When I first started working out, I’ll admit I didn’t have a clue about what to do.

I followed YouTube videos and Instagram Reels, but knowing what I know now, it would have made more sense to nail some basic exercises first.

Nowadays, when I hit the gym, I have a set of moves that I track so I can see myself getting stronger and progressing.

I wanted to get an expert’s opinion on what the three most important moves to practice are if you’re new to working out, so I asked Krissy Cela.

You might know her from her social accounts (she has over 3 million followers on Instagram alone), but she’s also the co-founder of sportswear brand Oner Active and an experienced trainer.

1. Squat

Sets: 3 Reps: 10

“Everyone’s got to do a squat,” says Cela. “Start with the bodyweight squat, then a dumbbell, then a barbell. It’s a multi-joint and muscle movement, and it’s great for your core, glutes—everything!”

This fundamental movement pattern is something we do every day, but it’s easy to get wrong once you add load, so here are some step-by-step instructions.

• Stand with your feet slightly wider than hip-width apart, toes pointing out slightly.
• Bend your knees and push your butt back to lower. Keep your knees tracking in the same direction as your toes and maintain an upright chest.
• When you’re at your lowest comfortable point, push through your heels to stand back up.

2. Deadlift

Sets: 4-6 Reps: 6-12

“Deadlifts are great for your back and strengthen your glutes,” says Cela.

The move targets the posterior chain (the muscles running along the back of your body), which can often be weakened by long periods of sitting. Strengthening this area can make everyday movement feel easier and even alleviate aches and pains from your desk job.

Newcomers often struggle with the hip hinge movement involved in this exercise. You might want to practice with a trainer first or try Romanian deadlifts instead, which are typically done with a lighter weight and a smaller range of movement.

Alternatively, follow these step-by-step instructions:

• Stand with your feet about hip-width apart and a weight (like dumbbells, a kettlebell or a barbell) on the floor in front of your feet.
• With a slight bend in your knees throughout, hinge from the hips and push your butt back to lower and take hold of the weight.
• Engage your core and, keeping your back straight throughout, press through your heels to push the floor away, moving your hips forward to stand back up powerfully.
• Push your butt back to lower the weight to the floor with control.

3. Plank

Sets: 3 Time: 30sec

Cela says it’s important to use your workouts to strengthen your core, not just your abs (the muscles that run down the front of your stomach).

“With core, we’re focusing on more holding movements, like planks. For abs it’s more of a crunch movement. The plank is a very good move for you to work on your trunk,” says Cela.

Here’s how to do it:

• Start on your hands and knees on the floor, with your hands under your shoulders and knees under your hips.
• Step your feet back one at a time so that your body forms a straight line from your shoulders to your heels.
• Hold this position for time, focusing on keeping your hips in alignment.
• To make it harder, lower onto your forearms, with your elbows underneath your shoulders.

What’s your favorite core move? I bet it’s not a crunch.

I’ve worked in the fitness industry for three and a half years and have interviewed plenty of trainers. No one has ever told me that they like crunches.

“I never do crunches, ever, and I don’t like planks,” trainer and Oner Active athlete Hayley Madigan told me.

Instead, she prefers to do moves like overhead marches and dumbbell pass-arounds. Rather than just targeting the abs on the front of the stomach, these moves recruit all your core muscles and challenge them to resist movement from other areas of your body.

I also asked Krissy Cela, co-founder of Oner Active, for her favorite core moves—she picked the same exercises.

Here is how to do the two moves and another bonus favorite exercise (suitcase carries) from Madigan.

Overhead march

Sets: 3 Reps: 10-15 each side

• Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding dumbbells by your shoulders.
• Engage your core and extend your arms to press the dumbbells overhead, so your arms are straight.
• Moving slowly and with control, raise your left knee to hip height, then return your foot to the floor.
• Raise and lower the right knee.
• Continue, alternating sides with each rep.

Trainer tip: Keep your upper body as still as possible, while moving your legs slowly.

Dumbbell pass around

Sets: 2-3 each direction Time: 30sec

• Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding a weight just below your chest in your left hand with your right hand behind your back.
• Pass the weight around your waist, into your right hand, then bring both hands to the front.
• Pass the weight into your left hand and continue, moving slowly and with control.

Trainer tip: Keep your torso as still as possible, resisting the pull of the weight.

“People think it’s easy and I’m like, no—you’ve got to stabilize yourself!” explains Madigan.

“If I’m moving a weight around, my core’s got to switch on, because it’s gonna want to be pulled around.”

If you want a harder variation, try lowering the weight to hip height. Or you can do around the worlds with a kettlebell, which create more force for your core to resist.

