An Anna Paquin Workout: Six Exercises from the True Blood Star’s Personal Trainer

Barbell Lunges

Targets: Glutes, also thighs.

1. Perform exercise inside a squat rack for safety. Set the bar on a rack just below your shoulder level.

2. Load the bar with 5-10 pound* plates before beginning, then step under the bar and place the back of your shoulders across the bar. Your neck should be slightly above the bar. [*Correct weight for the lunge should be heavy enough to give a serious burn by the last few reps but not so heavy as to compromise correct form, that is, knees forming 90 degrees and vertebrae perfectly aligned all the way to the base of the skull.]

3. Hold the bar so when your upper arms are outstretched, your forearms and hands form a right angle to your upper arms. Lift the bar off the rack with your core engaged, your arms lifting and your torso straightening simultaneously.

4. Lunge forward with your left leg, landing on the heel and then the forefoot. Keeping your glutes strong, your lower stomach pulled in and your core engaged, lower your body until your left knee forms a right angle above your left foot and your rear knee comes down just above the floor.

5. Beginner: Hold for a moment, then straighten knees to standing scissor position for a moment before repeating lunge. Reps: 12 on left side, then switch to right.

Intermediate: Use left leg to push back into standing position with legs parallel, hip’s width apart. (If doing this more advanced movement, be sure action originates from glutes and thighs and not from your knee.) Reps: Alternate left and right for a total of 12 barbell lunges on each side.

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