All of the exercises in this routine are fun, extremely effective, and time efficient. There are just seven bodyweight exercises in this routine, but each of them are a hybrid of at least 2 moves, fused together to bring you the maximum results in the least amount of time possible.

Some workouts of this nature focus on the shoulders, or the glutes, or maybe the thighs. In Fitness Blender’s Little Black Dress Workout, there are no muscle groups neglected - think about it; what part of your body do you not want to feel good about while you’re wearing a LBD? These exercises tackle the muscles of the upper body, lower body, and everything in between, all while burning off a decent amount of calories.

Here’s a complete breakdown of both the routine; how to do the exercises, where you should feel them working, muscles used, and more.

Basic Structure
7 Exercises
50 Seconds Each
10 Second Rest/Transition

Pulsing Reverse Lunge + Lifts – Step back into a reverse lunge; stay down at the bottom of the range of motion for two pulses. Come back up from your lunge and balance on your leading foot to do 2 pulsing leg lifts on the opposite leg. Glutes and thighs will be working overtime, and your entire core will pitch in to stabilize.

Downward Dog Lifts + Pike Push Ups – From a Downward Dog position, do a leg lift on each leg before bending at the elbows to lower your head towards the ground in a Pike Push Up. Again, glutes, thighs, and core all get worked over, and this time the push up motion also utilizes your deltoids, trapezius, triceps, and chest.

Pendulum Squats – Swing your legs in our “pendulum” style for four counts, then drop straight down into a squat; go directly back into the leg swinging motion. Aside from toning the entire lower body and calling upon the oblique muscles, this one gets your heart rate up and helps bump up the caloric burn.

Crab Kick Bridge + Tricep Dips – Sit with weight in feet and hands, belly facing up towards the ceiling. Extend each leg quickly in a kicking motion, and then bend at the elbows to do a tricep dip. This is a great exercise for your core (including lower back), quads, and triceps.

3 Jacks + Walkdown Push Ups – Just like it sounds; do three Jumping Jacks, and then bend over, plae your hands flat on the floor and “walk” out to a push up position. Do a push up and then “walk” back up. Repeat this total body exercise for 50 seconds.

Squats + Pulses – 30 Seconds of regular squats, 20 seconds of pulses at the bottom of the range of motion. There is no need for me to tell you where you will feel this one; those engaged muscles will not go unheard during this interval.

Plank Touchdowns – Go into a plank position with your bodyweight in your forearms and toes. Lower one hip muscle to “tap” the floor. Come directly back up into the plank (without resting on the ground) and then repeat the tapping on the opposite hip. Go back and forth through the entire interval, not taking a rest unless you really need to. This is a great core workout but really most of the muscles in the body have to engage at least slightly to pull this move off.

How to pair this workout with our other routines
This workout is not technically full-blown cardio but it will definitely have you sweating and maybe even huffing and puffing a bit. It pairs very well with a couple of our short cardio routines; say 10 minutes before and another 10 minutes after, if you are feeling really motivated and want to burn a great deal of calories and/or tone up fast.

Calories Burned
We estimate that this workout burns 5-8 calories per minute.

Feel good in your LBD, no matter your shape or size. The only thing that really matters is that your body is healthy, not how it looks in a dress.