Suitcase carry

Sets: 1-2 each side Time: 30sec

• Stand with your feet hip-width apart and pick up a heavy weight with your right hand.
• Walk for time, keeping your torso upright.

Trainer tip: Make sure you pick a weight that’s heavy enough, so you have to use your core muscles to resist the lopsided pull.

“I try and go as heavy as I possibly can,” says Madigan.

She suggests tucking your rib cage (bringing it down and in) to switch on your core when doing the exercise.

Krissy Cela—co-founder of the popular sportswear brand Oner Active—is a well-known face on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.

She’s also an experienced trainer and the creator of the EvolveYou app, who knows how to get the most out of a gym session.

So when I sat down with her a few months ago, I asked her for her favorite tips on how to fix your form, especially if you’re new to the gym. Here’s what she suggested.

1. Deadlift

Deadlifts are notoriously tricky, especially for beginners, because it’s easy to be overly reliant on your lower back when executing the lift.

But Cela says you can overcome this by concentrating on your foot-to-floor connection.

She suggests pretending you have a piece of gum on the heel of your shoe that you’re trying to scrape off on the floor during the movement.

“You’ll dig your heels more into the ground and you’ll push back more,” she says.

When you bend down in the movement, she also says it’s a good idea to imagine that you’re trying to close a door behind you with your bum—this should help you find that natural hinge movement in the hips.

2. Squat

A squat is a functional movement that you do every day without realizing it, for example, whenever you get up from a chair.

Despite this familiarity, it’s not easy to an easy exercise to get right straight away. A common mistake is letting your torso fall too far forward, whether you’re doing the movement with or without weights, but Cela has a tip to help you stay upright.

“I always imagine I have a piece of string pulling me up. So your chest is always upright—you don’t want your chest too forward,” she says.

Keeping your chest upright will help protect your back during the movement and ensure you’re targeting your leg muscles.

3. Overhead press

This shoulder-focused movement is another gym favorite, typically performed with dumbbells, but as you get stronger, you can transition to a barbell.

I’ve always struggled to scale up my overhead press (I find it difficult to jump from 2x8kg to 2x9kg), but Cela offered another way to make the move more challenging, without increasing the weight.

“Always stop [the dumbbells] at eye level, nothing below,” says Cela.

Pausing the move at eye level helps you maintain tension in your shoulder muscles, which makes the move more challenging.

4. Lat pull-down

This vertical pull movement targets the large muscles in your back, which are important for stabilizing and supporting your shoulders.

To do it, you have to grip a bar with your hands and pull it down towards you—but Cela says you will get more out of the movement if you make sure your thumbs are out on top of the bar, rather than gripping them under.

If you grip the bar with your thumb, you’re more likely to recruit secondary muscles like your biceps. Taking your thumb out of the equation makes it more of a challenge for your lats.

I always try to add abs workouts into my weekly exercise routine — strong abs are crucial for stability, posture and overall core strength, after all.

But, to be honest, these sessions definitely aren't my favorite, and I find I need to track down a good, quick routine to help me stay motivated. And I wanted one that would add weights like adjustable dumbbells into the mix to keep things varied. 

So, when I came across this four-move workout from Krissy Cela, co-founder of the EvolveYou training app, I knew it would be perfect to try.

To take part you only need one dumbbell (although I also used a yoga mat for some extra cushioning on my spine). 

How to do Krissy Cela's abs strengthening workout

There are four moves — 15 tucks, 20 bikes, eight single-arm sit-ups on each side, and 15 toe taps — performed as a circuit for three rounds. Watch Cela's video below for demonstrations of each one. 

Watch Krissy Cela's abs workout

How I found Krissy Cela's abs workout

When I look for an abs or core workout, the main thing I want to know is the benefits it'll give me. Yes, a more toned midsection is a bonus, but, as a runner, I mainly look to improve my strength and stability. 

That's why I really enjoyed doing the single-arm sit-ups in this routine. As I lifted my upper body off the yoga mat, I could immediately feel my core kick into action to stabilize my torso, and with each rep my movements became more precise and accurate.

The toe taps, on the other hand, were definitely humbling and challenged me the most. By the third round my abs were cooked, and I was very happy to be within touching distance of the finish line.

I think the dumbbell weight I chose played a role as well. I needed to find a weight that was challenging but didn't affect my form. After some experimentation, I landed on an 18lb load which made the routine hard, but achievable. 

Would I do this workout again?

This workout pushed my abs and core muscles to their limit. But, while this was definitely challenging, I still enjoyed the session and I'm already looking to do it again to help strengthen my core and continue to improve my stability.

