Rock Your Core Strength Workout

Who said you need weights to strength train? These Rock Your Core: Circuit Workout moves from POPSUGAR Fitness use your balance and your body weight to strengthen and tone your core. This no excuse, simple workout will engage all of your core from your abs to your glutes and even your shoulders and hamstrings to build muscle mass. The full circuit we've put together should take you about 20 minutes.

The more lean muscle tissue your body builds, the higher your basal metabolic rate, which is one of the best ways to burn more fat throughout the day. And, not to mention, you'll feel so much stronger!

The Bird Dog

Source: POPSUGAR Studios

This move works your abs and back simultaneously, and even a little bit of inner thigh and arm strength!

1. Start out on all fours with your hands right under your shoulders and your knees right beneath your hips. Pull your abs up toward your spine as your bring your left knee and right elbow together to meet beneath your torso.
2. Keeping your torso stable, straighten your right arm and left leg. Reaching through your left heel toward the back of the room to engage the muscles on the back of the leg and your butt.
3. This completes one rep. After completing 10 to 15 reps, switch sides.

Alternating Side Lunge

Source: POPSUGAR Studios

The lateral movement of this exercise is an awesome way to engage the glutes and inner thighs.

• Start with your feet right under your hips. Step your right foot wide to the side coming into a lunge and reach your left fingers to your right foot. Important: your right knee should not extend out past your right toes. Make sure your chest stays lifted and your weight pulls back into your heels.
• Press your weight down into your right foot to return to standing, then lunge sideways to the left to complete one rep.

Elbow Plank and Rotate

Source: POPSUGAR Studios

Planks are one of the best moves to work your whole body, and twisting just adds an extra fire to the obliques, the abdominal muscles that crisscross your core and wrap up around your waist.

• Begin in a regular elbow plank with your feet just slightly wider than hip distance.
• Twist your entire torso to the left reaching your left arm up toward the ceiling. Your pelvis will rotate, too, but try to keep it in line with your body. No sinking or lifting. 
• Return to back down to the elbow plank, and repeat the twisting motion to the right for one full rep. 

Single-Leg Bridge

Source: POPSUGAR Studios

Strengthen your glutes, lower back, and hamstrings with this powerful and simple move.

• Lie on your back, and pull your left knee into your chest, clasping your hands just below the knee. Lift your right toes up off the floor, and press your right heel down into the floor to press your pelvis and torso up toward the ceiling.  
• Gently lower your torso back to the ground and you've finished one rep. After completing 10 to 15, repeat on the other side.

Weightless Deadlift

Source: POPSUGAR Studios

This simple exercise is a weight-free version of a deadlift, working your glutes and back, kind of like a reverse crunch.

• Start with your feet hip-width apart, and place your hands lightly at the back of your head with elbows opened wide. 
• Pull your abs up and in toward your spine and keep your back flat while pressing your butt backward to bend forward, careful to stop moving when your back is almost parallel to the floor. Allow a slight bend in your knees as you hinge forward.
• Return to standing and squeeze your glutes as soon as you are upright for one rep.

Dead Bug

Source: POPSUGAR Studios

This is one of our absolute favorite moves. The name may be silly, but it engages the entirety of your core.

• Lie on your back with a your hips lifted and knees at right angles with your palms pressed into your thighs just the knees. 
• Pull your abs down toward the floor, keeping your ribs and pelvis contracted as you lengthen your right arm and leg out until they are almost parallel to the floor. 
• Return to the start, and repeat on the left side to complete one rep.

Reverse Lunge With Reach

Source: POPSUGAR Studios

This move works your body's biggest muscle groups and tests your balance by adding in the side reach.

• Stand tall with your hands at your waist and step back with your left leg into a deep lunge. Lift your left arm overhead and reach toward the right. 
• Return to standing position, and repeat this move on the other side to complete one rep. 

What are your favorite core moves? Tell us in a comment!

