Danielle Pascente, a fitness expert, model, and influencer, inspires her followers with practical advice and approachable workout routines. Recently, she shared a post on Instagram offering alternatives to lunges for those who dislike or struggle with them, captioning it, “Hate lunges??? Raise your hand 🙋🏼♀️🙋🏼♀️ or maybe can’t do them for whatever reason but want to work similar muscle groups - TRY THESE!” From using dumbbells to embracing consistency, Pascente emphasizes finding joy in movement and building sustainable fitness habits.
She Works Her Legs
As you can see from her Instagram post, Pascente likes to do lower body workouts. She wrote in the caption, “I probably get asked this 1-2 times per day in the DMs, but people want subs for lunges and though it’s tough to mimic the exact movement - there’s so many great exercises that work similar muscle groups and are maybe in a different position / plane. Add these 4 to your rotation and you can work up from bodyweight to weighted 👍🏼 the extra resistance will make it a bit more spicy - but start where you’re at and work from there. 1️⃣STEP UPS 2️⃣SINGLE LEG HIP THRUST 3️⃣SPLIT STANCE SQUAT 4️⃣SINGLE LEG GLUTE BRIDGE. Let me know if this was helpful and hit that share button if it was 🫶”
She Uses Dumbbells
Pascente likes to workout with dumbbells. She shared this video on Instagram of herself doing a full body workout with them. Pascente captioned it, “This one is a bang for your buck, let’s break it down. Protocol: 5 exercises, 5 rounds, 45 seconds on, 15 seconds rest. Feel free to change the intervals on that to whatever you want OR you can just create rep counts for each exercise and make it circuit style - choosing the amount of rounds you want. 1️⃣LATERAL SQUAT TO SNATCH 2️⃣HOVER TO PLANK DB ROW 3️⃣DL TO STEP BACK LUNGE 4️⃣PUSH UP TO DB PULL THROUGH 5️⃣DOUBLE DB SWING PRESS.”
She Does Workouts She Enjoys
Pascente shared some of her workout tips in the caption of this Instagram post. “FIND A FORM OF MOVEMENT YOU ENJOY. Seems like a no brainer but you’d be surprised how many people force themselves to do exercise they hate. During what will already be a busy season - allow yourself to find the movement that you ACTUALLY enjoy showing up for. Your consistency will THRIVE when you do this.”
She Works Out 3-4 Times A Week
Pascente revealed in the previous post’s caption that she works out on a regular basis. “SHOW UP FOR SAID MOVEMENT 3-4 TIMES A WEEK. Yep, you read that right. I didn’t say 7. Not even 5. I’m trying to keep you showing up so we are starting with a realistic goal of 3X per week. If you’re feeling good on that AWESOME - add more as you see fit. But use that as a starting point because I find that 3/7 days is a lot easier to commit to than 6/7 or 7/7 yes?”
She Doesn't Pressure Herself
Pascente talked about the importance of not putting pressure on yourself in the previous post’s caption. “DITCH THE ALL OR NOTHING MENTALITY. There’s nothing more self sabotaging than this during the holidays. It starts October 31st ‘omg I ate a shit ton of candy and didn’t workout at all’ - ‘fuck it I’ll start working out January 1st’ YA’LL!!!! THIS IS SILLY BUSINESS! Just take the next best step. Keep showing up for yourself in positive habit stacking ways. It doesn’t have to always look perfect and it won’t. But don’t give up when you miss a day or week of exercise / eating nutrient packed food. ZOOM OUT! Bigger picture. It’s not all or nothing - it’s something is something! Something is better than nothing. Be proud of what you CAN do and allow for enjoyment throughout!!”