If you try this workout for yourself, remember to prepare and recover properly with a thorough warm-up and cool-down. Some people also like to drink a post-workout smoothie to help fuel the recovery process. 

These are often packed with protein — a vital nutrient your body needs to repair and strengthen the damaged muscle fibers. If you're looking to build lean muscle, the best protein powders for weight loss are a great place to start. 

This three-move abs challenge will help you get moving on even your busiest days. It takes less than 10 minutes and doesn't require any equipment either, meaning you can easily squeeze it into your lunchbreak or use it as a way to wake up. 

The only gear you might want is a yoga mat to protect your spine against unforgiving floors, but this is optional. It's a great routine, as developing your core muscle helps improve your posture, balance, and circulation. 

The workout comes from Krissy Cela, co-founder of the EvolveYou training app, as a way to test your midsection strength. She suggests you do the three exercises as a circuit for two rounds (or three, if you want to push yourself and have the time).  

To get the benefits of this ab-focused workout, it's essential to do each move with the right technique. So, before you start, perfect your form by following Cela's demonstrations to get the most from your training and avoid injury. 

Watch Krissy Cela's three-move abs workout

Cela's short workout is a great fit for anyone interested in the phenomenon of "exercise snacking". This is an approach to fitness that encourages you to take part in short bouts of exercise throughout the day rather than setting aside 60 minutes for an extended session. 

This offers a time-efficient way to undo the damage of sitting while still improving your cardiorespiratory fitness. It may also be easier to stick to than committing to lengthy workouts, increasing your motivation and making training of your schedule. 

As an abs workout, it holds plenty of other benefits too. Strengthening the muscles around your stomach can boost your balance, plus it helps improve stability during other exercises, like it you're looking to learn how to do squats. 

If you're interested in the idea of exercise snacking and want to find other short workouts that could fit the format, we've got you covered. These five-minute workouts will help you build muscle all over without weights, while these beginner yoga exercises help improve your mobility. 

A busy gym can be tricky to navigate, with huge queues for equipment and an overflowing weights section. Luckily, we've found a great leg and glute workout that only uses two dumbbells, so you can pick up a pair, find a quiet corner and start squatting. 

Or, if you want to swerve the gym altogether, you can always save yourself a commute by doing it at home (just use a chair or other elevated surface in place of a weight bench for the split squat jumps). 

The session has been devised by Evolve You training app co-founder Krissy Cela to strengthen your lower body with just five muscle-building moves. Although you can do it with any fixed-weight dumbbells, we recommend keeping a set of adjustable dumbbells handy so you can quickly change the load between exercises. 

To try it for yourself, complete the prescribed number of sets and repetitions for each movement (listed in Cela's caption below) before progressing to the next exercise. 

Watch her videos below to find out more about the five exercises she's selected, and pay close attention to Cela's form to help you learn the correct technique for each one. 

Watch Krissy Cela's dumbbell leg workout

As this is a resistance training workout, with a focus on increasing the strength and size of your muscles, you should rest for 60-90 seconds between each set. 

If you're used to high-intensity HIIT workouts, this may seem like a long time, but it will allow your muscles to recover slightly so you can continue to lift a weight you find challenging (an example of the progressive overload principle in action).

All of the movements included in Cela's session are compound exercises, meaning they work more than one muscle at the same time. For example, the time under tension sumo squats will hit your glutes, quads, hamstrings, calves, and core. This makes them a top tool for time-efficient training and comprehensive gains. 

She also uses many unilateral (or single-sided) movements, which are a great way to remedy any muscular imbalances your body may have by focusing on one side at a time. 

The day after completing this workout, you're going to want to allow your lower body to recover, so consider focusing on other muscle groups with this eight-move arm workout or a 20-minute upper-body session.  

You can also forego the weights entirely in favor of a lower-intensity activity such as flowing between these anti-aging yoga moves or starting our Pilates plan for beginners. 

You don't need a fully-equipped private gym to build muscle at home. With this efficient and effective workout, you can grow your glutes and strengthen your legs with just a pair of dumbbells and a 36-minute commitment.  

We think the best adjustable dumbbells are the top option for home workouts as they allow you to change their weight to suit your strength level. However, for this session, a fixed-weight pair of dumbbells, kettlebells or even two filled water bottles will work—so long as they're heavy enough to make each exercise challenging.

The workout has been crafted by Krissy Cela, co-founder of the EvolveYou training app. It uses just five exercises, with each one performed for three sets of 10-12 repetitions. Perform all three sets of one exercise before advancing to the next one, and leave 60 seconds of rest between each set to allow your muscles to recover so you can hit each set with intensity. 

