As much as I would love to encourage you to go to the gym every day and push yourself past your limit, I understand that time is something that might be stopping you from making your health a priority. Trying to balance everything can cause more stress than it’s worth, which is why I want to share with you the three most effective exercises you can do to speed up your metabolism, tone up, and burn fat.

Doing compound movements that require multiple muscle groups to work at once are the most effective for burning fat overall. Your body will be forced to burn more energy to help you through each one of these exercises. All three of these exercises can be done in the comfort of your own home and put together in a sequence along with other exercises to create a full workout.

3 Most Effective Exercises

• Step Up to Lunge: This movement targets every muscle in your lower body by forcing your glutes and quads to work together to get you up on the step and come down with another glute and quad movement the lunge. To do this exercise you will need a steady chair or table that is at least to the height of your knee. If you would like to advance this movement add a pair of dumbbells and a double lunge. To begin, step yourself up by placing your entire foot on the steady chair or bench. Drive yourself up through your heel and quad without letting your knee go over your toe and stand all the way up onto the chair or bench. As you come down, prepare yourself to go into a lunge. Drop down into a lunge with both legs at 90 degrees and not letting your knee go over your toe.

• Plank: An exercise that targets your entire body is one you should be aiming to do everyday. The plank is an excellent example of a highly effective exercise for targeting body fat effectively. To begin, place your hands underneath your shoulders and shoot your legs back. Make sure to keep your hips in line and keep your feet as wide as your shoulders. If you are new to planks, step out a bit wider than your hips. If you are advanced, try planking on one hand and one foot to challenge yourself. Try and hold this exercise for at least 30 seconds to one minute.

• Deadlifts: Compound movements like the deadlift which work your back, glutes, and hamstrings is essential for a highly effective workout routine. This exercise is one I do at least three times a week to promote growth in my booty and a tighter back area for tank tops. To do this exercise, you want to hold onto dumbbells that are at least 10 lbs or more. Start with your feet hip width apart and with a slight bend in your knee. Squeeze your abs before you begin. Hinge at your hips with your knees slightly bend and lower your upper body until it’s almost parallel to the floor. Keep the weights close to your body so you don’t fall over. To advance this exercise, add more weight to make it more challenging.

If you enjoyed these movements, I want to invite you try them and see how effectively they shape up your body. You don’t have to spend hours in the gym to get results, you can pick compound body movements that work multiple muscles at once to hack your way into a bikini body.

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Courtney Bentley is a certified personal trainer and sports nutrition expert. Visit her website at CourtneyVioletBentley.com. Join her Fit & Fabulous Club for meal programs and workouts. Like her page on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.