My favorite kinds of workouts are the ones that dynamically challenge muscles and cardiovascular endurance at the same time. The combo of cardio & toning that you see in this video is a great example of a workout that boosts both endurance and strength simultaneously. This combination is also easily the most effective method of training for someone who is looking to lose or maintain weight.

This bodyweight cardio and toning workout video is a fast way to get in a serious calorie burn, all while toning up the butt, thighs, and calves.

To keep the workout maximally effective, focus on maintaining great form throughout all of the movements. You can also significantly increase the effectiveness and the difficulty of the exercises by focusing on flexing your muscles through the range of motion and pretending like you are working against yourself the whole time.

We have structured this routine in the way that many of you love; short intervals of fairly intense cardio, with sets of especially grueling, painful-in-a-good-way toning exercises in between. There is no warm up in this video so make sure that you do at least 5-10 minutes of independent, light cardio before jumping right in. Being diligent about doing the light cardio warm up beforehand will help you avoid any undue muscle soreness in the days following. You won’t need a single piece of equipment for this routine.

This workout is demanding; expect to be sore the next day, especially if you do both rounds.

Here’s how this video is laid out:
6 Lower Body Exercises: 14 Reps each
6 Cardio Intervals: 30 Seconds each
2 Rounds
39 Minutes Total
Quick Cool Down & Stretch at the end


Printable Workout Routine:
Up and Out Jacks
Bridge Pulls

Lateral Burpees
Side Plank Circles

Up and Overs
30 Lunge Pulses (per side)

Quick Feet
Circle Squats

Plank Jacks + Leg Raises
Side Plank Toe Touches

Toe Touch Jacks
30 Squat Pulses

Note:
The cardio & strength exercises are paired, and done twice in an “a-b, a-b” format before moving onto the next pair. You will have ample cues in the video for which exercise is coming up next.

When we do exercises that are targeting just one side of the body (ex: Side Plank Circles), we will do just one set of reps on each side of the body between cardio intervals (so that each side is targeted once).

You can make this workout even more demanding by adding in extra resistance where applicable; dumbbells, medicine balls, kettlebells, or resistance bands can be added into some of the toning exercises to take the exercise from toning, to strength or mass building.

How many calories does this burn?
As always, your exact caloric expenditure is going to depend on a large number of variables that is very specific to you. Things like bodyweight, gender, muscle mass, baseline fitness level, effort put forth, and even your muscle’s familiarity with the exercises in any given workout, can significantly effect the actual number of calories that you burn. With that said, we estimate that this routine burns between 9-15 calories a minute, or 351-585 total. If you want your total calorie burn to be at the top end of that range, make sure that you are pushing yourself throughout the routine – but also don’t think that all progress is lost if you need to stop and take a breather at any point. Some of this exercises are fairly high intensity and there’s nothing wrong with taking a break when you need to.