Try this full-body workout from Orangetheory Fitness coach Che Lau – it’ll tone and strengthen you from top-to-toe!
Words: Che Lau | Images: Shutterstock & Marcel Grabowski
Want to feel stronger and fitter? Who doesn’t?! You may not have heard of Orangetheory, but it may be the workout to transform your day-to-day life as it integrates bodyweight and dumbbell exercises into regular moves so you can build muscle and strengthen tendons, ligaments and bones. Yes please!
Sumo Squat to Upright Row
- Grab your dumbbells and stand up, taking a wide stance with your toes pointed out. Hold the dumbbells in front of you with your palms facing backwards.
- Squat down until you’ve reached around 90 degrees, ensuring to keep your knees tracking over your toes and your back flat with a proud chest (A).
- Squat back up and as you get near to the top begin the upright row. Pull with your elbows nice and high, maintaining a soft wrist until your hands reach your upper chest (B). Lower the dumbbells down to the start position and repeat from the squat.
Biceps Curl to Shoulder Press
- Grab your dumbbells, hold them by your side with your palms facing forwards and begin to curl up nice and slowly (A).
- Start to open up your chest, taking the dumbbells out to the side and twisting the weights so your palms are facing forwards as the weights reach your shoulders, then press the dumbbells up to the top position (B).
- Reverse the movement back to the start position and repeat.
Hip Bridge Chest fly
- Lie on your mat facing up, bend your knees and bring your heels up towards your glutes. Press your dumbbells up and hold them with your arms locked in a neutral grip, palms facing each other.
- Press your feet into the floor and squeeze your glutes to bridge your hips into the air (A) and hold this position.
- Begin to lower your hands to the ground, softening your elbows slightly and keeping your arms in line with your chest (B). Go as low as you feel comfortable, or until your elbows touch the ground, then fly your arms back up to start and repeat – ensuring you keep your glutes activated and bridged off the ground.
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Reverse Lunge to Torso Rotation
- Stand at the top of your mat, feet around shoulder-width apart, holding one dumbbell with both hands (A).
- Lunge your right leg back and, as you lower down, rotate over your left leg keeping your spine as straight as possible (B).
- Reverse the rotation to face front, lift your back leg up to the top of the mat and repeat on the other side.
Half-Kneeling Wood Chopper
- Begin in a half-kneeling position, both legs bent at 90 degrees, with your back knee on the ground and toes tucked under. Hold one dumbbell in both hands down by the side of your rear leg, making sure to rotate your torso (A). This is the start position.
- Lift your arms up and across your body until just above shoulder-height, keeping your elbows slightly bent and twisting with your whole torso, not just your arms (B).
- Reverse and repeat for reps and then switch sides.
Dumbbell-Alternating Lateral Raise
- Take hold of your dumbbells, stand up with your feet around shoulder-width apart, dumbbells resting by your side.
- With soft elbows, raise one arm out in front of you, and raise the other arm out to the side, lifting until your hands are shoulder height (A).
- Lower back down to the start and repeat, alternating which arm goes forward and which arm goes to the side (B).
Reverse Lunge to Scaption (Front Raise)
- Stand at the top of your mat, feet around shoulder-width apart and dumbbells held by your side (A).
- Place one leg back into a reverse lunge, and as you do so lift your arms up in front of you, keeping your hands neutral, palms facing in, lifting to
around shoulder height with hands slightly wider than shoulder-width (B). - Push up from the bottom of the lunge, bringing your back leg to the start position, lowering your arms as you do. Then, repeat with the other leg.
Orangetheory Fitness offers full-body group workouts. The workouts focus on heart rate-based interval training, which produces results from the inside out, and are backed by science and tracked by technology. This helps members monitor their results in real-time. Each workout is inspired and led by a certified coach to make sure you don’t overtrain or undertrain. The aim is to elevate your heart rate to 84 per cent of its max or higher for just 12 minutes out of the 60-minute workout. Both the strength and cardiovascular benefits you can receive from this workout are amazing.