Two of the exercises—reverse lunges and split squats—are performed on one side of the body at a time. For these movements, complete all repetitions on one leg then switch sides and launch straight into the prescribed repetitions on the other leg. After both sides have been completed, take a 60 second rest. 

Watch Cela's video below to find out which five exercises await you, and mirror her technique to make sure you're performing each one with perfect form. 

Watch Krissy Cela's single dumbbell glute workout

You should be able to finish this workout in about 36 minutes. If you're finding the exercises too difficult, try increasing the rest times to 90 seconds or lower the weight you're lifting. 

Cela's session is a bodybuilding-style workout. This means that, while it will still raise your heart rate and burn calories, the focus is on building bigger, stronger muscles. 

It primarily targets your glutes, but thanks to the inclusion of squat and lunge variations it will also activate leg muscles such as your hamstrings and quads. This is because these moves are compound exercises, recruiting multiple joints and muscle groups.

If you want to try this workout for yourself, we recommend using it as a daily resistance training session. You'll also want to give your legs at least 24 hours to recover after completing it, so why not try switching up your training with this chest and back workout or give some cardio a go courtesy of our running plan for beginners?

You don't need to set up residence in a squat rack to grow your glutes — if you have a couple of dumbbells, you can build lower body strength and muscle in your living room. 

The best adjustable dumbbells are our top pick for training at home as they allow you to increase the weight as you grow stronger, preventing your training from plateauing. However, adding fixed weight dumbbells or kettlebells into your workout can also increase its effectiveness. 

That's definitely the case with this session from fitness trainer Krissy Cela, co-founder of the EvolveYou training and nutrition app. It uses just five moves and a pair of dumbbells to overload your muscles — the key to triggering adaptations such as strength gains and growth. 

It's also designed to take up minimal space, so whether you're training in a crowded gym or cooped up in your bedroom, you can still get a great workout. Watch Cela's video below to see how each exercise should be performed, and try to mirror her technique to make sure your form is spot on.

We recommend performing all sets of one movement before moving on to the next one, and leaving between 60 and 90 seconds of rest between sets to allow your muscles to recover. This will enable you to complete each exercise with good form and intensity.

Watch Krissy Cela's dumbbell-only glute workout

Cela's workout is designed to get results by making the most of the progressive overload principle, which means increasing the difficulty of the exercise or activity you're doing to ensure your body continues to adapt. As you become fitter and stronger, you'll need to lift more weight or perform more repetitions to make sure your training remains challenging.

This is helpful to know for anyone wondering, "What dumbbell weights should I use?". After all, if you use weights that are too light, your muscles won't be worked hard enough to grow or become stronger. However, use weights that are too heavy and your form will fail, risking injury and not hitting the intended stimulus of the workout. 

Instead, you should pick a weight that allows you to complete all repetitions with perfect form, but it should still be heavy enough for you to be feeling the burn as you approach the end of your set. 

This workout is an example of resistance training, using a collection of muscle-building movements targeting your lower body (and glutes specifically) to help you increase size and strength in this area. 

Unlike HIIT workouts for fat loss or high-intensity resistance training, there are allocated rest times between each exercise, keeping your heart rate lower throughout the session. This is because the primary goal is muscle gain, rather than improving your cardiovascular fitness.

However, resistance training will still burn calories and boost your metabolism (just consult our feature, "Does metabolism increase with exercise?"). Especially if you couple it with some of the best protein powders for weight loss. 

Working out your lower body does a whole lot more than just toning your glutes, developing leg muscle, and building your calves. Although training your bottom half can help you tick off all of the above, working out your legs can also aid in the process of making your joints stronger and maintaining good bone health. 

But if you’re short on time and feeling uninspired by your current lower body sessions, check out this personal trainer's five-move leg can be completed in just 15 minutes using a set of the best adjustable dumbbells, barbells, and a leg extension machine. 

Krissy Cela, fitness expert and co-founder of the EvolveYou workout app, guides you through a range of compound moves that will help you work out multiple muscles all at once. If you're training at home, you can adapt the moves to use the dumbbells alone. 

These exercises will challenge some of the biggest muscles in the body like your gluteus maximus, your quadriceps, and your hamstrings. So if you're ready to get your pump on, keep reading. 

Watch Krissy Cela's five-move workout

Cela’s workout includes some of the best leg workout exercises. From squats — or a variation of them – to leg extension, single-leg Russian deadlifts and reverse lunges, the fitness trainer includes moves that get the lower body firing on all cylinders. 

