An Ace Up Your Sleeve
We’ve all heard (and sometimes even used) the excuse of “not having enough time” to workout. The truth is, every person on Earth only has 24 hours in the day, which means you have the same exact 24 hours as Beyoncé, The Rock, or whatever other success stories you may admire. If everyone has the same amount of time, maintaining your health simply breaks down to a matter of priorities – of which, your health should always rank near, if not at, the very top of your list.
That being said, we understand that life gets busy; however, it’s much easier than you may think to squeeze a proper workout into your busy schedule – and, the good news is, you don’t even need a gym or some picturesque running route! Whether you’re traveling for work, need a quick burst in the morning while on vacation, or you’re just simply short on time, experiment with the following “Deck of Cards” workouts that you can utilize absolutely anywhere, anytime.
The training itself is as quick and simple as it gets, all you will need is a full 52-card deck and enough space to do a jumping jack. Your mission is to assign a specific workout to each of the four suits (example: Hearts = sit ups, Clubs = lunges, etc.). Once you have your four exercises of choice matched up with the four suits, give the deck a shuffle and keep it face down so that you cannot see the cards.
From here, simply flip one card at a time and let the numeric value on the card determine how many reps of that specific exercise to do (example: 3 of Hearts = 3 sit ups, Jack of Clubs = 11 lunges, etc.). Below are two examples of how you can implement this strategy for full-body, or major muscle group training:
High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) – Full Body:
- Jumping Jacks = Spades
- Push Ups = Hearts
- Renegade Rows = Clubs
- Squat Jumps = Diamonds
Compounding Training – Major Muscle Groups:
Example: Legs
- Squats = Spades
- Lunges = Hearts
- Calf Raises = Clubs
- High Knees = Diamonds
Slowly but surely make your way through the full deck, maintaining a steady pace in order to keep your heart rate elevated and to prevent from losing momentum. Interval bodyweight workouts such as these are one of the most efficient ways to improve overall stamina, cut weight, and develop proprioception (body awareness, spatial orientation, balance and coordination). And just like that, you have a revitalizing full-body workout right in your pocket, wherever you go, that doesn’t require any fancy equipment or a huge chunk of your time. A deck of cards is no bigger than a cell phone; try keeping one in your car, book bag, or purse and putting this challenge to the test the next time you “don’t have the time for a full workout.” Let the games begin!