Shuffle Your Deck of Cards for a Quick Workout

For today’s classic home workout, we look back to 2011 when Lifehacker created its own workout routine on a now defunct platform called Fleetly. He offered four workouts per week, adjustable according to your goals, and today we’re trying one of them: a deck of cards workout .

It’s just what it looks like. Each suit is a separate exercise, and you go through a deck of cards with numbers that determine how many repetitions you have. (You decide what the face card means; I had 10 reps.)

  • Hearts: Jumping Jacks (because it’s cardio, okay?)
  • Diamonds: chair push-ups
  • Clubs: Plank from knees to elbows
  • Picks: Lunges

I wanted to practice quickly, so I shuffled the deck and set a timer for 10 minutes. I’ve scanned about 42 cards, so you can scan the deck multiple times if you want a longer workout.

I liked this one, especially because so many sets were very short. Two attacks? Of course, that means I have to spend a few seconds getting from my deck to where I’m lunging, and then a few more seconds to go back and flip another card. Built-in break.

I also didn’t need to do more than ten reps, which is a plus. Overall, I found it to be a good workout – just a little hard on the chair push-ups (next time I might do these 5 point cards), but otherwise pretty well balanced. You can always change it by inserting as many rest intervals as you like, or replacing another exercise with ones that seem too difficult or too easy for you. Give it a try and let us know what you think – does it hold up?

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