The five moves you'll need to master for this workout include:

1. Squats with pause – 1 rep with a 4 second hold x 6 reps/ 4 sets
2. Single leg RDL – 12 reps x 4 sets each leg
3. Reverse Lunge – 12 reps x 4 sets each leg
4. Leg extension – 10 reps each with a 10-second hold
5. Sumo squats – 8 reps x 4 sets

If you're new to working out or are in the process of broadening your lower leg exercises, in this 15-minute workout, Cela shows you how to perform each move, along with offering up some alterations on how you could perform these exercises with a different type of weight — be it a dumbbell or by using your own bodyweight.

Cela also shares insight on which muscles each exercise targets and an explanation of what is happening in your body as you perform these moves. For example, you might be wondering why Cela has chosen to include squats with a pause.

“That pause is going to completely ruin your legs,” Cela explains. “That time under tension is going to significantly increase that lactic acid all over your leg, giving you that pump that you so love.”

But before you get into these moves, the fitness expert recommends completing some dynamic movements to warm up your limbs, joints, and muscles prior to putting them under any form of resistance training. 

She says: “Dynamic movements focus on lubricating and warming your muscles and joints up and getting your heart rate up slightly and getting that blood circulating all over your body, getting you ready for much heavier movements.”

For more ways to train your lower body, or how to perform squats check out our handy step-by-step guides or take on this 30-day legs challenge.

If you train a lot but aren't noticing the muscle growth you want, or expect, to see then it might be time to switch out some of your cardio for a total strength-building session. This five-move lower body workout uses different types of weight to stimulate muscle growth and increase definition in your legs.

While you can certainly build some serious muscle at home with a set of the best adjustable dumbbells to hand, this lower body workout requires some extra equipment. All you will need in addition to some dumbbells is access to the leg press and leg extension machines, both of which are staple pieces of equipment in most gyms.

Once you've sussed out the right equipment, you can borrow this five-move session from Krissy Cela, personal trainer, and co-founder of the EvolveYou workout app. The routine leans on isolation exercises such as the leg press to target specific muscles, like the quads, and compound exercises to work multiple muscles at once.

It's an intense routine and will challenge your legs but you can choose what load you work with per exercise. So it's ok to lower the weight or reduce the number of repetitions as you move through the routine.

 Just make sure you are performing each exercise with proper form and use Cela's demonstrations as a reference point. Good form is better for stimulating muscle growth and it will help prevent injury. 

Watch Krissy Cela's Five-Move Leg Building Workout

Anyone who is newer to resistance training with weights might it useful to spend some time reading up on these beginner strength training tips to help you select the right load for this leg session. You can learn the ideal number of reps and sets required to work on your hypertrophy there. Hypertrophy is when you increase your lean muscle mass via exercise and lifting weights is the most popular way to do so.

Alternatively, Cela recommends in her workout how many repetitions and sets to do of each exercise so you might prefer just to follow her lower body session exactly as it is. You will find a full outline of her routine below:

• Romanian deadlift: 10-12 reps, 4 sets
• Hip thrusts: 8-10 reps, 5 sets
• Split squats: 12 reps, 4 sets each leg
• Leg press: 10-12 reps, 4 sets
• Leg extensions: 12 reps, 3 sets

You aren't alone if you have a few wobbles during this leg-building session, Cela said herself, "That first session back after two weeks of inconsistent training is INTENSE". However, if you include this in your regular training regime you can level up your muscle growth by using heavier weights as you progress. This is called progressive overload, where you increase the load to continue your muscle gains and help you reach your strength goals.

Strength sessions can be time-consuming, and the rest periods between sets and repetitions may bore some people who enjoy circuit training. If this is you, you can still build muscle and strength by doing a bit of both. It's a good idea to create a workout split in your training and don't forget workout styles like high-intensity resistance training blend strength and cardio-based exercise into one. 

It doesn't matter if you are a gym warrior and like to train every day or if you're newer to fitness and looking to ease yourself into a training program, everybody loves having a convenient workout to hand. By convenient, we're talking one that allows you to target various muscles in one session and doesn't take long to complete.

You'll just need some dumbbells to work with for this 30-minute full-body session. If you're a regular gym goer it's likely your gym will have a whole range of dumbbells to work with in its free weights section. Or if you train at home you should consider investing in some of the best adjustable dumbbells, these save on space and you can adjust the load during your workout.

This dumbbell workout comes from Krissy Cela, personal trainer and the co-founder of the popular women's workout app EvolveYou. Not only does it require minimal equipment but it's equally ideal for those hectic days that all too easily fill up with various commitments and push exercise to the bottom of the heap.

