2026 Prep: Build Your Strength Baseline on the Total Gym
Maria Sollon, MS, CSCS, PES
Preparation is everything. Before the New Year begins, lay a foundation of strength, control, and confidence with this Total Gym Prep workout. Each movement primes your muscles, builds stamina, and establishes a solid baseline of strength and stability that will give you the foundation to achieve your 2026 fitness goals.
Get ready to move intentionally with movements that challenge your body, and prepare your muscles to step into the New Year strong, capable, and prepared for whatever comes next!
Prep with Purpose
This Total Gym routine isn’t about exhausting yourself. It’s about preparing intelligently. By conditioning your muscles through full ranges of motion and maintaining consistency in your training, you develop muscular stamina, control, and functional strength. This routine supports overall fitness, primes your muscles for more advanced movements, and keeps your body active through the busiest time leading up to the New Year!
The best part of this routine is that it’s adaptable to your schedule and your fitness level. Perform these moves as a standalone workout or integrated into an existing program.
You can also adjust the intensity to match your fitness level:
- Incline adjustments based on the exercise
- Tempo variations (slow for control, faster for endurance, or a tempo mix)
- Range of motion tweaks (full range, pulses, or shorter movements)
- Reps and sets modifications (based on your workout timing and how you feel)
- Incorporate extra exercises to challenge specific areas (exercises you love)
No matter how you tailor it, the goal remains the same: smooth, intentional movement that feels as good as it works.
Directions:
- Warm up before starting the workout to insure your muscles are prepared to move.
- Aim to perform each exercise for 10-20 reps and 1-3 sets based on workout timing.
- Option: time each exercise for 1 minute, then move on to the next exercise with minimal rest.
- End with a set of stretches that help recover the muscles worked and prevent injury.
- Check out the video to see a demonstration of these Total Gym Exercises.
Set Up: AB Crunch Accessory, low-medium incline level (adjust accordingly)
Key: GB = Glideboard
The Moves
This quick Total Gym workout is designed to do a lot in a little time. The sequence focuses primarily on strength and core movements, but performed in a non-stop cadence. It challenges your stamina and muscular endurance… so much so that it might feel like a cardio session. In just a few intentional moves, your body will be conditioning strength, core, and cardiovascular endurance, all at once! This builds a solid foundation for your New Year goals.
BODY WEIGHT + GLIDEBOARD (GB)
- Burpee Slide Out
A low-impact Total Gym take on the classic burpee. Stand at the bottom of the GB to perform each move in steps; (1) squat down, (2a) place hands on the GB and glide out to a plank, (2b) hold for a moment or option to push-up, (3) glide back to close the GB, and (4) stand up. Repeat!
- Targets: muscle stamina, core, shoulders, and lower body
- Tip: Focus on maintaining fluid movement.
- Saw (Forearm Plank)
From a forearm plank, open and close the glide board with your forearms (“sawing” motion), while maintaining the plank; straight line from head to heels.
- Targets: core, shoulders, lower body strength, and spinal stabilizers.
- Tip: Keep movements deliberate. Precision matters more than speed.
- Lateral Lunge + Repeaters
Stand at the bottom of the glide board facing one side. Place one foot on the GB (foot position will depend on individual leg length). Perform a lateral lunge (supporting leg on floor squats while leg on GB remains straight). Perform Repeaters to challenge stamina, balance and mobility while reinforcing lower-body strength. Perform on both sides!
- Targets: glutes, quads, and adductors
- Tip: Focus on executing proper lateral lunge form by keeping the nose, knee, and toes in the SAME line on the lunge.
AB CRUNCH ACCESSORY
4. Knee Tucks
Keeping shoulders stacked on top of elbows, tuck the knees in and out toward your chest.
- Targets: abdominals, hip flexors, shoulder stability, and muscular endurance.
- Tip: Adjust the incline and explore different ranges of motion to match your fitness level.
- Oblique Tucks (Right / Left)
Using the same set up as Knee Tucks (#4), angle the knees to one side, perform the same tucking motion towards the chest to target the obliques. Repeat on both sides.
- Targets: obliques, hip flexors, shoulder stability, and muscular endurance.
- Tip: Maintain steady, controlled movement for maximum benefit. When changing sides, keep the knees tucked to chest and then change the knees to the other side or rest for a moment and rest completely.
Prep work is about setting standards, not just for how you train, but for how your body performs. This Total Gym routine builds strength, stamina, and control through purposeful movement, creating a solid baseline your future workouts can build upon.
Use this workout as a standalone session or layer it into your existing routine as you plan your daily movement and begin mapping out your 2026 fitness goals. A strong foundation now allows you to progress with confidence later.
If you give this workout a try, tag me on social media. I’d love to cheer you on as you move into the New Year feeling strong, prepared, and ready!
Wishing you a healthy, active holiday season,
Maria
@groovysweat
