Total Cardio Burn

This workout is a real sweatfest! The menu is nicely chaptered into the warm-up, three 20-minute circuit routines, cool-down, and bonus features. Bonus features are an interview with instructor Caroline Pearce and option to turn off narration (music only); this last option is nice if you don't like voiceovers or don't need cueing. Caroline is listed as a "former gladiator" - she says to use weights from 1 to 3 kilograms, which converts to roughly 2 ½ to 6 ½ pounds (I had to look it up!), and I used five pound weights. The workout breaks down as follows:

Warm-up: Chest presses, side arm reaches, hip circles, kickbacks (hamstring curls), side lunges, toe reaches, chair squats, calf streches, high knee marches, reverse crescent circles.

LEVEL ONE

Circuit One: Round one - squats, chest flies in bridge pose, crunches with weights.

Round two - squats with weights, chest flies in bridge pose, crunches with weights.

Burner (cardio burst) - side-to-side jumps

Circuit Two: Round one - good mornings with weights at shoulders (this was hard on my shoulders, so I kept the weights in front of me, lifting and lowering them as I bent forward and returned to standing), bent over flies, reverse crunches on the mat (I am NOT a fan of standing/floor/standing workout.)

Round two - good mornings with weights, bent over flies, reverse crunches on the mat

Burner - from seated position with weight in each hand, move arms back and forth in a sprinting motion. This was a great arm burner, for sure!

Circuit Three: Round one - plie squats, shoulder presses, side stretches with overhead weight (first one side, then the other)

Round two - plie squats while pushing weight forward away from body, shoulder presses, side stretch

Burner - squats with alternating side kicks

Circuit Four: Round one - side leg lifts, bicep curls with tricep extension, side plank dips. (The first time I did the bicep curls with tricep extensions, my triceps didn't feel "worked", so the second time I did the workout, I did biceps during round one and tricep kickbacks during round two.)

Round two - leg raises, biceps & triceps, side plank dips

Burner - "duck squats" (get into squat position and walk in place - REALLY felt this one!)

Note: Caroline pops in between circuits for a quick pep talk: "You can do it!" :-)

LEVEL TWO

Circuit One: Round one - lunge pulses, push-ups to side plank extensions, roll-ups with overhead reaches

Round two - lunges, pushups, roll-ups with weights

Burner - plyo jumps

Circuit Two: Round one - bridge position pelvic tucks, parallel arm raises, reverse crunches

Round two - bridge pelvic tucks while holding weights overhead, lateral arm raises, reverse curls

Burner - Sprinter arms with weights

Circuit Three: Round one - plie squat to releve (lifting onto toes for calf raises), standing chest flies, crunch with punches (holding weights while doing sit ups)

Round two - plie squat to calf raise with weights, chest flies, sit up crunches while punching with weights

Burner - alternating froggers (from plank, bring alternating feet feet forward and placing them on floor near shoulder)

Circuit Four: Round one - curtsey lunge dips (pulses), overhead tricep extension (French press), plank position with alternating arm lifts

Round two - curtsey lunge dip with bicep curl, overhead tricep extension, planks with arm raises

Burner - jumps

LEVEL THREE

Circuit One: Round one - front lunges, diagonal pushups, planks with knees to elbows

Round two - lunges with weights, diagonal pushups, planks with alternating knee tucks

Burner - burpees

Circuit Two: Round one - one-legged hip lifts from bridge position, superman swim, reverse crunch with legs to ceiling (pole vaulter abs)

Round two - one-legged hip lifts, superman swim with weights, pole vaulter ab crunches

Burner - punches with weights

Circuit Three: Round one - side lunge with weights pressed forward, arm circles with weights, star sit-ups (sit up while lifting one leg and reaching opposite arm to touch lifted foot)

Round two - side lunge with weights, arm circles with weights, star crunches

Burner - move from squat to knees, repeat (Jillian did a similar move called "prisoner squats" or something like that.)

Circuit Four: Round one - lunge with a kick while holding weights, plank crawl from hands to elbows and back, side plank with overhead arms holding weight

Round two - lunge with kick and weights, plank crawls, side plank with weight

Burner - plank jump to catcher squats

Cool down: Chest stretch, tricep stretch, forward fold, standing quad stretch, side lunge stretch, spinal twist, glute stretch, hamstring stretch. These stretches felt GREAT after the workout, and they were held for a good, long time.

I did a very quick run through before doing the workout, so her names for exercises might be a little different from mine! Each move in the circuit is 30 seconds, which is then repeated, and the cardio is the last little blast before moving on to the next circuit.

Warm up:

Chest openers

Side reaches

Hip circles

Hamstring curls

Side lunges

Toe touches

Fold over w/arm sweeps

Dynamic chair w/arm sweeps

Calf stretches

Knee to elbow

Leg circle/hip opener

Twist jumps

Workout 1:

Squats (w/db press out second round)

Bridge w/chest press

Crunch w/db

Cardio - side to side bunny jumps

Good mornings

Chest fly

V sit ups

Cardio - "sprint" sitting down

Plie squats (w/db second round)

Shoulder press

Side bends (like going into a windmill but not all the way)

Cardio - squat w/side kicks

Side leg raises

Bicep curl/tricep kickback

Oblique side plank (raise arm up second round)

Cardio - duck squats (stay low and march in place quickly)

Workout 2:

Lunge dips or split lunges (w/db second round)

Push up to side plank

Sit up w/ arm reach (w/db second round)

Cardio - lunge jumps

Bridge w/ hip dips (w/db second round)

Side lateral raises

Knee in and out (lower abs)

Cardio - "sprint" sitting down

Plie w/calf raise (w/db second round)

Bent over Y's

Crunch w/punches

Cardio - switch jumps

Curtsey lunge (w/bicep curl second round)

French press

Plank w/arm reaching forward

Cardio - plyo squat jumps

Workout 3:

Front lunges (w/db second round)

Push up at 10 and 2 o'clock

Plank twists (knee to opposite elbow)

Cardio - burpees

One legged brige w/hip dips

Superman upper body only (w/db second round)

Straight legs in and out (lower abs)

Cardio - seated front punches (like the sprints, just more of a punch this time)

Side lunge w/db

Arm circles w/db

Sit up, raise leg and touch toes with opposite hand

Cardio - UFCs or surrenders

Kick and punch w/db

Walking planks

Oblique plank with arms reaching up and down

Cardio - squat thrust and catch (like a half burpee)

Cool down:

Chest stretch

Tricep stretch

Fold over and hang

Quad stretch

Side lunge for inner thigh, then she goes deeper almost like a pigeon but not quite

Seated twist

Pull knee into chest then hamstring stretch

Reach up in seated position