Cards anyone?

Next week I begin the STCW ’95 course here in Trinidad. Since I’ll be at the University every day of the week from 8AM until around 4PM or so, I’ll need to change up my workout schedule a bit. The excuse “I don’t have time to exercise” is, in my opinion, complete nonsense and not a valid one. There are always enough hours in the day to find the time to do something you really want to do; you just have to be willing to make it a priority.

Here’s a quick workout using a deck of cards that can be done when you’re pressed for time. We often used this at our gym and it’s a fun way to get some exercise:

What you will need:

A full deck of cards

Exercises involved:

• Burpees
• Push ups
• Squats
• Crunches

Description of workout:

Each ‘suit’ represents an exercise…

• Spades = Burpees
• Diamonds = Push ups
• Clubs = Squats
• Hearts = Crunches

Shuffle the cards. Turn over the cards one at a time. Whatever ‘suit’ is turned up, that is the exercise you will do. The number of reps is dependent upon the number that is shown on the card, however you will do no less than 5 reps so the cards with the numbers 2-5 all equal 5 reps; the cards with the numbers 6-10 all equal their face value; jacks, queens, and kings all equal 15 reps; aces equal 20 reps.

Note: Of course, the exercises used can be whatever you want them to be. The ones listed above are just an example.

Have fun!