For the next month I'll be leading you through a challenging series of strength and cardio workouts designed specifically to keep you motivated and quickly seeing results.
We'll be working out 6 days a week, alternating strength training days and cardio days. The workouts will be short (but effective) and they require minimal equipment, just several sets of dumbbells and a stability ball or bench. You can purchase everything you need for less than $40. (Search: Discount fitness equipment.)
This plan is designed for all fitness levels, from beginner to experienced. You keep yourself challenged by choosing the weights that challenge you, and you perform the cardio at an intensity that makes you breathe hard.
Here's the schedule for the first week:
Day 1: Strength Workout: Dumbbells (2 sets, 12 reps)
Day 2: Cardio: Intervals
Day 3: Strength Workout: Bodyweight Circuit (60 seconds per move; complete circuit 1-3x with no rest)
Day 4: Cardio: Tempo
Day 5: Strength Workout: Medley (60 seconds per move; complete circuit 1-3x with no rest)
Day 6: Cardio: Endurance
Here are very short videos showing you how to do each of the three Strength Workouts (Dumbbells; Bodyweight Circuit; and Medley).
DUMBBELLS
BODYWEIGHT CIRCUIT
MEDLEY
For the Cardio Workouts, you'll choose any type of cardio you like (running, biking, elliptical, etc.) and do the workout indicated that day:
ENDURANCE: 30 minutes of steady-state cardio; aim to maintain an intensity of 6 on a scale of 1 to 10.
INTERVALS: Start with a 5-minute warm-up, then do 1 minute hard [an 8 or 9 on the 1-to-10 scale] followed by 1 minute of easy recovery. Do this 10 times, then cool down for 5 minutes.
TEMPO: Start with a 5-minute warm-up, then do 20 minutes of your chosen cardio at a "comfortably hard" tempo [a 6 or 7 on the 1-to-10 scale]. Finish up with a 5-minute cool-down.
To see the rest of the Innovation for Endurance Boot Camp Challenge schedule; post a question for Tom; and join others doing the boot camp, go to facebook.com/innovationforendurance, where you can also enter for your chance to win a 100% electric Nissan LEAF!
—Tom Holland, Men's Health Innovation for Endurance blogger, exercise physiologist, and author of Beat the Gym: Personal Trainer Secrets Without the Personal Trainer Price Tag (Bonus: Discover hundreds of hard-body secrets with a FREE gift and a FREE trial issue to Men's Health magazine!)
Disclaimer: Be sure to consult your physician before beginning any new workout regimen.