Training with just these five exercises will engage and challenge muscles in both your upper and lower body and help to improve strength and muscle mass. Cela recommends performing each exercise for 15 reps and repeating the entire workout three times over.

If you're new to working out with weights read these beginner strength training tips and go easy with what weight you use for this dumbbell session. You will want to pick a load that will challenge your muscles but also one that you will be able to stick with for each rep and set of the routine. Don't forget that different muscles will be stronger than others so you might need to switch weight per exercise if you have the option to.

Watch Krissy Cela's Five-Move Full-Body Dumbbell Routine

Cela calls this her '30 Mins Full Body Express Workout' and advises using it three times a week. You might be wondering what exercises you will work using this routine. We've listed all of the exercises below outlining what muscles are worked during each.

• Romanian deadlift - lower back, core, glutes, and hamstrings
• Alternative lunges - quads, glutes, hamstrings
• Assisted push-ups - triceps, chest, shoulders, and core
• Dumbbell flyes - chest and shoulders
• Russian twists - core, abdominals, and spine muscle

For those who enjoy this kind of strength session where you can target muscles all over your body and wish to grow muscle this way, you should look to introduce progressive overload into these sessions. This is when you gradually increase the challenge of your workouts, whether that be upping the weight you are training with or by increasing the number of reps you complete, this help promotes muscle hypertrophy.

When you aren't deep in dumbbell lunges and deadlifts, you can also be promoting muscle gain via your diet. That's right, just by eating a generous amount of protein every day you can aid the repair and growth of your muscles via the amino acids present in protein. Some people like topping up their daily intake using one of the best protein powders for weight loss.

A set of sit-ups a day won't carve out a six-pack for you, no matter how long you keep it up for. This is because there is more than one area to your abdominal muscles and the abs only account for a section of the core muscle group. So, it's a good idea to establish a series of exercises that target both your abs and core muscles to start noticing significant results.

This routine includes a mixture of the best workouts for abs and core strengthening exercises so that you are able to develop core strength and help to define all areas of your abs. 

It's an equipment-free workout so you won't need any weights or bands but it's wise to place one of the best yoga mats underneath you for extra padding and support on your joints and back.

Yoga mats are useful for all kinds of workouts whether you need one for your ab workouts, Pilates class, or for a softer landing while working through a HIIT workout for fat loss. Plus, you can nearly always find exercise mats for fairly cheap like the ones on offer below.

Once you have the right support for working on the floor you are ready to try fitness trainer, and co-founder of workout app EvolveYou, Krissy Cela's five-move ab and core routine. Cela uses her online platforms to help people with strength training, bodybuilding, and increasing muscular endurance. So this ab routine is worthwhile trying if you want to see more muscle definition around your midsection.

She demonstrates five exercises that target all areas of your abs. "I wanted to show you exercises that you’ll be seeing during your abs challenge that will help you target all areas!", notes Cela. 

Watch Krissy Cela's Five Move Ab and Core Workout

Four of the main major muscles that make up your abdominals (also known as the six-pack muscles) are the rectus abdomen, transverse, internal obliques, and the external obliques. If you're curious to find out which of Cela's exercises work what, we've listed this below for you.

• Rectus abdomen: Crunch sit-ups
• Tranverse: Commandos
• Internal obliques: Side plank dips
• External obliques: Reverse mountain climbers
• Russian twists work all four

Everyone's genetics and body compositions differ, therefore, the visibility of your abs can vary too. Unfortunately, exercises like the ones above can't build abs on their own. You need to reduce your subcutaneous and visceral fat in order to see your abs. It's a good idea to read up on what to eat to lose belly fat as trying to consume fewer calories than you burn can help out so long as you do this safely and avoid depriving your body of nutrients.

Working out with weights is a great way to burn calories and a resistance session has the potential to keep your metabolism raised for up to 48 hours after exercise. Building muscle has many benefits and isn't all about bulking, and this six-move upper body routine is a great place to start if you're looking to build lean muscle mass.

There are lots of options when it comes to what weight you can build muscle with. Some people like to mix it up with different resistance machines and weights at the gym meanwhile others keep it simple and will use one of the best adjustable dumbbells to resistance train at home without using up lots of space.

For this upper body routine led by fitness trainer and co-founder of the EvolveYou workout app, Krissy Cela, a barbell and some dumbbells are required. In the dumbbells vs barbells debate, both are great pieces of strength-building equipment and which you choose will depend on what your goal is.

When it comes to training the upper body, dumbbells suit a range of chest, shoulder, arm, and back exercises. Fortunately, you can easily complete this full routine from Cela using just a set of dumbbells.