5 Fitness Myths You Need To Ignore

Fitness is not a series of singular truths that work for everyone. In fact, the same holds true for weight loss overall. It's not about avoiding deadly diet mistakes and signing up for the latest trendy class that everyone in Instagram's #fitfam can't seem to get enough of. It is about getting to know your body, knowing your goals, and knowing it make take a little bit longer than you expect to find out what works to get you there. This list, adapted from a Refinery 29 article, includes five commonly circulated fitness myths that we felt we needed to clear up.

Source: refinery29.com

Myth #1: Muscle weighs more than fat. A pound of feathers weighs the same as a pounds of bricks: One pound. The question is the amount of space that each requires to reach a pound. Fat has about a third of the densisty of a muscle, which is why resistance-based training is key to create the body composition you want, not just lose weight without getting healthier.

Source: refinery29.com

Myth #2: All you need is cardio. Cardio is fantastic, but so are strength and flexibility training. And to constantly challenge your body and continue improving your fitness level, you'll need to cross train.

Source: refinery29.com

Myth #3: Don't work out at night. You benefit from exercise no matter what time of day you're able to squeeze it in. Check out this 2013 National Sleep Foundation study that literally busted the myth that exercise, even at vigorous level, has a negative effect on sleep quality. If working out at night is your only option, it's much better than no workout at all.

Source: refinery29.com

Myth #4: High intensity exercise is best. True for a few. But it's not best for every body and every goal. There's a lot of research out there that supports high-intensity exercise for becoming leaner and stronger; but if that's not your goal, this isn't necessarily your workout. Variety is always best, in our opinion, the best exercise programs mix it up with a combination of high- and low- intensity training sessions.

Source: refinery29.com

Myth #5: It's not a real workout unless you're sweating and sore afterwards. No. A real workout is the one that works for your interest and your goals and makes you feel good. Whether or not wake up and can't walk down the stair. Find a workout you enjoy and get moving in a way that works for you.

Did any of these surprise you? What would you add to the list? Let us know in a comment! 

Top 20 Workout Songs Of The Summer

Staying motivated is half the battle when it comes to working out like a champion. If you don't have a gym buddy, a race or a competition to train for, or a trainer yelling "10 MORE SECONDS" in your beet-red, sweat-laden face, it's hard to push yourself to your limits. Unless, you plug in your earbuds with upbeat, uptempo music, research has shown.

Brunel University's Professor Costas Karageorghis, a respected authority of studies on fitness motivation, said: "in some instances we have seen performance benefits of up to 15%. As well as enhancing performance, music lowers the perception of effort. It dulls or masks some of the pain associated with training. We know from scanning the brain that when athletes are played loud upbeat music there is an increase in activity in the ascending reticular activating system." Basically, great music = a great workout.

Add some spark to your stride and strength to your sets with these upbeat tunes from the summer's hottest artists. These 20 songs add up to a workout playlist so good you'll hardly be able to wait to lace up your sneakers. Click the link to preview or download the song on iTunes.

1. Pitbull & G.R.L. – Wild, Wild Love – 120 BPM
2. John Legend – All of Me (Tiesto’s Birthday Treatment Remix Radio Edit) – 128 BPM
3. Avicii – Addicted to You (Albin Myers Remix) – 128 BPM
4. Imagine Dragons – On Top of the World – 100 BPM
5. Ariana Grande & Iggy Azalea – Problem – 103 BPM
6. Calvin Harris - Summer - 128 BPM
7. OneRepublic - Love Runs Out - 121 BPM
8. David Guetta & Skylar Grey - Shot Me Down - 129 BPM
9. Armin van Buuren & Trevor Guthrie - This is What It Feels Like - 130 BPM
10. Bastille - Pompeii (Kat Krazy Remix) - 129 BPM
11. Ellie Goulding - Burn (Magic Man Remix) - 87 BPM
12. Rihanna - What Now (Firebeatz Remix) - 128 BPM
13. John Newman - Love Me Again - 126 BPM
14. Lana Del Rey & Cedric Gervais - Summertime Sadness - 125 BPM
15. Calvin Harris & Florence Welch - Sweet Nothing (Tiesto Remix) - 128 BPM
16. Flo Rida & Sia – Wild Ones (Project 46 Remix) – 126 BPM
17. Madonna, Nicki Minaj & LMFAO - Give Me All Your Luvin' (Party Rock Remix) - 132 BPM
18. Nero - Promises (Skrillex & Nero Remix) - 142 BPM
19. 30 Seconds to Mars - Kings and Queens - 165 BPM
20. Alex Clare - Too Close - 126 BPM

What's a workout song you can't get enough of this summer? Share with us in a comment! 

