WORKOUT

Focus & Ben­e­fits: The pur­pose of this work­out is to chal­lenge both your body and brain with com­bi­na­tion car­dio exer­cis­es. We’re not nec­es­sar­i­ly aim­ing for a HIIT (high inten­si­ty inter­val train­ing) effect, but you could feel a ​“pleas­ant” heart rate spike dur­ing the 30-sec­ond burnout round that fol­lows each pair of exer­cise com­bos. Keep­ing your focus on fill­ing each work­ing inter­val with inten­tion­al move­ment will train your heart and lungs to adapt to increas­ing demands for oxy­gen as your mus­cles tire with fatigue from stren­u­ous workouts!

Equip­ment: All you need is your body and an option­al mat for the push-ups. I just sensed you smil­ing because I men­tioned push-ups.

Tips & Help­ful Infor­ma­tion: This work­out is a great addi­tion to your week­ly train­ing reg­i­men if you’re in a heavy lift­ing cycle. The dura­tion is short enough with a mod­er­ate­ly chal­leng­ing inten­si­ty to help you main­tain your car­dio­vas­cu­lar fit­ness while keep­ing your pri­ma­ry focus on improv­ing mus­cu­lar strength/​hypertrophy (growth).

Dif­fi­cul­ty & Mod­i­fi­ca­tions Explained: This work­out is rat­ed as a lev­el 4 due to the coor­di­na­tion required to switch between move­ment pat­terns dur­ing each combo.

Decrease your range of motion for any of the squatting/​lunging exer­cis­es but try to main­tain an urgency with your move­ment cadence. The push-ups and squat thrusts can be com­plet­ed on a sta­ble inclined sur­face to decrease your floor-to-stand­ing dif­fer­en­tial and alle­vi­ate poten­tial wrist discomfort.

Clos­ing Notes: This is a rel­a­tive­ly quick work­out so don’t feel too con­cerned with reserv­ing ener­gy in your tank to ascer­tain fin­ish­ing the rou­tine. Lean into the dis­com­fort and remind your­self that the unset­tled feel­ings are tem­po­rary, total­ly nor­mal, and maybe even a bit enjoyable!

Work­out
Warm-Up: 30 sec per exer­cise, no rest between exer­cis­es (4:00)
‑Chest Open­er Squats + Hip Openers
‑Zom­bie March
‑Alt. Reverse Lunges with Heel Lift (in lunge)
‑Squat-to-Plank Step Back
‑Push-Ups
‑Forward/​Back Jog Shuffle
‑High Knee A‑Skips (mid-tem­po)
‑Jump­ing Jacks

***30 sec off***

Com­bo For­mat: Com­plete 60 sec on / 20 sec off / 2 rounds of the com­bo exer­cis­es. Tran­si­tion for 5 sec and then imme­di­ate­ly com­plete 30 sec of the burnout exercise.
[60 on / 20 off / 2x – 5 sec off – 30 sec on] – this looks like a com­plex math prob­lem that no one asked for

Com­bo #1:
‑2 Reverse Lunges + 2 Squat Jumps
‑Burnout: Squat Jumps [Option: Blastoff Squats]

***30 sec off***

Com­bo #2:
‑4 A‑Skip High Knees + 4 Butt Kickers
‑Burnout: Butt Kickers

***Water Break***

Com­bo #3:
‑4 Push-Ups + 4 Squat Thrusts
‑Burnout: Squat Thrusts [Option: no hop – step back]

***30 sec off ***

Com­bo #4:
‑6 Foot Shuf­fles + 6 Paus­ing Track Starter Lunge Hops
‑Burnout: Paus­ing Track Starter Lunge Hops

Cool-Down: approx. 30 sec per stretch (approx. 4:00)
‑Split Stance: Quads/​Hip Flex­ors + Cross­body Shoul­der Stretch – R
‑Pyra­mid Hinge/​Hamstrings Stretch – R
‑Split Stance: Quads/​Hip Flex­ors + Cross­body Shoul­der Stretch – L
‑Pyra­mid Hinge/​Hamstrings Stretch – L
‑Alt. Lat­er­al Lunge Hold Stretch
‑Over­head Tri­ceps Exten­sion Stretch + Lats Side Bend – R
‑Over­head Tri­ceps Exten­sion Stretch + Lats Side Bend – L
‑Chest Open­er with Wrist Rota­tions + Tree Hug