Full-Body Strength Starter

Stand tall with your feet about shoulder-width apart and your toes turned slightly out. Let your arms hang by your sides or reach them forward for balance. Set your weight evenly across the middle of each foot and draw your ribs down so your torso stays braced.

1. Inhale — send your hips back and down, bending at the hips, knees, and ankles together as you begin to lower.
2. Continue lowering until your thighs reach a depth that suits you, keeping your chest lifted and your knees tracking over your toes.
3. Exhale — drive evenly through both feet to stand back up, extending your hips and knees to return to the start.

• Send the hips back first, as if reaching for a seat behind you.
• Keep your knees tracking in line with your toes rather than caving inward.
• Keep your heels grounded and your weight through the middle of each foot.
• Keep your chest lifted and your spine long throughout.

Start in a high plank with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width and your fingers spread. Stack your shoulders over your wrists and reach back through your heels so your body forms one straight line from the crown of your head to your feet. Draw your shoulder blades down your back and brace your core so your hips neither sag nor pike up.

1. Set your position with your elbows soft and your gaze just ahead of your hands.
2. Inhale — bend your elbows and lower your chest toward the floor, keeping your elbows angled back at roughly 45 degrees to your ribs.
3. Lower until your chest hovers just above the floor, keeping your body in one line.
4. Exhale — press the floor away and straighten your arms to return to the starting plank.

• Keep your body in one straight line — squeeze your glutes and brace your core so your hips don't sag or lift.
• Guide your elbows back toward your hips rather than flaring them straight out to the sides.
• Move your chest and hips as one unit; lead and finish the movement together.
• Exhale as you press up, inhale as you lower.
• Drop to your knees to keep a straight torso line if the full plank breaks your form.

Place your left knee and left hand on a flat bench so your torso is roughly parallel to the floor, and hold a dumbbell in your right hand hanging straight down. Set your back flat and neutral, square your shoulders and hips to the floor, and let your right arm hang with a soft elbow. Brace your core so your torso stays still.

1. Let the dumbbell hang below your shoulder with your palm facing in.
2. Exhale — drive your elbow up and back, drawing the dumbbell toward the side of your ribs.
3. Squeeze your shoulder blade toward your spine at the top, keeping your torso square.
4. Inhale — lower the dumbbell back down under control until your arm is straight again.
5. Complete your reps, then switch sides.

• Keep your back flat and your torso square to the floor — don't rotate your shoulders open as you pull.
• Draw your elbow toward your hip rather than flaring it straight out to the side.
• Lead the pull with your shoulder blade drawing back, not just your arm.
• Exhale as you row up, inhale as you lower.
• Lower all the way to a straight arm so the shoulder blade travels fully each rep.

Lie on your back on a mat with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart and drawn close to your hips. Rest your arms by your sides with your palms down. Set your lower back into a neutral position.

1. Inhale — press your feet into the floor and settle your ribs down.
2. Exhale — drive through your heels to lift your hips toward the ceiling until your body forms a straight line from shoulders to knees.
3. Pause at the top and squeeze your glutes.
4. Inhale — lower your hips back down to the mat with control.

• Drive through your heels to lift the hips.
• Stop rising when your body is in a straight line rather than overarching your lower back.
• Keep your knees pointing forward, in line with your feet.
• Squeeze your glutes at the top of each lift.

Start face-down and set your forearms on the mat with your elbows directly under your shoulders and your forearms pointing forward. Tuck your toes under and lift your hips until your body forms one long line from the crown of your head to your heels. Draw your belly gently in and set your gaze at the floor just ahead of your hands.

1. Press your forearms and toes into the floor and lift your knees, holding your body in one straight line.
2. Draw your navel toward your spine and squeeze your glutes so your hips neither sag toward the floor nor pike up toward the ceiling.
3. Hold the position, breathing steadily into your ribs and keeping your midsection from dropping.

• Keep your neck long by gazing just ahead of your hands rather than dropping your head or lifting your chin.
• Press the floor away through your forearms so your shoulders stay broad, not collapsed between the blades.
• Hold one straight line from head to heels; if your hips start to sag or lift, reset the position.
• Breathe evenly throughout rather than holding your breath to brace.
• To reduce the load, lower your knees to the mat and hold the same straight line from head to knees.