Deck of Cards Archives | Page 2 of 4

Deck of Cards Ab Workout

December 30, 2014 by Nicole 9 Comments

Towel + hardwood floor = ghetto Megaformer?? In an attempt to mimic my beloved machine while visiting my parents this holiday, I put together this ab workout using a towel to recreate a couple of my favorite Lagree Fitness exercises.

Deck of Cards Ab Workout

Equipment I Used:

Exercise mat
Dish towel (if you have carpeted floors, use DVD cases or an overturned Frisbee; if you’re at a gym, use sliders)
Deck of cards (you can also use a smartphone app like RipDeck)

In a deck of cards workout, each suit corresponds to an exercise and the number on the card tells you how many reps to complete. Face cards = 10. Aces = 11. Flip the cards over one at a time, completing the given rep-exercise combo, flipping over the next, and continuing until you’ve gone through the entire deck.

HEARTS = Bear – Pike Sliding Plank Combo

Start in a plank position with your feet on a towel. Keeping your hips level with your shoulders, back flat, slide your feet forward, bending your knees in towards your elbows. Slide feet back out, straightening your legs into plank position. Now, keeping your legs straight, pike your hips up into the air, bringing your body into an upside down “v” shape. Try to keep your heels lifted as you do this, sliding on the balls of your feet. Once you hit your peak (if you have tight hamstrings, you may not be able to get your hips up very high—that’s ok!), slowly lower back down into plank position. That combo (1 bear with bent knees + 1 pike with straight legs) = 1 rep.

SPADES = Side Plank Hip + Leg Lifts

Start in a side plank position, right hand stacked under right shoulder. From here, dip your hips down towards the ground and then squeeze your right sidebody to lift them back up to starting position. Next, lift your top, left leg straight up and then back down to starting position. That’s one rep. When you do the leg lift, make sure you’re not letting your hips sag downward—hold ‘em up! Repeat on both sides (so if you draw a 7 of spades, do 7 reps on the right and 7 reps on the left).

DIAMONDS = Oblique Towel Sliders

Start in a plank position with feet on a towel (or other sliding object). From here, slide both feet up towards the outside of your right hand. Slide back to center and starting plank position, and then repeat in the opposite direction. Once you’ve gone to each side, that’s one rep. As you do these, avoid letting your hips drop—you don’t want to sit on your heels as you slide your feet up to the side. Engage your obliques to keep hips relatively level with shoulder-height the whole time.

CLUBS = V-Up to Full-Body Crunch Combo

Start on your back with arms stretched overhead and legs hovering just slightly above the ground. Pull your abs in tight and press your low back to the ground. You’ll then crunch up, bringing your hands towards your toes (keeping legs and arms straight). When done correctly, your body will make a “v” shape as you crunch; this means you’re not just reaching your arms up, your chest needs to move towards your knees. Lower back down to starting position. Next, go into your full body crunch, bending your knees in as you crunch your chest up to meet them, wrapping your arms around your knees. Extend and lower back down to starting position. That sequence is one rep. If possible, your feet should never touch the ground between moves and reps.

WEARING | top & leggings: Fabletics // leg warmers: Lululemon // bra: c/o Cory Vines

As an added bonus to this workout, your floors will be beautifully polished by the end… 🙂

Filed Under: Abs, Bodyweight, Deck of Cards, Household Objects, Workouts

Kettlebell Double-or-Nothing Deck of Cards Workout

October 1, 2014 by Nicole 22 Comments

I did this on one of those days when you keep putting off your workout (but with full intension of doing it!) until all of a sudden it’s 8PM and anything not involving your couch and/or bed seems like an absolutely terrible idea. I figured a deck of cards workout would be a way to make it seem more like a game and less like a workout? Wrong. This was so hard. In fact, it’s pretty much the complete opposite of anything involving your couch and/or bed.

Thanks to my friends over at Cozy Orange, I’m rocking some fun printed leggings in today’s tutorial. They’re super comfy and the material is perfect for these upcoming colder months as it’s warm and a little on the thicker side. They have a small key pocket in the waistband as well, so I can see these being on heavy rotation for my cold-weather morning runs! If you want to check them out online, these are the Juno Fitted Yoga Pants.

