Strong Start is a strength circuit that splits its attention evenly between your lower body and your midsection: 10 split lunges, 10 cossack squats, 10 shoulder taps, 10 plank leg raises and 10 plank rotations, one after the other. It is the kind of session that sets the tone for the rest of the day - or the rest of a training program.

The circuit opens with its two hardest leg movements while you are freshest. Split lunges load your legs in the sagittal plane, moving forward and back; cossack squats immediately shift you into the frontal plane, sliding side to side through a deep range that most training never visits. Working both planes back to back builds legs that are strong in more than one direction. Then the workout drops you into a plank and keeps you there for three straight exercises - taps, leg raises, rotations - so your core has to stabilize against rotation, extension and lateral collapse in turn, with no reset between challenges.

In the cossack squat, keep the heel of your bent leg flat on the floor and your chest as upright as you can manage - depth comes with practice, so work at the range you can control. During plank leg raises, lift from the glute without letting your lower back arch. In plank rotations, move as one unit: the arm reaches up because your whole torso turns, not the other way around. Stack your supporting shoulder directly over your wrist at the top.

How you start tends to decide how you finish. Start strong.

Make it Harder: Add a pause at the bottom of every split lunge and cossack squat.

Make it Easier: Hold on to a chair or doorframe for balance during the cossack squats.