We have officially hit the milestone marker of 100 free full length workout videos (as of June 2012)!

The best part about hitting #100 is that we are still completely overwhelmed with new ideas for routines – we are really only just getting started.

Since this was a “special occasion” workout of sorts, we decided to do something a little different; we wanted to film together, our very first partner workout video.

We have heard from many of our viewers who do our videos with their spouses/significant other, friends, siblings, or parents. In this partner workout, you will very literally be working out with each other. Grab your workout buddy & have fun with this one; it is short but effective.

For this Couples Workout, you will need:
A Partner
Optional: A Weight Object (dumbbell, medicine ball, water bottle, book, etc)

Routine Structure
8 Exercises
1 Round
9 Minutes

14 Partner Squats + Rows – Stand across from your partner, and grab one another’s opposite hands. Sink back into a squat, extending your arms and leaning back, using the other person’s bodyweight as leverage so that you don’t fall backwards. Do 7 reps on each arm; 14 reps total. As an added bonus, this serves as a good trust exercise as well!

15 Crunch + Passes – Sit on a mat facing one another, legs nearly extended (with a slight bend), crossing over one another. Have one person hold onto your weighted object as you both go down & then back up to complete a situp. Once you are both back up at that starting sitting position, pass the weighted object to the other person as you go back down towards the mat to complete another situp. You will both do a situp each time, even if you are not the one holding onto the weight.

14 Partner Push Planks – With your heads pointed at each other, about arms length away from your partner, go into a plank. Now lift one hand up from your plank and give your partner’s shoulder a good push; they will be doing the same on your opposite shoulder. This is a great total body toning exercise, especially for your core, muscles, arms, and shoulders. It is also good for building balance.

10 Partner Sit + Passes – Grab a single weight and stand back to back with your partner and use their bodyweight to ease into a wall sit that uses your partner as the “wall”. Hold this position while you pass the weight back and forth overhead ten times. Your butt and thighs will be screaming by the time that you are done.

30 Hand Partner Pushes – One person stands with arms extended, palms pressed together; the other person pushes and presses the hands up, down, sideways – any which way that might catch the partner off guard. You will feel this in your abs – partially because you have to keep your core tight to prevent from being pushed allover the place, and partially from laughing.

14 Lunges with Rotations – Grab a single weight, stand side by side with your partner and go down into a lunge. Rotate to the outside, and then to the inside where one person will pass the weight to the other person before returning to the starting position. Do 7 reps this way before repositioning your bodies so that you will be passing the weight at the opposite part of the rotation.

14 Leg Raise Push Downs – One person lies out flat on their back; the other person will be standing over them with their feet on either side of their head. Have the person lying down extend their legs straight up in the air, holding onto the feet of their partner for leverage. Now the standing partner will try to push their partner’s legs down and towards the floor; the partner lying down will resist and lift them back up each time. Have each person do 14 repetitions. This is a very effective lower abs exercise and you will also feel it in your thighs.

10 Russian Twists + Passes – Grab a single weight and sit on a mat back to back with your partner, a foot or so apart. Do a Russian Twist (lean back and rotate only at the torso) towards one another, passing your weight off to your partner. Do ten repetitions in the same direction before switching off to do another 10 in the opposite direction. This is a good partner exercise for the obliques and lower back.

We estimate that these partner exercises burn roughly 5-9 calories a minute, or 45-81 calories total. You can bump up the calorie burn significantly by using a heavy weight for the routine, or by doing the routine 2-3 times through.