FITNESS FRIDAY: Sweat and Solitaire

Need a fun and quirky way to change up your workout routine?

Thanks to this interview with Carrie Underwood,  I've got a great idea for you to try next time you get bored with your normal regime!

SWEAT AND SOLITAIRE

 

1. Split a DECK OF CARDS in half, and assign each suit a body area (i.e. core for hearts, legs for diamonds, arms for spades, and cardio for clubs). 

2. Write down a few exercises for each body area, and flip the first card on the deck. If it's the six of diamonds, for example, you could do 6 squats. If the second card is the ace of spades, you could do 14 push-ups. 

3. Keep on flipping till you complete every card in the deck!

Here's a little example from part of my workout yesterday...

KEY:
Hearts: Core exercises (Bicycle, V-ups, Briefcase)
Diamonds: Leg exercises (Explosive lunges, Split squat, Single-leg deadlift)
Spades: Arm exercises (Push-ups, Curl and press, Chest fly)
Clubs: Cardio exercises (Burpees, Mountain climbers, Box jumps)

After warming up, I flipped the first three cards in the deck and completed my first 4 exercises as a short circuit. After I completed the 4 exercises, I took a *very* short break, flipped the next 4 cards over, and started up again! Here are the first 4 cards and their corresponding exercises...

6 of Diamonds...6 explosive lunges on each leg
3 of Hearts...3 bicycle crunches
Jack of Diamonds...11 split squats on each leg
8 of Spades...8 push-ups

I kept up this rotation until I finished the entire deck! Also, I made sure there was a joker somewhere in the deck, and when I drew it, I completed a plank for as long as I could (in yesterday's case, I lasted 4:06).

Oh, and here's your daily dose of fitness laughter...

 

Happy Friday!