Good morning!
I awoke to pouring down rain, thunderstorms and a really loud alert on my phone that we were under a tornado warning. It’s looking like nothing but the same weather for the rest of my day. Always good for my productivity!
Did you know that Thursday is typically the slowest day of the work week in the fitness industry? I wish I could show you a snap shot of the gym on Tuesdays at 6 a.m. versus Thursdays at 6 a.m. It seems that people start the week motivated and ready to go but fall off the wagon by Thursday. They usually rally for Friday to get a workout in before the weekend. Slow Thursdays are especially true for evenings during the spring and summer because people get roped into happy hours, baseball games, Alive After Five type events and more. I taught BodyPump on Thursdays at 6 p.m. for four years. There was always a sharp attendance drop when these events kicked off for the season.
Why am I sharing all of this with you? Because I have an awesome workout for you today that is SHORT, INTENSE and EFFICIENT. It gets the job done in under 20 minutes so you can get in and out of the gym and on with fun Thursday activities.
This is a cardio heavy leg workout that will send your heart rate through the roof and make you wonder if your legs might fall off. Don’t worry, they won’t. I’ve done this workout myself and with several clients. It will burn but it’s all good! Just focus on how good all the squatting, lunges and stairs are for your butt! This workout is modified from a WOD that we did at Metro CrossFit last week.
This is a chipper style workout, meaning you’ll complete all of one interval/exercise before moving on to the next. I am not going to do a picture breakdown for this workout because the movements are basic.
Here are some of my notes on the workout:
– If you do not have access to a rower, you can run instead.
– The walking lunges are unweighted. 50 steps total.
– The air squats are unweighted. Bodyweight only.
– Modify the burpees as needed. Chest to ground would be the most advanced option.
– Choose the weight that works best for you on the wall balls. No wall ball? Just sub air squats or do a squat to overhead press with dumbbells. Don’t know what a wall ball is? Check out this video. (And don’t hate me forever for brining wall balls into your life! :))
– The stairs are 10 trips up and down one flight of stairs. No stairs available? Use a bench with low risers and mimic stair jogging for 100 reps.
The workout should take you somewhere between 15-23 minutes depending on pace and rest. As always, let me know if you have any questions and I’d love feedback if you try it.
Happy Sweating!
Jen
I think it’s crazy how Thursdays are so slow and now that I read that, I can totally relate to it at my work. Thanks so much for sharing this. I LOVE walking lunges, so I look forward to that portion of this workout!
yes! they are awesome. i use varieties of them regularly!
THIS LOOKS FANTASTIC (minus burpees haha)! I have to have a super quick workout tomorrow and it’s my leg day so this will work wonders! Thanks 🙂
embrace the burpees! 🙂
This workout looks awesome! Looking forward to trying it out. I had a training session scheduled this morning. The last thing I wanted to do this morning was workout but am so thankful for this planned session. My workout is complete for the day and I feel better for it!
congrats on getting it knocked out. i love it when my clients feel that way! 🙂
Rowing is a full body workout! I used to row in college, and would do workouts on the machines a few times a week (I hated it) but it’s great for both arm and leg strength
it totally is! i use it on the regular with my training clients and my classes. such a great workout!
Great workout! I haven’t rowed since when I was injured but it is a great full body workout! Love it!
it totally is. makes me wanna die a little!
30 burpees? UGH make me barf…I am going to give this a try next week and then test it out on some clients…I’ll let you know how it goes. Thanks sharing! XOXO
love those burpees! 🙂
I tried a modified version of this at the gym yesterday and loved it. My legs are definitely sore today. I switched out all of the runs for rows so that i wouldnt have to be running between machines at the gym, used a 12# ball for the wall balls and broke the burpees up into 2 sets of 15. Loved the format of this workout!
yay! thanks for trying it and thanks for sharing your modifications. great job!
I did this workout at the gym this morning and LOVED it! My legs felt like jello afterwards 🙂
I was SO unmotivated yesterday but forced myself to make it to the gym and try this workout and am so glad I did! I felt pretty good afterwards, didn’t even mind those 30 burpees 😉 No rowing machine so I substituted running instead, and it felt like the perfect amount of time to get my heart rate up-thanks!
Did this workout for the second time today. Three weeks ago 24:55, today 22:05! My legs were smoked! Feels great to have knocked out my workout for the day. Thanks for sharing these awesome workouts with us, Jen!
I’m trying to get more rowing intervals in and tried this workout today. I couldn’t believe what a great workout I got in in such a short time. Thank you! Hopefully I’ll get faster on the burpees someday….