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20 minutes and a single set of heavy dumbbells is all you’ll need to set your legs – and metabolism – ablaze

If your leg routine usually consists of more machines than a Tesla factory, but you’re just not seeing progress, it may be time to strip things back to the basics. Leave the squats and leg extensions to gather dust for a week or two and focus on good-quality movement – and when we say movement, we mean it. You’re going to cover some serious distance with this one, putting your legs to task doing what they’re designed to do: move you from A to B, quickly.

A high-energy combo of walking lunges, core-blasting carries and lung-searing burpees to ramp up your heart rate: 20 minutes and a single set of heavy dumbbells is all you’ll need to set your legs – and metabolism – ablaze.

After a thorough warm-up, set a countdown timer for 20 minutes and work non-stop through the following circuit, for as many rounds as possible. Keep your rest short and sharp, but for maximum gains keep your form sharper.

If your gym doesn’t have a track, or anywhere to perform carries, sub in 30 seconds of alternating lunges, followed by 30 secs each of front rack and farmer’s marches on the spot, finishing each round with 20 rapid-fire burpees.

Now let’s clock some miles up.

Standing tall, grab a set of dumbbells and hold them with straight arms by your sides (A). Keeping your chest up at all times, take a long step forward with one leg, bending your front knee until the back knee touches the ground (B). Stand up explosively, pause and repeat with the other leg, moving forward.

Don’t let go of your weights just yet. Instead, clean them up to your shoulders, knuckles almost grazing your chin. Again, walk forward with purpose: head and chest up, eyes forward. Try to ensure you walk in a straight line and avoid lateral movement as much as possible.

Keep this stroll strong by lowering your hands to your sides (A). Let your arms hang freely at your sides, take a deep breath into your core and begin a fast, deliberate march (B). When you reach the 20m mark, lower your weights to the ground for the finisher.

Drop your dumbbells and immediately squat down, placing both hands on the floor between your feet. Jump your feet back into the top of a press-up and lower your chest to the ground (A). Straighten your arms and hop your feet forwards, before jumping into the air with hands on head (B).