The first thing that comes to mind is playing sports. Whether it be basketball, tennis, raquetball, soccer, or other sports that require a high activity level, great cardio benefits can be achieved by participating in these activities. After sports, many individuals have a hard time thinking of other ways to increase the enjoyment they get out of cardio. For those people, I recommend grabbing a few friends and going to the park. At the park, set up an “obstacle course” of exercises. For example:

-Mark off 30 yards for a fast jog/sprint.
-Mark off 30 yards for a backwards jog/sprint
-Mark off 30 yards for a sideways shuffle
-Set a designated area for some pushups
-Set a designated area for abdominal exercises
-Set a designated area for dynamic exercises

Here is what your set up should look like:

Many of you are probably confused by the “Dynamic Zone”. I like this area to be a spot for explosive, full body movements. For example, squat jumps, split jumps, tuck jumps, burpees, etc.

As far as the abs area, I suggest switching the exercise each time you get to that area in the circuit. Some ideas are sit ups, crunches, lemon squeezers, side crunches, toe touches, leg lifts, trunk twists, etc.

In the push up area, shoot for a number to achieve each time you get to that area on the circuit.

Overall, performing this workout for 20 minutes should have you feeling pretty tired. I like doing this every once in a while to mix up my routine and get a great workout. I recommend keeping track of how many times you can complete the circuit in a set period of time. The next time you perform the workout, try and beat that number. Competition, whether it be with yourself or a partner, is a great way to keep yourself motivated.

Squats 6 x 10, 8, 8, 6, 5, 5 — really work on your squat depth. Try to get a touch past parallel.

Romanian Deadlifts 3 x 15 — you should feel a good stretch in your hamstring while performing these and a lot of soreness the next day.

Dumbell Lunges 3 x 10 per leg — this is a nice, somewhat functional lift.

Single Leg Hamstring Curls 3 x 12 –most people have much more development in their quadriceps than hamstrings. Use this exercise to correct that balance.

Calf Raises 3 x 15-25 –feel the burn. A solid finisher to a great leg day.

Although it seems that this is not enough exercises. It will provide great benefits. Squats are the single best exercise to develop power, strength, and size. Performing big, compound lifts like this will really help your strength and size gains. I hope this workout works out great for you and don’t forget to warm up before and stretch after!

This routine is aimed for the intermediate lifter. I would not suggest performing this workout for your first day in the gym. The goal of this chest and tricep workout is to build strength and size. Performing these exercises one day per week would be sufficient and will allow for proper rest and growth. Here are the exercises:

Bench Press

Dumbell Bench Press

Cable Cross

Push Ups

Skullcrushers

Tricep Pressdowns

I like to start this workout with the bench press because it is part of the Big 3 (what I consider to be the 3 best compound exercises–the other two are squats and deadlifts). I also like to get all of my chest-first exercises done before I move to the triceps. I would structure the order of my workout as such:

Bench Press 6 x 10, 10, 8, 8, 5, 5

Dumbell Bench Press 3 x 12

Cable Cross 4 x 10

Skullcrushers 3 x 12

Tricep Pressdowns 4 x 12

Pushups 3 x 30 (or as many as you can)

When reading this workout, you may get confused by the numbers and the x’s. The first number is refers to to the number of sets per exercise. The numbers after the x refer to the number of reps per set. Therefore, with bench press, when you see 6 x 10, 10, 8, 8, 5, 5, this means that you will complete 6 sets. The first two sets will be of 10 reps, followed by 2 sets of 8 reps, and the final two sets are of 5 reps each.

Notice how I put push ups at the end. I love to end workouts with a body weight exercise that really pushes your limits. Performing these push ups will end your workout with a bang. You should feel exhausted and fully pumped.

This workout is from the 1st day of a 4 week program that I have put together. I will be posting other components to this program later on. So until then, hit the gym and start blasting the chest and triceps!