Found: the Absolute Hardest Lower Body Compound Move That You Could Ever Do

Photo: Getty Images/heshphoto
This past weekend, I shuttered myself into my apartment because it was just too damn hot outside. I didn't even go out to the gym to get my workout in, because I knew I'd show up sweaty from the schlep before I even stepped onto the treadmill. And so that's why I found myself streaming living room workouts to get my heart rate up and my muscles quaking—no unnecessary added sweat (or travel!) required.

To start off my weekend of streaming fitness, I thought I'd try boutique fitness studio and HIIT powerhouse Fhitting Room's new on-demand workouts, which launched this week. I've been to the class a number of times, and I'm well aware that it's tough, so I kinda knew what I was in for. But then I found myself on my living room floor doing literally doing the hardest move I've ever done in my life. Ever.

I started the "Strength with Ben" workout, which is a full body strength sesh that requires zero equipment. Don't be fooled by the lack of weights or machines, though—he actually starts off with the aforementioned "hardest move of all time." Here's the deal: It's a hybrid strength-cardio compound move that involves backwards lunges onto your knees, standing up into a squat from said position, then doing jump squats before getting back down onto your knees—no standing up allowed.

"Take your hands behind your head, elbows nice and wide," Ben Wegman, Fhitting Room's chief curriculum officer and trainer says in the video. You're doing this while standing. Then: "From here, I take two reverse lunges, stepping back one leg, then the opposite leg." So at this point you're upright on your shins with your hands still behind your head. "Then step into a squat position, do two jump squats, then hit the other side," he says. You're not standing up fully throughout the entire move, which he has you do for 60 seconds... but trust me, you'll be wiped out by, like, 15 seconds in. It's a doozy. Try it for yourself and feel your quads catch on fire.

To round it all out, try this at-home upper body workout to fire up your arms. And here's a 15-minute ab workout courtesy of Charlee Atkins. 

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