The 8-Hour Diet (39 page)

It hammers your quads but also teaches you how to shift your weight properly from hip to hip when in a staggered stance.

The squat-and-lunge walk teaches you how to decelerate and absorb single-foot landings, which will boost running performance and reduce the risk of overtraining injuries like runner’s knee.

HOW TO DO IT:

1.
Assume a staggered squat position with your right leg forward with the heel flat and your left leg staggered behind on its toes so the toes are aligned with your right heel. Now push your hips back and down as far as you can while staying tall up top and stay there throughout the movement.

2.
Walk forward, move to the other side and repeat for 30 to 60 seconds at a time.

MAKE IT EASIER

Move at a slower, more controlled pace or simply perform a staggered squat hold for a time.

MAKE IT HARDER

Perform the squat walks from a deeper squat, move forward and backward, or progress to lunge walks for greater stability.

WORKOUT C | EXERCISE 3

WHY IT WORKS:

The upper back area comprises the most metabolically active, calorie-burning muscle tissue in your upper body. However, it can be tough to target this area without access to equipment like dumbbells and resistance bands for pulling exercises like rows and curls or pull-up bars for pull-ups. But have no fear because the terrible towel is here! You can use a beach towel to create manual resistance using something called overcoming isometrics where you create maximum muscular tension against an immovable force or object. The result? Improved posture, healthier shoulders, a more balanced upper body, and a V-taper that will turn heads in the office or at the beach.

HOW TO DO IT:

1.
Assume a split stance with your left leg forward and your right leg back. Place your left foot onto one end of a beach towel and grab the other end of the towel in your right hand.

2.
Now drive through your left heel and pull the towel with your right hand as hard as you can without holding your breath. Hold this position for 30 to 60 seconds, then switch sides and repeat.

MAKE IT EASIER

Break up the holds into shorter 5 to 10 second periods with brief 1 to 2 second rest periods in between to build up your strength and endurance gradually.

MAKE IT HARDER

Hold from a range of motion that is close to your rib-cage and armpit area to engage your upper/mid-back muscles more fully.

WORKOUT C | EXERCISE 4a

WHY IT WORKS:

Although studies show that aerobic exercise just isn’t that effective for producing real-world weight loss, the proper use of an aerobics step can be deadly to your body fat stores as seen with the low box runner. Its benefits include:

Dissipating some of the landing forces associated with plyometric exercises so you can crank up the cardio and calorie burn without ending up with sore and achy joints.

Getting you moving your feet and arms quickly to boost the bounciness and elasticity of your muscles and minimize the loss of power that comes with the aging process.

Being great to combine with low box burpees (the next move in our Top 15 list) to add some total-body strengthening to the rapid fat-loss cardio chaos.

HOW TO DO IT:

1.
Place your left foot onto a stable low box or step (even a sturdy phone book works here) with your right arm forward to resemble the opposite arm-leg action of running.

2.
Quickly switch your hands and feet front to back and repeat for 30 to 60 seconds.

Be sure to stay on the balls of your feet and keep your knees soft and slightly flexed throughout the movement.

MAKE IT EASIER

Perform at a slower, more controlled tempo, focusing on nice, clean exchanges of your hands and feet.

MAKE IT HARDER

Increase speed of movement, tap your feet for a couple counts before switching legs, or perform in multiple directions.

WORKOUT C | EXERCISE 4b

WHY IT WORKS:

The burpee is the baddest exercise on the planet because moving from standing to a push-up position and back involves your whole body and blowtorches belly fat. The problem is, most people do it too quickly while rounding their backs and driving their knees forward. To remedy this, first use a wide sumo stance to better allow yourself to load your heels and work your glute muscles, which also takes pressure off your knees. Then, use a low box or step (aerobic steps with adjustable risers are ideal) that allows you to drop your hips and place your hands on the box without flexing your lower back. Increase or decrease the height of the box or step as needed and get to work! You can expect these benefits:

Since you’ll be using all of the biggest muscles in your body, the calorie burn will be fantastic.