Take on your

new resolution & new year

– without all the fuss –

I’ve been working out my entire life and I never seem to run out of reasons to skip a day. My mind still fights my will and tries its best to talk me out of my morning workout. “It’s so cold and dark outside!” “I’m already tired!” “I’ve got too much work to do!” I’m sure we’ve all heard similar scripts.

So I asked my good friend, Valerie Moore, a former dancer and current TRX and Pilates instructor, for four foolproof exercises to reap the benefits of a gym workout or hard run without any equipment or ever leaving the house. Really! Read on.

Warm Up

Valerie believes in a good warm up to get your joints loose and your blood flowing. 1/ Walk in place and slowly increase your pace to a slow jog for 1 MINUTE. 2/ Keep warming up with side jumping jacks. 3/ Do 8 on each side then do 8 full jumping jacks.

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Criss Cross

Lay flat on your back with hands behind your head, legs in table-top position. 1/ Lift shoulders up to center, turn to your left while straightening your left leg and reaching your right shoulder toward your left knee. 2/ Go back to center and repeat on your right. /// This is one rep. – Repeat 15 times.

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Leg Lift

Lay flat on your back, hands behind your head, legs straight. 1/ Lift legs up to a 90 degree angle and slowly lower down while keeping your lower back flat on the mat. 2/ Once your lower back begins to lift off the mat, stop lowering and raise your legs back up. *Think about pushing your navel into the mat.* /// This is one rep. Repeat 15 times.

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Squats

Place legs hip-width apart. 1/ Bend at knees and push your butt back, as if you’re going to sit in a chair. Be sure your knees DON’T go over your toes when squatting. 2/ Lift up to a higher squat. /// This is one rep. Repeat 25 times.

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Plank Roll

Start in a forearm plank and be sure your elbows are directly under your shoulders. 1/ Move your right hand toward your left elbow and slowly roll to your right side as you keep your hips lifted. Your legs should be stacked. 1/ Lift your left arm straight up to the ceiling and lift your top leg 10 times. 2/ Roll back to center plank and lift both legs alternately 5 times while keeping your hips up. 3/ Repeat on right side. /// This is one rep. Repeat 3 times.

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Burpees

Stand straight with legs together. 1/ Drop hands to floor and sink into a squat. 2/ Jump legs back into a plank and quickly jump feet forward again back into a squat. 3/ Stand or jump up. /// This is one rep. – Repeat 15 times. *Some guy did 8,000 of these in 24 hours – I know you can do 15!

*** Before doing any exercise routine, please be sure to check with your doctor. These are great but we don’t want to hurt you!