You will be working with sets of repetitions for all six exercises so make sure you allocate rest periods between each set. When you give yourself breaks between sets it helps your muscles to keep up good levels of force production ahead of the next round of reps.

Watch Krissy Cela's Six-Move Upper Body Workout

Lifting weight puts a strain on your muscles breaking them down and they respond by building more muscle cells to recover and sustain more load being placed on them. The new cells need energy and burn more calories than fat cells do, even while your body is in rest mode.

Maintaining muscle mass can lead to an improved metabolic rate and is why resistance training wins in the cardio vs weights: which is better for weight loss debate. Keeping your resistance training workouts varied and challenging will help keep your metabolism nice and high. 

For example, you can adopt progressive overload into your training so that you are moving up weight but lowering the reps for a period of time to allow further muscle growth and avoid a plateau in making progress. The harder your weight training becomes, the more calories you can burn during and after your workouts.

It's worthwhile noting that boosting your metabolism isn't just down to exercise. Everyday things like sleep and diet can massively affect your metabolism as well. A study published in the Journal of Lipid Research revealed that lack of sleep can negatively impact the body's ability to convert fat to energy. 

Moreover, consuming a high protein diet alongside your exercise regime and good sleep pattern can help to boost your metabolism. Your body burns more calories while trying to absorb and digest protein as opposed to carbohydrates.

It's best to source this from lean sources of protein such as Greek yogurt, beans, salmon, tofu, and lentils but you can always top things up with one of the best protein powders for weight loss.

Workouts can feel a lot more time-consuming when they involve various different bits of equipment. But the rule 'less is more' can most definitely be applied to your workouts and get you the results you want, this dumbbell-only leg workout is a great place to start.

Larger weight equipment found inside most gyms, such as a barbell is great for lifting heavier and heavier after mastering moves like how to deadlift properly. However, for this lower body strengthening workout you only need a set of dumbbells to start building muscle in your lower body. You can still increase your gains through progressive overload at home with a set of the best adjustable dumbbells, which will allow you to modify the weight as you train.

This five-move program comes from Krissy Cela, a qualified personal trainer, and co-founder of the popular workout app, EvolveYou. As it's only using one piece of equipment, this workout is suitable for gym-goers and for those who prefer home workouts.

There are five exercises to complete and you will perform three rounds of the routine. It's ideal for home workouts as it doesn't require lots of space and there's no jumping involved so it's noise-friendly. Alternatively, if you attend a busy gym where it's hard to get your hands on the equipment you want, dumbbells are nearly always available.

Cela demonstrates each move in her post so you have a great point of reference for maintaining good form throughout your workout. Proper form will help you gain better results plus it helps to avoid injury.

WATCH KRISSY CELA'S FIVE-MOVE LEG WORKOUT

The exercises involved in this lower body focussed session are designed to target your glutes, quads, hamstrings, and calves. If you want to try the routine as it is, or add some of the exercises to your existing fitness regime, all the exercises you need are listed below.

• Sumo squats into bodyweight squats: 15 reps into 10 reps
• Double pulse reverse lunges: 10 reps each leg
• Single leg Romanian deadlift: 12 reps each leg
• Lateral squat knee up: 10 reps each leg
• Romanian deadlift: 12 reps

After a weight lifting session like this, your body works to repair and replace damaged muscle fibers by fusing together fibers to form new protein strands. These new protein strands will increase in thickness and number so that you're left with muscle hypertrophy (muscle growth).

It's recommended to eat a diet rich in protein as this is a key ingredient for muscle repair and recovery. Once you learn how to use protein powder to lose weight or gain muscle it's worthwhile picking up one of the best protein powders for weight loss to make sure you are consuming enough protein daily.

It's also a well-known fact that weight training is an effective way for people to burn fat and research can back this up. In a study published in the Faceb Journal, scientists found that lifting weights leads to our muscles releasing a certain type of genetic material into our bloodstream. This material is then offloaded to our fat cells to hurry along the fat-burning process. Essentially, lifting weights in a workout can trigger a biological process that is quick to metabolize fat cells.

If you're slightly newer to weight training, there's no pressure to rush things and go too hard. Master good form, even if that is just using your body weight to start out with. Once you start to feel stronger and are perhaps adding heavier weight to your workouts try and prioritize muscle recovery after workouts. Rolling out any tensions using one of the best foam rollers is a great way to massage your muscles yourself after a big session

If you're looking to train your glutes to sculpt your butt or increase muscle mass, you don't have to squat or hip thrust with a barbell. You can still achieve impressive results with a pair of dumbbells and a few good glute-focussed exercises – much like this four-move Tiktok workout.

