If you love feeling strong and powerful in your workouts (and who doesn’t, really?!), then we’ve got BIG gains ahead!  

Week three of the Tone It Up 2021 Challenge is all about strength! And two of your favorite trainers, Yami and Stef, each have an amazing new strength workout for you. In your Tone It Up app, you’ll find Advanced Metaboost and Full Body Burn, which challenge you (and that strength) in fresh and seriously fun ways. You’ll finish feeling tough, confident, and ready to take on anything that comes your way!

To keep you chasing those wins and progressing toward your goals, Yami and Stef share even more ways to step up your strength workouts. Follow their tips, then share the powerful pay-offs with us with the hashtag #TIU2021. Give us a flex, babe! 

5 Trainer-Backed Tips to Boost Your Strength 

“For Full Body Burn, my thought was, ‘how much can I challenge myself in 30 to 35 minutes — without getting bored, of course,” says Yami. And she’ll definitely keep you on your toes with a mix of combination moves, including a sumo squat to a deadlift plus row, a chest press plus glute bridge, and a skull crusher with a leg lift. Performing these as combo exercises means you get more done in less time, working multiple muscles at one time — and who doesn’t want to maximize that bang for your workout buck?!

To master each movement pattern, Yami’s Full Body Burn takes you through three rounds of each exercise before moving on to the next one. “This will allow your body to learn the movement pattern of the exercise faster, as opposed to only doing one at a time,” Yami explains. “This process is referred to as motor patterning, which will also allow you to get quicker results, too,” she says. 

You can also increase intensity on each set once you nail down that form, Yami says. That can mean adding more weight, or doing more reps before time is up! If you started out with 10-pound dumbbells on round one, go for 15 pounds on the second, and grab those 20s on the third! 

Adding pulses and isometric holds — in addition to your heavy lifts — is another great way to build lean muscle and boost stability, Stef says. In Advanced Metaboost (now available in your Tone It Up app!), Stef leads you through a split jump, with three pulses at the bottom — and trust us, that little tweak will definitely amplify the muscle-building burn. You can maximize time under tension for squats, deadlifts, bicep curls, and tricep kickbacks, too. Holding steady at the bottom of a move, like the squat, translates to greater strength, stability, and stamina. Talk about a win-win-win! 

If you’ve taken class with Stef, then you’re no stranger to working unilaterally, aka working one side of the body at a time. Whether it’s single-leg deadlifts, lunges, or single-arm rows, “you’ll not only improve balance, core strength, and overall fitness, you’ll prevent injury too,” Stef says. So know that when you’re ready for an extra strength challenge, you can always progress to unilateral work to achieve even more benefits from the move!

Want to get extra sweaty and spike that heart rate? Start and end your session with some kick-booty cardio, which you’ll get plenty of in Stef’s Advanced Metaboost. This tests your stamina — on top of your strength building — helping you become an all-around stand-out athlete! “The final two minutes of this workout challenge you to do as many rounds as possible of three exercises: skaters, plank jacks, and burpees,” Stef says. “Let’s see if you can make it to a third or fourth round as powerfully and with as much depth as possible!” Go get it, girl! 

Find these workouts and MORE in your Tone It Up app! You’ll get hundreds of on demand workouts, plus curated fitness programs to reach all your goals!