return to cards : random vaca workout

Great reminder that one of the best quick workouts is simple and effective.

Deck of death

Black = pushups (various grips)

Red = squats

Numbered cards = number of reps

Face cards = 10 reps

Ace = 11 reps

Get through the deck as fast as you can. The speed of this workout makes it a bear. I've experimented with adding more exercises to the mix -

3 exercises, spades/clubs are unilateral leg exercises. Red is one exercise.

4 exercises, each suit is something.

-

But keeping the exercise count to 2 removes guesswork and ups the difficulty. There is no hiding from anything difficult with 2 exercises. Your strength endurance is taxed immediately.

You will never repeat the same workout twice. Ever. 

I used squats and pushups today because i have no equipment. At home, things like dips, rows, pullups, etc can be easily substituted. 

What variations to use?

Do some or do none. It doesn't matter.

Difficulty modifiers

1. Use harder variations on 1-5 reps

Ex: 

ring dip instead of dip

L sit pullup instead of pullup

Diamond pushup instead of pushup 

Jump squat instead of squat

2. Go through the deck twice

Not gonna lie. This is absolutely brutal. If i take this route, i will typically make sure round 2 is only comprised of easy variations.

3. Double the volume of a movement 

Typically reserved for lower body work. Double the rep value of every card.

3 = 6

King = 20

4. Add weight

Bold move Cotton.