with a hip hinge by swinging the kettlebell between your legs.
Repeat.

2 – KETTLEBELL SQUAT

30 seconds

Stand with your feet hip-width apart.
Pick a kettlebell with both hands and hold it.
Keeping the kettlebell close to your chest, do a squat and maintain your chest and back straight.
Make sure you keep your core tight.
Slowly come back up and repeat.

3 – KETTLEBELL AB TWIST

30 seconds

Find a soft ground, preferably a mat and grab a kettlebell or dumbbell with an adequate weight.
Place your glutes on the floor and lift your feet in the air.
Now grab the kettlebell as indicated in the video below.
Slowly start twisting the kettlebell until you can feel a slight stretch on the opposite core side.
Hold for a brief second and turn to the other side.
Repeat.