Updated at 12.42
IS YOUR GYM routine getting a little tiresome? Are you looking for a more explosive workout that will shred fat and burn calories faster than anything you’ve done before?
Try this session once a week and we guarantee you results… rapid ones
The key is to perform these exercises as fast as you possibly can, without compromising correct technique.
Doing the reps quickly is key because not only do they burn more calories than doing slower reps, they also recruit your fast-twitch muscle fibres.
Also, you must do these 10 exercises without rest in 30 minutes. That means each exercise lasts a total of 60 seconds. Excited? Let’s go…
1) Weighted punches
Very simply, grab two light dumbbells, we’ll say around 2.5 kilos for males and 1.5 for females. It’s important they are light and pose no challenge to pick them up. Stand shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent, and simply punch an imaginary target straight out in front of you. Left, right, left, right, left, right.
2) Box jumps
The key here is the height of the box. You want it high enough that you really have to lunge up to it but you don’t want it so high as you fail to reach it and you end up skinning your shins. Again, 60 seconds and move onto the next exercise.
3) Clap push ups
(Boxer Carl Froch does push ups after a workout at Trinity Gym in New York — file pic)
Back to an upper-body exercise. Get down and gimme as many as you can do in 60 seconds but remember, these are not ordinary push ups. You must explode upwards and clap your hands together while you’re hands are off the mat. Yes, you’ll be in agony.
4) Knees up
A slightly easier one to get your breath back. This is sprinting on the spot for 60 seconds, but the key is to bring your knees up as high as you can.
5) Ball slam
Grab an eight-kilo medicine ball and raise it above your head, elbows slightly bent. This is an absolute killer for your arms and shoulders, while your abs and back muscles are also very well taxed. Hammer the ball down into the ground, catching it on the bounce and raising it right above your head again, and repeat.
6) Lunges with weights
Another really testing lower body exercise that uses all the muscles in your glutes, quads, calves and hamstrings. Stand up straight with a dumbbell in each hand, making sure it’s three or four times heavier than what you had in number one. Now, take one step out in front, drop that knee until it touches the floor and then rebound upwards, switching legs. The key is to keep it controlled. Slow sown, fast up, slow down, fast up.
7) Lateral raises
Grab those weights that you had for the first set again but this time, instead of punching, raise the weights until they’re parallel with the floor. Bring them back down by your side slowly and raise them once more.
8) Punch bag shoulder and carry
Squat over the middle of a punch bag and slide your arms under it. From the legs and hips, lift it. Drive your hips forward and flip it onto your shoulder. Pause and let it down, repeat on the other side. Do 20 reps per set. Tired yet?
9) Bulgarian bag
This is another cracking exercise for your glutes and quads. Hold the Bulgarian bag across your shoulders and back. Now, squat down, keeping your knees over your ankles so that your thighs become parallel with the floor. Now hold for a second before pushing up through your heels and return to the starting position. 20 reps should last the 60 seconds.
10) Plank
You knew this one was coming. Down and hold a plank for 60 seconds.
The good news is that’s one round. There are just two more to go and then you can go home…
