An easy and effective interval/circuit training workout...

gerbies

Learned a great way to make a quick and effective workout. It's an interval/circuit based workout that anyone can do. You select 7 exercises, one each targeting a different body part (biceps, shoulder, tricep, legs, back/chest, abs) and then a cardio burst exercise (jumping jacks, high knees, burpees, jump rope, etc.). You do each exercise back-to-back with no rest (the set of exercises is one interval). In each interval, you do each exercise the same number of reps and you do the cardio for 1 minute. The reps for each exercise changes in each interval, starting with 25 reps in the first interval. You decrease the reps in each interval as follows: 25, then 20 reps in the second interval of exercises, then 15 reps, then 10 reps, and finally 5 reps; the cardio remains one minute for all 5 intervals. I rest one minute between intervals to catch my breath. With a warm-up and cooldown, this workout took me 55 minutes and I sweat buckets! The great thing is that you can change the exercises for the body parts to mix things up. Love, love, love!!

Here's what I did today:

Warm-up (kickboxing punches, kicks, dancing) - 8 minutes

Workout (40 mins):

Shoulder Press (dumbbells)
Squats
Bicep triple sets (lower range of motion, upper range of motion, full range of motion)
Overhead tricep press
Push-ups
Overhead toe pikes (standing, arms overhead, lift leg to meet arms/fingers parallel to ground)
Cardio (jumping jacks, high knees, buttkicks, punch sequences)


I did 5 intervals, with reps starting with 25, then 20-15-10-5.

Cooldown - 7 minutes - light kickboxing, stretching

Total workout - 55 minutes

Equipment - music, dumbbells