full body Archives - Keegan Leuer

This is my absolutely favorite piece of equipment to use at the gym.

In fact, aside from free weights it is one of the only pieces of equipment I use at the gym. There are so many moves that you can do with it and the different elevations offer versatility to the work your muscles are doing.

This particular box is THE BOMB! The design offers three different heights, therefore offering a wider variety of moves and difficulty-level that you can execute in your work out. Plus, it feels super sturdy! Sometimes the boxes they have at the gym feel like they’re gonna tip over if I step on it the wrong way :-O And I would be that person in the gym to step on it the wrong way.

I know, I preach efficiency, but you will not be disappointed with these moves. And when I say full body? I mean it. FULL body moves that will keep you from ever getting bored. Here is a breakdown of each move in this workout PLUS where to take caution in your form and movement. Scroll all the way down for the video!

BOX JUMP

This is a staple with this piece of equipment. And while it’s a simple move, it’s a great one! It’s a good move to get your heart rate up and to set the tone for your HIIT workout. And because of the different heights of this box, you can vary your difficulty. So if you’re just starting out with high intensity work outs, maybe start on a lower height and work your way up.

*Also, notice your knees! Do this move in front of a mirror and make sure your knees do NOT collapse inward while you are exploding off of the ground, as you land on the top of the box, or when you land back on the ground. If you do, this indicates that your hip abductors, esp. the gluteus medius are weak and deactivating as you do this move. But most importantly is that this leaves your knees susceptible to injuries because it puts uneccesary pressure on those muscles and joints around your knees.

SIDE PLANK REACH THROUGH

I love both versions of this move (as seen in the video) because while side planks are great, they aren’t the most efficient move to target your side body and obliques. By adding the dumbbell and a bit of movement, it forces those oblique muscles to activate and stabilize the rest of your body.

*Keep an eye on your top hip. If it opens up too much? Then you are putting pressure on your upper back and stabilizing shoulder. If that top hip leans forward towards the ground, then you are deactivating that stabilizing oblique and side body. Therefore, not getting all that you can out of this move.

BULGARIAN SPLIT SQUAT

One of the most dreaded moves, I think. A split squat by itself isn’t as terrible, but you add in the elevation of the back leg and you are forcing an isolation on that working front leg. It’s AWESOME 🙂 By adding the hop in the advanced version, you are further emphasizing the work in that front leg by exploding out of it and, with balance, lowering yourself back down to 90 degrees.

*Your knee is also important in this move! That front knee needs to be directly over your heel. So use the mirror to make sure that knee hasn’t creeped forward creating a smaller angle (both) at your ankle, and your knee. This also puts unnecessary pressure on your knee joints and deactivates your glute and hamstring, so… you’re essentially working less on the muscles you’re targeting with this move.

KNEE TO ELBOW PLANK

I call this the Spider Man crunch. But this is also a great one to get that side body! I like the elevation in your legs here because it puts a little bit more activation in your center core as well. But make sure those shoulders are right over your hands and you aren’t leaning too far forward.

STEP UP + REVERSE LUNGE

This move is amazing! You’ll feel your legs fatigue after a few. Plus, by adding in the opposing high knee you get activation in your core as well. Your core is actually activated during this entire move because of the constant up, down, and reverse motion. But I LOVE the advanced option. It puts the ‘high intensity’ in HIIT and is a great way to evenly work both legs and create a quicker and efficient move.

NOW LET’S SWEAT!

I promise you, it’s worth the $20

These small and portable pieces of equipment are amazing!! And most because they get the muscles that many other machines, moves, or heavy weight exercise cannot get. I am all about making my work outs as efficient as possible. Who has time to mess around the gym these days??

Hold that thought, you don’t need to go to a gym to use these??? Score! These at-home moves are wonderful! AND… target muscles that so many women try to target in the gym, on the treadmill, on an elliptical or whatever the magazines try and tell them to do. But to be honest? The simpler the better.

It’s not always about the heaviest weight you can lift, Sometimes it’s just about using more of your body to do it. By adding these bands to some of the simplest moves out there, like the squat, you are already making your exercise more efficient and functional. So you can get as creative, or as simple as you’d like! But this equipment either way adds another layer to your workout without adding a ton of weight that, in all honesty, could do more damage to your body over time.

This is the set that I use and carry with me when I travel! Yes! When I travel! Not sure when you’ll be able to head to a studio class or go to the gym? Well these bands can be used ANYWHERE and at ANY TIME! Check out these moves below as great starter moves if you’re a novice to bands. And keep an eye out for ore posts to come with more moves and more ways to use these awesome pieces of equipment.

By adding a band to one of the most common moves out there, the squat, you are already activating so many more muscles than you were without the band! And PLEASE do this move in a full-body mirror. You will see how your knees and legs react differently during this move when you are activating these muscles. Now, to get technical? These bands activate the vastus lateralis muscle more than a regular squat. That’s because a majority of America when they do squat have weakness in this muscle, which causes your knees to buckle when you’re fatigued. Do you find that when you squat your knees do this on the way back up in a squat? That doesn’t mean that you’re weak! It just means that some muscles are overtrained than others and these are muscles aren’t activated in the way that they should be.

But by adding these bands to again, one of the simplest moves out there, the squat, you are activating the muscles like the vastus lateralis muscle which attaches to your hip and kneecap and therefore functionally working your entire leg; front, back and the sides.

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This is one of my least favorite exercises. Mostly because after the first one, you feel like you’re gonna nail it… then a few reps later… different story. But it is one of the most functional movements out there. The lateral movement in exercise is sometimes a forgotten art. Again, read the paragraph above and you’ll understand why it is so important to activate the muscles that this exercise gets so very well 🙂 If you spend hours a week on the elliptical or treadmill, this exercise is a MUST! You’re only training your body to go one way on those machines, which is a common reason why people who use those machines a ton have knee and hip problems. You need to strengthen the muscles around those joints, and I cannot tell you the importance of the vastus lateralis muscle and how it works in your body.

To complete: lower to a squat > stay low and step your right leg into a wide squat > continue to stay low and return to a regular squat > then repeat the step into a wide squat on the left side > return left leg to regular squat > stand > repeat.

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Looking to step up your squat game a bit? This one’s a great one. I could give my lecture on functional movement a million times, but I’ll just refer you to the paragraphs above. This particular squat isn’t just an up and down motion. In this version I start in the standing position and jump into a wide squat position. But instead of just going right back up and right back down, jump out of the wide squat position into the standing position. And repeat! With the addition of the band, it gets those muscles on the side more than if you did it without the band and it doesn’t overwork the other muscles that I’m sure you have taken care of by now.

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Now, this won’t give you a big booty! I love this move because it isn’t solely focused on your big muscles in your butt. It gets those little guys underneath and below the gluteus maximus that connect to your hammies as well as your lower back! I am huge on back health and because people tend to sit way too much, their lumbar is weaker. Focus on standing up straight and not bending your upper body over during this move. That’s your body trying to use your stronger core muscles for this move instead of your back. But that’s not why we’re doing it 😀 It’s a simple move and might not take you to fatigue or make you sweat, but a great functional movement to get every little muscle in the back of your leg that other exercises sometimes forget!

I hope that get a set of bands and try these exercises soon. If you do, let me know how it went in the comments below! I would love to hear how it went, and if you have any other types of workouts that you want to learn more bout.

HIIT BOX WORKOUT