Are you ready for some intensive cardio that will leave you panting and exhausted? If you’re looking for a routine that is simple but brutally effective, then you can try this impressive cardio assault that takes just 20 minutes not counting rest time.
It’s very simple. Five exercises, performed for thirty seconds each and with no breaks. After one round, you rest for a set amount of time (1 minute should do it) and then go again. This constant 2 minute exertion will really be enough to raise the heartrate and to burn some serious fat and what’s more but it can be done anywhere and won’t take all that long.
Remember: you can make this harder or easier simply by challenging yourself to do more or fewer repetitions at speed. You get out of it what you put into it though – so if you’re going to make this a regular one, try increasing the number of reps every time you come back to it.
You will need a timer to keep track of each round. Try typing ‘interval timer 30 seconds’ onto YouTube and you should find one easily enough. And so, without further ado, here is the routine:
- Burpees
- Jumping lunges
- Jack knife crunches
- Lunges with a kick back
- Jump squats
Performing Each Movement
Burpees are your standard press up followed by a jumping jack. These are fantastic because they train the whole body and that’s a great way to start using all the muscles and to really involve the whole body and get the heartrate going.
Jumping lunges meanwhile involve doing a lunge and then jumping into a lunge on the other side. This requires you to generate explosive power from a deep lunge and is again very taxing for the aerobic system as a result.
Jack knife crunches are bicycle crunches but with a pause. So you’re bringing one elbow up to the other knee but instead of moving straight to the next rep, you’re going to hold the position for just a second or two. This helps to remove the momentum from the movement thus making it harder and it also incorporates an isometric hold which requires muscle control and balance.
Now another lunge. This time, you’re mixing things up by swinging your leg backwards before each move. This gets more involvement from the hip flexors and glutes and also makes the movement more full body and more coordinated.
Next up come the jumping squats. These are simply squats, except you’re going to jump at the top. This is a good way to make the standard bodyweight squat a little more challenging as you’ll need to generate enough explosive power to launch yourself in the air. It’s more plyometric and that means it’s more taxing on your cardio system.
By the end of this you should find your legs and abs are killing in particular and you’re short of breath. If you aren’t, then it’s time to do it faster!