The Complete Guide To Interval Training (Infographic)

If you've heard of HIIT (high-intensity interval training), but aren't really sure what it is and why it's such a hot topic in fitness, this awesome infographic from Greatist breaks everything down. 

If you want to try it out, we've provided three cardio circuits that are only 20 minutes long on our blog to get you started! 

Questions? Ask us on Twitter @GPMWeightLoss!

Belly Fat Blasting Workout

As we mentioned in our latest blog, What Is Stress Doing To Your Body?, belly fat and stress hormones are directly related. The more you have of one, the more you'll have of the other. Not only will the workout help to blast your belly fat, but the actual act of working out is an excellent stress reliever, too! The benefits are manifold.

In the long run, the only way to get rid of belly fat is combining regular cardio, total body strength conditioning, and a healthy diet. This fast paced, 38-minute workout routine from Fitness Blender can be done at home and moves quickly between bodyweight cardio intervals and an assortment of ab and oblique exercises. It brings you the two fitness components of belly fat loss: calorie-blasting cardio and core toning. If you do this workout three times a week, and follow our tips for eating healthier, you should be able to see a difference in your weight and body definition in as little as two weeks.

Depending on your body, they estimated that this workout burns 6-11 calories per minute for a total between 257 and 407. Keep in mind, a cool down is not included, so we recommend a quick stretch once you are finished. Let's get started! 

What'd you think? Let us know in a comment! 

There actually are other ways to target stubborn belly fat, too. Learn more by clicking the link.

Are You Getting 10,000 Steps A Day?

We’ve gathered some little, simple ways to increase your daily step count & your weekly calorie deficit to help you shed the pounds. As we mentioned in our Top 10 Fitness Facts & Fictions blog, you don't have to sweat to be racking up your calorie burn. So, use these tips to get moving in the smallest of ways, and know that you're making a difference.

• Take the stairs, even if it’s only two floors
• Park at the far end of the parking lot
• Get off the bus, subway, train at an earlier stop and walk the rest of the way
• Go for walk at lunchtime and on your breaks
• Find a new restroom, copy machine or water fountain on another floor
• Try a new walking route from work or home to add variety
• Wake up half an hour early and go for a walk
• Stand up & march in place or walk around during TV commercials
• After dinner, take a walk around the neighborhood
• Go for walks with friend, a great way to catch up
• Visit and walk local trails and parks
• Find activities to do that are fun and involve walking, like visiting a museum or zoo
• Take the dog for a walk
• Walk around the mall before you do your shopping
• Put on upbeat music when doing housework
• Walk while you're on the phone
• After grocery shopping, carry one item in at a time to put away
• Pass by the drive-thru window and walk into the bank or restaurant
• Benefit a good cause by joining a charity walk
• Walk around the restaurant or parking lot while waiting to be seated
• Skim the newspaper for upcoming events you can walk to, such as a garden tour, high school play, or a concert in the park

 What other day-to-day activities do you to do increase your steps? Share with us on our Facebook page!

How To Work Out When You Don't Want To

You planned it into your schedule. You’re lacing up your tennis shoes. But you can’t ignore the temptation to skip “just this once.” And that’s fine, if it really is “just this once.” It’s extremely important to pay attention to your body, and sometimes you’re just not feeling 100%.

But soon, sometimes becomes once a week, and then you can’t even remember where you put your gym bag. Before you get to that point, you need to remind yourself that there are ways to work up a sweat without schlepping along on a treadmill. Fitness should be fun. Here are our motivational tips.