Calorie-blast your morning workout with these three moves! Muscle-shred your upper body in just ten minutes! You see a ton of workouts online and in videos that make promises like these. Many of these workouts are truly awesome, will challenge you, and will get you sweating.
Why are they effective? They work a lot of muscle groups and they allow for very little rest. Especially when you are short on time, these workouts are a very effective way to fit in your exercise.
While you can go online and search for workouts that meet your criteria, it’s hard to find exactly what you are looking for. But why spend time searching for that perfect workout when you can build your own Guided Workouts and push them to your band?
I’ll show you the secret sauce to creating workouts like these, and then you’ll have the tools to build your own workouts as you see fit.
The rules for a calorie-blasting workout
Before you start, remember these two rules for building a calorie-blasting workout: work a lot of muscle groups, and don’t rest as much rest as much as you typically would.
Keeping these rules in mind, there are three workout styles that I prefer to use when the goal is to crush calories.
The Circuit
Choose a few exercises, choose your repetitions for each exercise, and perform a number of rounds to reach your calorie goal. Let’s use squats, push-ups, and V-ups as an example. A sample circuit would look like this workout I built in my Microsoft Health web dashboard.
Do 10 rounds of 15 squats, 10 pushups, and 5 V-ups. Try not to rest. Calories burned? Done and done!
The Chipper
Take the same exercises you would do in a circuit, but smash all the reps together so you do them in one round, instead of many. Using the same moves as above, you would pack together all your repetitions for one exercise and chip away at your reps before moving on to the next exercise. That means you would do 150 squats, then 100 push-ups, then 50 V-ups. Your total number of repetitions is the same, but this feels way different when executing your work. I’ve built an example of a chipper workout with a few less reps. (Although, if you are into doing 100 push-ups at a time then don’t let me stop you.)
The Pyramid
Take your circuit but change the reps so you start small, work your way to a peak, and then work your way back down. Oftentimes, pyramids are best done with just one or two exercises. Let’s put the squat and the push-up together into one movement otherwise known as the burpee. Start by doing one burpee, then rest for one second. Then do two burpees, and rest for two seconds. Rinse and repeat until you work your way up to 10 burpees, and then work your way gradually back down again. I built a sample pyramid that is a real calorie crusher!
In summary: when building quick and effective workouts, try using one of the formats above. Choose exercises that use many muscles, and limit your rest.
Have you built a Guided Workout you want to share? Leave it in the comments below!
Always consult your physician before beginning any exercise program. This general information is not intended to diagnose any medical condition or to replace your healthcare provider. If you experience any pain or difficulty with exercise, stop immediately and consult your healthcare provider.