Feel confident in your shorts this summer by toning your lower half in our week 2 of our summer body blitz workout series
1. Squats
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, brace your abs and keep your back almost vertical. Wiggle your toes so your weight transfers to your heels and keep your gaze on the horizon. Squat down slowly by bending your knees. Go as low as possible without knee pain. Slowly rise back to the start. Repeat without resting at the top.
Targets: Legs and buttocks
Sets and reps: 3 sets of 15
2. Skipping
Skipping is easy cardio that you can do anywhere. It's good for coordination, agility and toning the calves. Make sure you rotate the rope with your wrists and not your whole arm, land as lightly as possible by doing small jumps and try to keep your pace up. Try two-foot simultaneous skipping and alternate-feet skipping for variety.
Targets: Calves and cardiovascular
Sets and reps: 3 sets of 50 to 100
3. Step-ups
Place your left foot on a knee-high bench or chair. Push down through your left heel and stand up on the bench. Without stopping, continue to move the right thigh forward until the knee is hip height and at a right angle (in a running style). Balance for a moment before slowly lowering your right foot to the ground, touching lightly with your toes and springing back up for your next rep. Maintain your posture throughout. Do all the reps on one leg, then switch.
Targets: Legs, buttocks and calves
Sets and Reps: 3 sets of 20 each leg
4. Lunges
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and take a long stride forward. Raise your back heel off the ground. Keep your torso upright and drop your back knee down, keeping your weight through your front heel. Raise and repeat without stopping at the top.
Targets: Buttocks and legs
Sets and reps: 3 sets of 15 each leg
5. Cranes
Stand on one leg, hands behind your back. With the legs almost straight, bend forward at the hips and lower the torso to horizontal. The airborne leg extends up and back.
Targets: Butt, leg, lower back
Sets and reps: 3 sets of 10 each leg