Of course, strength training with a barbell is extremely beneficial for building strength and mass in major muscle groups, like the glutes. Once you learn how to deadlift properly with a barbell, you can then keep on adding more and more weight as you progress. But smaller weights like a set of best adjustable dumbbells also allow you to manually adjust the weight, and they're a great space-saving addition to any home gym – after all, they take up much less space than a barbell!

This Tiktok workout that was posted by Krissy Cela, co-founder and lead trainer of the Tone & Sculpt app, only requires two dumbbells and is a great way to fully target your glutes with just four exercises. If you fancy getting some discounted weights check out our roundup of dumbbells on sale right now.

Cela demonstrates each exercise in the video so you can ensure you're using good form when you try it out yourself. She's also included how many reps and sets you should aim to complete of each move. 

Don't forget to break in between each set as research has actually found longer rests between sets could actually build muscle faster. You should also keep one of the best water bottles for the gym by your side as a reminder to stop, rest, and hydrate.

WATCH THE TIKTOK GLUTE-BUILDING WORKOUT

This workout uses a mix of lower-body focused exercises including sumo squats, Romanian deadlifts, single-leg Romanian deadlifts, and reverse lunges. The bonus is each exercise will not only develop your glute strength but will also train other important muscles like your hamstrings, quads, calves, hip flexors, and even your core.

Many people want to train their glutes because of the visual results, but a more important reason to work this muscle group is that it can also help people avoid and recover from injury better. One study published in the Journal of Physical Therapy Science found that building strong and functional glutes helped to reduce pain and rehabilitate low-back pain patients.

Cela's glute-building video received over two million views on TikTok and is just one of the fit-tech entrepreneur's many guided workouts available online. While her Instagram and TikTok pages are loaded with similar content, you can also subscribe to the Tone and Sculpt app and receive more in-depth home and gym fitness programs there.

It's useful to note that if you're challenging yourself with heavier weights and performing these exercises for the recommended number of sets, you're likely to feel strains occur in places like your hamstrings, especially with the RDL variations. As long as you stretch before and after your workouts and use one of the best foam rollers from our guide, this will help to relieve any unwanted tensions and aches.

You won't build bigger arms from only ever isolating those muscles. A key way of improving muscle mass and definition in your arms is by training them with supporting muscle groups, such as your shoulders.

As well as working other parts of your upper body you will want to ensure you are helping your muscles to build and repair between workouts. A great way of doing this is by consuming a best protein powder as a protein shake or mixed into foods like yogurt or oats.

Next time you come to complete an upper body workout grab a pair of best adjustable dumbbells and give this five-move shoulder blast workout a go. 

Krissy Cela, founder of global fitness app Tone & Sculpt, has taken the online fitness world by storm over the past few years. She has built herself a social media following of over 2 million followers with her helpful home and gym workouts.

Krissy has provided demonstrations for all the moves in this shoulder and arm dumbbell workout making the routine easy to follow along with. 

Two of the five moves use a low-weighted fixed barbell however, a set of dumbells can be used for all of the exercises included in this workout.

WATCH KRISSY CELA'S 5-MOVE SHOULDER AND ARM DUMBBELL WORKOUT

Krissy writes in her caption for this post that "your shoulders will be absolutely on FIRE" after completing this weighted routine. Below are the exact exercises used in her workout:

SHOULDER EXERCISES

• NARROW SINGLE ARM PRESS: 20 reps total 4 sets. Kneeling down allows more control.
• MILITARY COMPLEX: 12 reps 3 sets. Make sure your core is engaged all the way through and try not over arch your back.
• LATERAL RAISE: 12-15 reps 4 sets leaning slightly forward so that you isolate your shoulders more.
• PULL APARTS: 12 reps 4 sets. This move will help you engage your front and middle deltoids.
• UPRIGHT ROW: 12 reps 3 sets. Try not to wobble and lose form when completing these.

Building muscle in your shoulders can make lifting weight in other workouts feel easier and like your body is ready to progressively overload in your resistance training.

When you next come to complete popular arm exercises like the bicep curl you should find yourself being able to move up weight quicker than if you only ever isolate your arm muscles when training.

Plus, research has discovered that strength training can be an extremely effective method for treating back pain. This study found that it can in some cases help to lower pain and discomfort for people suffering from chronic back pain.

Everyone is different and different types of training will suit others more. If you don't like working out with weights but still want to train your upper body then you can still get results from using calisthenic style exercises - why not use our guide on how to do a push up properly.