Personally, I hate cardio and nearly all forms of conditioning.
With a pretty strong passion at-that.
I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t enjoy running sprints from time to time, but it’s not usually on my “to-do list.” However, I can also admit that after being out of action with injury for almost 7 months now I am in need of pushing some cardio in to my training, slimming down, and rebuilding my anaerobic threshold.
With the weather getting warmer I think we all are fully in the phase where we want to lean-down for the summer a little bit, and you can give these two workouts a try this week for anything from jump starting your metabolism to just changing the pace of your routine a little bit!
Sure, I could tell you to spend 30 minutes straight on a Jacob’s Ladder or other piece of cardio equipment; but that’s not fun!
These aren’t your “Total Gym” workouts you see on TV, these 2 workouts will push your body!
Workout 1.)
5 Rounds for Time!
200 kcal Stationary Bicycle
20 Air Squats
50 Push-ups
Workout 2.)
5 Rounds for Time!
150 kcal Stationary Bicycle
500m Row
35 Push-ups
First-off, both of these workouts took me over an hour to complete so don’t be intimidated by the numbers here, these workouts are strenuous and intense but people of all fitness levels can complete them at their own pace!
Unlike many “For-Time” style workouts featured in CrossFit plans, any of these type-of workouts I program for myself strictly take in consideration how the movement quality of each exercise will be effected as time goes on in the workout.
Along with this, I like to take in to consideration is it even movements that everyone can do? By aligning these bodyweight exercises together, you can be sure that not only will you complete an intense workout, but you don’t have to be concerned you are stressing your body in an unnatural way!
Completing these 2 workouts as a whole this week or at others will give you numerous advantages including:
- Burning an extremely large amount of calories during the workout alone. All “calorie counters” for exercise equipment are wrong to some degree, but regardless your aiming for a very high number of total calories burned in each workout and your body will certainly feel this! This workout will increase your fat burning potential and help you lose fat fast!
- Your metabolism will be drastically shocked due to the metabolic fatigue of these workouts. Pairing antagonist exercises, and exercises which require different energy systems together, (such as in these workouts) promotes your body to burn calories far after the workout is finished (Excess Post Oxygen Consumption)!
- Knocking out your “cardio” for the entire week in two trips to the gym! The metabolic impact of these workouts alone I enough for the week, and you can go back to focusing on moving heavy weights!
- You are guaranteed two great nights of sleep after you complete these workouts! Because, believe me…
Workout #1 made me sweat more, that is for sure.
However, the rowing in workout #2 left me feeling “gassed” and out of breath far more than in any part of workout #1.
The push-ups in both workouts brought me to failure both times, which regardless will elicit some amount of muscle growth in your shoulders, triceps and pectoral muscles.
While the squats being added to the first workout was slightly over-the-top and REALLY impact your leg routine.
Adding any more squats to that workout would have been overkill I am sure!
Try these workouts this week and let me know your time and how they go for you! Remember, the most important rule is to make sure your movement quality is 100% on every rep! Especially when doing longer and more metabolically intense workouts, form is more important than ever.
As you begin to tire your body doesn’t want to move as efficiently as it did before. Just keep your focus on performing every rep and exercise correctly and enjoy the benefits of challenging yourself with a couple intense conditioning workouts this week!
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