The Only 3 Moves You Need For A Quick, Full-Body Workout

With summer around the corner, it's time to start thinking about some simple, quick and easy moves to tone, tighten and lift your booty. Luckily, this quick workout is easy-to-implement and results-driven fitness to targets your tush, build sexy abs and create long, lean legs — the trifecta for a badass body.

Full Squat

The payoff: Gives your butt a shapely boost and firms your thighs, while increasing flexibility.

Stand straight, with good posture. Pull your navel in toward your spine. Position your feet between hip width and shoulder width. Point your toes out about 15 degrees, not too much. Stay rooted in your heels; you should still be able to lift your toes slightly. Raise your arms overhead, and keep them straight.

Flex at the hips first, pushing them back and down as the knees bend and spread out, and bringing your arms in front of you. Lower your butt past your knees all while keeping your belly flexed. You should still be rooted in your heels.

Return to the starting position by standing through your heels and squeezing your glute muscles hard on the way back up. Finish by standing tall and taut. Throughout the squat, always keep your weight on your heels and knees out. Continue squatting for the suggested number of repetitions.

Where it burns: Butt, hips, hamstrings, and frontal thighs, tummy.

Blunders to avoid: Don’t let your knee extend too far past your toes. It’s natural for it to come out further than in a normal squat, but you’ll feel less strain if you initiate the movement from your hips instead of shooting your knee forward to start. Don’t hunch, lean back, or rock as you squat; this can hurt your back and it won’t help you squat any lower.

Tip: If you’ve never done squats before, position a chair or bench behind you. As you squat down, sit on the seat for just a moment, with your hands straight up in the air. Without rocking forward, stand and come to a fully erect position. Keep your butt tight as you stand tall.

Single-Leg Squat

The payoff: This exercise not only sculpts and tightens your booty and thighs like nobody’s business but also indirectly promotes muscle growth across the rest of your body, in places such as your abs, chest, and back. It can also increase endurance in the hamstrings, hips, and thighs, as well as some other leg muscles. This movement is great for balancing your stability.

Use a sturdy chair or bench and place it behind you. Take a step away from the bench. Place your back leg on the bench, toe down. Stand straight up, with erect posture.

Flex your hip and squat down toward the floor. Hips should go back and down. Try to get your hip crease to come below the top of your knee. Keep your tummy tight. Continue squatting for the suggested number of repetitions.

Where it burns: Glutes, hips, and thighs.

Blunders to avoid: Your knee should not drift over or past the toe. Also, try not to round your back during this exercise. When your lower back is rounded, you’re more susceptible to injuries such as a bulging (herniated) disk.

Tip: If you slow down during the descent, you’ll stimulate greater muscle toning and development, particularly in your booty and thighs.

Sky Humper

The payoff: This exercise is fun to do and really whips that booty into shape.

Lie back on the floor. Bend your knees and bring your heels close to your butt. Keep your hands on the floor, palms down.

Raise your hips up to create an angled but straight line from your knees to shoulders. Squeeze your glutes, then lower back to start and repeat for the suggested number of repetitions.

Where it burns: Your glutes, hamstrings, and core. This exercise also engages the erector spinae, a muscle group that spans from the bottom of your neck to your tailbone, as secondary muscles.

Blunders to avoid: As with most exercises, do not do this one too fast. The movement is small and targeted, so go slow and you will feel your glutes working like crazy.

Tip: To get a greater booty burn, do a single leg move. Lift your butt up toward the ceiling, then take one foot off the floor and straighten the leg toward the ceiling. Repeat the lifting movement with the leg raised. Repeat with the other leg.

Photos courtesy of author

From The Badass Body Diet by Christmas Abbott. Copyright © 2015 by Christmas Abbott. Reprinted by permission of William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

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