Focus & Benefits: We target cardiovascular endurance with minimal rest and longer duration work intervals in this efficient, but challenging, bodyweight routine. The focus on moderate intensity efforts will help improve your ability to sustain increasingly demanding physical activity over longer periods of time. The benefits of consistently training the heart and lungs in this capacity extend beyond endurance-focused endeavors, leading to improvements in strength, power, and even cognitive performance as well.
Equipment: All you need is your body and a mat/comfortable surface for the core finisher!
Tips & Helpful Information: Feel free to add exercises to the warm-up (or repeat it) as needed — we quickly delve into the main work of the routine and sometimes our bodies need a bit more preparation than the prescribed warm-up. If you’re pressed for time, note that the workout progresses in intensity along the way; therefore, the first pair of exercises can be treated as an extension of the warm-up as they are the least intense pair of the routine.
Difficulty & Modifications Explained: The level 4 rating of this workout stems from the longer duration work intervals and the moderate amount of coordination required to combine exercise pairs at the end of each segment. However, the exercises are straightforward enough so that you can primarily focus on filling each working interval with movement. You ultimately determine the overall intensity of the workout by altering cadence, range of motion, and your choices of modifications versus progressions for each exercise.
Closing Notes: On a scale of 1 (“I’m sitting on my couch watching tv”) to 10 (“I’m sprinting at max effort”), this workout should feel like a 6 or 7 at most but you can still push yourself beyond this perceived exertion towards more of an 8 or 9 feel. Just remember, as working interval durations increase, our effort/intensity often decreases without the inclusion of longer recovery periods; therefore, you might not be able to sustain a maximum effort for each working interval.
At the end of the day, keep your main focus on enjoying the workout!
Workout
Warm-Up: 30 sec per exercise, no rest between exercises (4:00)
-Hip Openers + Squat
-Squat-to-Plank Step Back
-Full Plank: Knee Pull-Ins (slow tempo)
-Blastoff Squat + Overhead Slams
-Reverse Lunge Taps + Sprinter’s Arms (mid-tempo) – R
-Reverse Lunge Taps + Sprinter’s Arms (mid-tempo) – L
-Lateral Shuffles (mid-tempo, no floor tap)
-A-Skip High Knees
***30 sec off***
Format: Complete 2 rounds of Exercise #1 and Exercise #2 (30 sec on / 10 sec off). Rest for 20 seconds before completing the Combo for 60 seconds.
Pair #1: (4:00)
-Exercise #1: Quick Tempo Chest Opener Squats
-Exercise #2: Jumping Jacks
-Combo: 2 Quick Tempo Chest Opener Squats + 4 Jumping Jacks
***30 sec off**
Pair #2: (4:00)
-Exercise #1: Inchworm + Push-Up
-Exercise #2: Skaters
-Combo: 1 Inchworm + Push-Up + 6 Skaters (reps total)
***Water Break #1***
Pair #3: (4:00)
-Exercise #1: Lateral Shuffles (with floor tap)
-Exercise #2: High Knees
-Combo: 3 Lateral Shuffles + 10 High Knees (reps total)
***30 sec off*** [A timer malfunction made this recovery 20 seconds. Legend has it that I’m still angry about the 10 seconds we lost.]
Pair #4: (4:00)
-Exercise #1: Twisting Mountain Climbers
-Exercise #2: Pop-Up Plank/Squat Thrust
-Combo: 8 Twisting Mountain Climbers + 1 Pop-Up Plank/Squat Thrust
***Water Break #2***
Core Finisher: 20 sec on / 5 sec off / 2 rounds - 15 sec off between rounds (3:30)
-Jackknife Crunch (hands behind head)
-Hollow Hold
-Full/Butterfly Leg Sit-Up
-Full Plank
Cool-Down: approx. 30 sec per stretch (approx. 4:00)
-Child’s Pose
-Kneeling: Quads/Hip Flexors with Lizard Pose – R
-Kneeling: Quads/Hip Flexors with Lizard Pose – L
Seated
-Forward Fold Hamstring Stretch
-Spinal Twist with Knee Hug - R
-Spinal Twist with Knee Hug – L
-Chest Opener/Biceps Stretch (hands behind body)
-Knee/Tree Hug Stretch