I’ve got a doozy for you today! In response to the requests I’ve gotten for longer videos, I present to you this deck of cards workout. It took me 45 minutes to complete and I was feeling it the next couple days. It’s long and tough, but you can opt to do just half the deck instead of the full thing, which would give you a 20-25 minute workout. Save the second half for the following day or later in the week!
Tough Deck of Cards Workout
A deck-of-cards workout is structured kinda like a game. Each suit corresponds to a different exercise and the number on the card tells you how many reps to do.
Face cards = 10 reps
Aces = 11 reps
Joker = 20 Burpees
If you’re going at a faster pace than me, you can do extra reps until I’m done or just take advantage of longer rest time between exercises. If you’re moving at a slower pace than me, you can pause the video or just get in as many reps as you can and stop when I stop.
As with all workouts, make sure to warm up beforehand. I have a warm up on my channel or you can do your own. Listen to your body and modify as needed, stopping altogether if something doesn’t feel right. A proper cool-down is important, too! Take some time to stretch after this workout.
Deck of Cards Exercise Breakdown
CLUBS = Russian Twist to Overhead Press | Twist left, press, twist right, press = 1 rep.
DIAMONDS = Scissor Jump Lunges | Do the designated rep number on each leg. So if you draw a 9 of diamonds, that’s 9 reps on the right and 9 reps on the left.
SPADES = Plank Jump to Low Squat Hop |This is a combo move: start in a plank and jump your feet in halfway, back out to plank, then up to the outsides of your hands landing in a squat and do a little hop, staying low. That combo = 1 rep.
HEARTS = Breakdancer Push Ups | Alternate side to side with the breakdancer kick-throughs. 1 push up + 1 kick-through = 1 rep. Because we’re alternating, try to lead with alternating sides each time this exercise comes up so we stay roughly even between right and left.
If you like this workout, I have some other deck of cards workouts organized chronologically. They don’t have a follow-along video like this one, but all include detailed pictorials so you can do them at home or the gym.
xo Nicole
It sounds so fun! I have to try it!
Holy crap this looks HARD!! So creative…I love it! Will definitely be trying it. Thank you!!
Okay I got half way through because I thought I could squeeze in a workout while both the kids are awake… Yeah, not happening, so I’ll finish the rest another time but wow Russian twists got boring fast lol at least they’re almost all over though!
Haha I felt the same way! I added them in as the “easier” exercise so we wouldn’t be jumping around the whole time and by the halfway point I was like OK I’M OVER THESE SLOW THINGS, I just want to get this sh*t over with! lol
So I did the entire thing today. Don’t know why i didn’t just do the second half (actually I do lol because I’m just wired to prove to myself that I can hahaha)
I’m drenched in sweat! But feel so accomplished and awesome! (Helps that the in laws took the kids so no distractions!)
I’ve been doing your workouts for literally years and hadn’t tried the deck of cards workouts because I don’t have a deck of cards lol but now that you have a video and I could follow along I’m gonna say this is the hardest workout I’ve done from pumps and iron
Hard but worth it!
Did this yesterday and my ass is so sore today. It’s funny you said the russian twists were supposed to be an easier exercise because they murdered me. I’m dead. Commenting from the great beyond.
Love your videos!They’ve saved me post child because I can’t hit the gym in the morning like I used to and make me feel like a badass! Thank you!
“Easy” was probably the wrong word haha — “less out-of-breath-jumping-around” would be more accurate. 😉 My butt was SO SORE the next day, too! So happy you’re loving the videos—I’ll keep ’em coming!