Welcome back all you fitness crazed students, I hope you enjoyed stretching last week, because this week is all about basic cardio repetitions! Now I know what you’re thinking — cardio is all work and no fun, but my workout will let you pretend that you are in five different professional sports and will leave you feeling refreshed. There will be pictures on the side numbered with my exercises so you can easily keep track of them. So let’s get started!
1. Okay, so the first exercise is to get your blood pumping with good old fashioned jumping jacks. Stand feet apart, and raise and lower your arms while jumping. Do three sets of 10. Then, do straight arm jacks which are the same as regular jumping jacks, except your arms are powering straight up and down.
2. Next, we’re going to pretend like we are football players and do football shuffles. It is all about quick feet and movement, so keep that in mind while doing this repetition. Stand feet apart in a squat position and quickly move your feet, shuffling from the left side of the room to the right, then to the front and back. After the first repetition, hold in stance for 30 seconds, keeping the abdominals tight and breathing through. Do three sets of these.
3. To get your heart rate even higher, we are going to pretend we are all professional track runners and do three sets of sprinting and high-knee drills for 30 seconds each. When doing high-knees, be sure to keep your knees up and level with your hips. Do not drop them, keep your body strong and power through.
4. After, you can grab some water and get right back into the workout mode with doing oblique-squeeze repetitions. With your body on an angle, take your right arm and right knee, interlocking them at the middle so that your elbow is to your knee. You will feel your obliques squeeze with your core contracting. Do three sets of 10 on each side, shaking out your body in between sets.
5. Ok guys, this is the last exercise and the most fun because we get to pretend we are a fierce MMA fighter! We are going to do right and left jab punches. Stand feet apart with knees slightly bent. Pivot your body, making a fist and powering your arm in a jab two times to the left and two to the right for 15 repetitions. Remember to use the power in your arms and act as though you are punching a wall or your competitor in a match.
That’s all for this week and I hope you have as much fun with this work out as I did. For a more hands-on feel, you can check out the full workout video at themontclarion.org. Next time’s segment will be all about the power of lunges, so be sure to read it!
Vanessa Hargreaves
Staff Writer
