To Candace Cameron Bure, any place can be a gym. The actress tones her obliques while watching her sons' hockey games, sneaks in glute work between takes in her dressing room, and has even used the Fuller House kitchen after hours to get in a round of push-ups and planks.
She makes it her goal to exercise for an hour to an hour and a half four times a week, but between taking care of three kids, filming a sitcom, writing a nonfiction book (Staying Stylish) and starring in her sixth Aurora Teagarden mystery — A Bundle of Trouble, airing Sunday, May 21 at 9 p.m. EST on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries — she'll take what she can get.
"If I can only do 20 minutes one day, I still go for it," Cameron Bure says. "I don't skip a workout if I don't have the time I'd like. Every little bit counts."
It's a philosophy she shares with her trainer Kira Stokes, who she met about two years ago while filming The View in New York. The two immediately became friends, and while Cameron Bure spends most of her time on the west coast now, they still do Facetime workouts twice a week. On the other days, Cameron Bure does a mixture of cardio and strength training that's all "Kira-approved."
So, given their #thegymiseverywhere outlook, we challenged the duo: Could you sneak in a full-body workout in the 30 minutes it takes to cook dinner? They readily agreed, hitting up the Delish kitchen to prove you can make a healthy meal — in this case, a lightened-up take on a Chipotle burrito bowl — and squeeze in a workout at the same time. After all, you've got to do something while those vegetables roast.
[youtube ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JpeJy63lnA&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]
The Meal: A Vegetarian Burrito Bowl
For the past two years, Cameron Bure's given up dairy and has cut out most meat, since she's found her body has a hard time digesting those foods. With that in mind, we created a Southwestern Burrito Bowl, loading up on one of Cameron Bure's favorites — sweet potatoes — and providing a mix of vegetables, brown rice (as a complex carb), and avocado (for the healthy fat).
To make it even healthier, Cameron Bure suggests swapping the carrots for shredded cabbage. You could also trade the brown rice for quinoa, for added protein.
Get the recipe here.
Once you've completed steps 1 and 2 — getting the brown rice cooking, blending the citrus vinaigrette, and putting the sweet potatoes and onions in the oven to roast — you're ready to wash your hands and get your fitness on.
The Workout: Full-Body Toning
Cameron Bure's big on mixing strength-training moves and cardio, something she learned from Stokes (her Stoked Method is based on "muscle confusion," meaning that the routine always changes — so your body never plateaus at a certain fitness level). After a quick look around the kitchen, Stokes came up with these moves anyone could do to sneak in a full-body routine — all in the time it takes for dinner to cook.
Hit The Barre
Using the handle on your dishwasher — or holding the edge of your counter — you can warm up with a little barre work, like you're in ballet class ... in the middle of your kitchen.
25 pliés
25 knee pulses
While you're in the plié position, squeeze your knees a few inches closer together, then release, keeping your abs tight and your buns clenched. "It prevents gluteal amnesia," Stokes says, referring to that flat, pancake butt effect that can occur when you're sitting all day and never get those bum muscles active.
20 leg pulses (two ways!)
Lean forward, holding your arms against the dishwasher handle or on the counter, extending one leg straight out. Raise it an inch or two and bring it back down. That's one rep — 19 to go!
Once you're done with that, bend your raised leg at the knee, so your foot's pointed toward the ceiling. Point your toe and raise that leg up two inches, down two inches.
Lift & hold — Go on tiptoe, holding one leg straight out behind you. Hold it for 10 seconds. Is that leg sizzling yet?
Good, 'cause it's time to repeat with the other leg.
Gimme A Lift
25 squats and shoulder presses (holding a pineapple!)
Stokes and Cameron Bure love a good combo move, and this one works all of your major muscle groups. They grabbed a pineapple, since it was on hand (hey, you never know when you'll need to make a batch of piña coladas in a pineapple!), but a watermelon, gallon of water, or classic medicine ball would work. "Anything that's got a little weight and is easy to hold," Stokes says. "Squeeze the pineapple tight to contract your arms a little bit."
She suggests doing two pulses as you squat, just to get in a little extra toning. It's one of Cameron Bure's favorite moves.
"This feels like I'm getting every muscle in my body," she explains. "It's a good one!"
Get Counter-Intuitive
25 tricep push-ups — Lean against the counter and go into a push-up, keeping your buns squeezed and your elbows skimming your sides as you press down, Stokes says. You can turn it into a plyometric move by pushing off of the counter between each push-up, like Stokes and Cameron Bure do in the video above.
25 tricep pulses
Wine Out
Grab two wine bottles and get ready, because this arm workout's surprisingly intense. "You can drink it after, but we've got to earn it first," Stokes says.
25 tricep kickbacks
25 arm pulses
Holding your arms straight out behind you, lean forward and gently raise your arms up an inch and down an inch, 25 times.
25 lateral raises
Stand up straight, hold your arms out at both sides — forming a T with your body — and slowly raise and lower your arms.
25 bicep curls
"We're going to turn it to the year 1980 and get a little bicep burnout going on here," Stokes laughs, as she uses the wine bottles as dumbbells.
At this point, you're ready to towel off — "I might have to shower before dinner," Cameron Bure jokes — and warm up the black beans, because it's time to make the burrito bowls. Seriously, it's that simple. (And now you officially have no excuse not to work out.)
Video by Chelsea Lupkin, John Komar, and Philip Swift
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