Hey guys! Happy Monday! I hope you all enjoyed your weekend. Today's workout I made for a Butts & Guts class I taught at VENT Fitness last Monday and decided to post it here, too, for you guys to enjoy! It's a good one. I started the class off with this 10 Minute Ab Burner with Alternating Planks to get a good ab burn on, and then moved on to this lower body circuit-style using heavier dumbbells. I hope you enjoy it! It's a longer one - on the order of 35-40 minutes. Keep reading for the details of the exercises - let's start your week off right!

Dumbbell + Bodyweight Booty Burner Workout

Equipment Needed: a pair of heavier dumbbells. I'd recommend somewhere between 10-12lbs for beginners, and up to 15lbs for those of you more advanced.
What You'll Do: for each round, start on the right leg, go all the way through the round, and then repeat the same exercises on the left all the way through. This workout should take you about 35-40 minutes to complete with breaks. Let's have some booty-burnin' fun!

Round 1: Heavy Weights

Single Leg Glute Bridge - lie on the ground, one leg bent with your foot flat on the floor, other leg raised high in the air. Keep a dumbbell resting on your hips/lower abdomen, and raise your pelvis up toward the ceiling, activating your glutes and quads. Lower yourself back down to the floor. Keep going for 1 minute, making sure to squeeze your glutes at the top of the raise.

Kneeling Donkey Kicks - get in a all-4's position and place 1 dumbbell behind one knee, squeezing your hamstrings and flexing your foot to keep it in place. From here, raise that leg up so your thigh is parallel with the ground. Lower it back down, tapping your knee to the floor, and raise it up again. Keep going for 1 minute.

Fire Hydrants - keep the heavy weight behind your knee for this one. Instead of lifting your leg straight up, lift it out to the side. Try to get your thigh as parallel to the floor as possible here, too.

Kneeling Leg Lifts - this one requires no weight. Kneel on all 4's and lift one leg straight up as high as you can. Lower it back down, tap your foot to the ground, and raise it back up. Keep the motion going for 1 minute.

Repeat round on the left side.

Round 2: Bodyweight

Runner Stance Heel Touches - crouch down on one leg, hands on the ground, other leg extended back behind you, toes lightly touching the floor, as if in a runner's stance. (All your weight should be on the front leg here.) From here, bring your back leg forward so your toes meet the heel of your stationary foot. Extend the that leg back out, tap your toes to the floor again, and bring it back in to meet your heel. Continue that pattern for 1 minute. Trainer Tip: your front leg should be bent such that your quads engage, but you shouldn't be crouched so far down that your butt is touching your lower leg.

Plie Squats w/ Calf Raise - like a regular squat, but with a wider stance and your feet/knees are turned outward. Squat down as low as you can get, then as you raise yourself back up, do a calf raise at the top (go up onto your toes). Go immediately back down into a squat. Keep going for 1 minute.

Step-Touches + Pulse - squat down as low as you can, and staying in a low squatted position the entire time, step to one side. The other foot should follow, tapping it to the ground, then step to the other side, and touch. Do this for 10 seconds, then pause in a squat and pulse up and down quickly for 10 seconds. Keep alternating 10-second step-touches and 10-second pulses for 1 minute.

Single Leg Walk Out to Plank - start standing on one leg, other leg lifted slightly off the floor, ankles in line with each other, hands by your side. Staying all on one leg with ankles in line, squat down and reach your hands to the floor. Walk yourself out into a plank. (There's the option for a push up here if you want to add some intensity.) Then reverse the move and walk yourself back up to standing, all while keeping your ankles together and staying on one foot.

Repeat round on the left side.

Round 3: Heavy Weights (lunge pattern)

Forward Lunges - staying on the same leg throughout with the heavy weights down by your side, lunge forward keeping your chest up and knee over your ankle. Return to standing, and lunge forward again on the same leg. Continue for 1 minute.

Side Lunges - on the same leg as the front lunges, now step to the side. Weights still by your side, and chest up. Try to keep the opposite leg straight as you lunge down.

Step Back Lunges - using the same leg as above to step back with, step backward into a lunge. Keep those weights by your side here too.

Curtsey Lunges - keep those weights in hand, and step back and to the side as if doing a curtsey. Lunge deep and focus on activating the glutes.

Repeat round on the left side.

Round 4: Bodyweight

Single Leg Line Hops (15 seconds each direction) - on one leg, hop forward and backward as if hopping over a line. Work quickly! After 15 seconds, switch to hopping side to side on the same leg for another 15 seconds. Switch back to forward/backward for 15s, then the last 15 seconds side to side. Remember to keep it all on the same leg. It'll burn!

Leg Sweeps - sit down on the floor, keeping the working leg out straight (so, your right leg for the first round), and the other leg bent. You can "hug" the non-working leg for support if you need to. From here, lift the straight leg so it's hovering over the floor and sweep it out to the side. Bring it back in. Keep sweeping out and in for 1 minute.

Kneeling Side Kicks - staying on the same leg, kneel in an all 4's position, and bring your right leg (1st round), up into a side kick, driving with your heel. Bring it back down, tap your knee to the floor, and do another side kick. Remember to keep your spine aligned here, and gaze forward so you don't strain your neck.

Prone Lateral Scissors - lie down on your stomach, hands either straight out ahead of you resting on the ground or arms bent underneath your forehead. Lift both legs up so they're slightly off the ground and sweep them out and in, squeezing your quads and pointing your toes to engage your calves.

Repeat round on the left side.

There you have it! How do your legs feel after this one? Hopefully like they worked hard! I'd definitely recommend stretching your hamstrings & glutes for a few minutes after this workout, too. Hope you enjoyed it!

Readers: chat with me! How was your weekend? Do you have a favorite leg exercise/combo of exercises that you turn to on leg day? What about equipment - what's your favorite piece to use to fire up the leg muscles?