Kettlebell Double-or-Nothing Deck of Cards Workout

Equipment I Used (adjust weights to your individual fitness level):

15-lb kettlebell
20-lb kettlebell
25-lb kettlebell
A deck of cards (you can also use an app like RipDeck)

Deck-of-cards workouts are fun! Each suit corresponds to a different exercise, and number on the cards indicates how many reps of that exercise you’ll do. Ace is 11 and face cards are 10. Go through the entire deck, flipping one card over at a time.

For this particular “double or nothing” workout, you’ll either double the number of reps indicated on each card, or do it twice, once on each side (left, right). For example:

8 of clubs = 16 kettlebell swings

4 of diamonds = 4 windmills on the left, 4 windmills on the right

CLUBS | Kettlebell Swings (x2)

Start with kettlebell on the floor between your legs and lift it up to starting position with both hands, flat back, using your legs to lift. With kettlebell hanging between your legs, use your arms as a pendulum, and swing the bell to chest-to-eye level by thrusting with your hips while keeping your core tight as you stand up straight. Swing back down and repeat. Your knees should remain slightly bent, but the main source of movement is hinging at the hips—not so much squatting. I use a 25-lb bell.

DIAMONDS | Windmills (a set on each side)

Start in a standing position, feet wider than hip-width apart, kettlebell pressed above head in right hand. Your right foot should be pointing forward, your left foot pointing out to the side (perpendicular to the right). Slowly bend down, keeping legs and the arm holding the kettlebell straight. Touch the ground by your left foot with your left hand, keeping the kettlebell perpendicular to the ground the whole time. Slowly rise back up to starting position. A good way to maintain proper alignment during this is to look up at the kettlebell the whole time. I used a 15-lb kettlebell for these.

SPADES | Figure 8 Squats (x2)

Start standing with feet a little more than hip width apart, holding the kettlebell in one hand. Squat down, and as you do, pass the bell through your legs to the other hand, tracing half of a figure 8. Stand up, squeezing that booty and popping your hips forward. Squat back down, finishing the figure 8 shape around your legs as you pass the kettlebell through your legs to the starting hand. Here’s a video of it in action (fast forward to 0:43).

HEARTS | High Pulls (a set on each side)

Stand tall, feet about hip-width apart, with the kettlebell on the ground in front of you to one side. Squat down, weight in your heels, grabbing the kettlebell with one hand. This is your starting position. From here, power up to a standing position using your legs. As you do, pull the kettlebell straight up by your armpit, leading with the elbow. Bring the kettlebell back down to the ground softly, tapping it to the floor and going right into your next rep. I used a 20-lb kettlebell.

WEARING | leggings: c/o Cozy Orange // top: H&M // sneakers: Nike

Have you ever done a deck of cards workout?

Filed Under: Deck of Cards, Full Body, Kettlebell, Workouts

Cardio Deck of Cards Workout for the Gym

June 10, 2014 by Nicole 12 Comments

Hello from Logan Airport! I’m here bright and early about to head to San Francisco for a fun blogging trip with Stitch Fix & LUNA Bars. I’ll obviously post ALL about it when I get back, but for now you can follow my trip on Instagram and Twitter. If you read a bunch of health & fitness blogs, you’ll probably recognize a lot of the other bloggers going with me–I was actually a little shocked (but so excited) to see I made the list! If they’re the MLB of fit blogging, I’m still playing tee ball over here haha. Anyway, on to today’s post…

I don’t have a gym membership, but every once in a while I’ll mooch a guest pass to Equinox or Sports Club LA from one of my friends and get in a workout using cardio equipment. This deck of cards workout is perfect for the treadmill, but can also be done using an elliptical, stairmaster, jump rope—or just by running outside. Get creative with the cardio portion!

Cardio Deck of Cards Workout

Equipment I Used:

Treadmill
Two 10-lb dumbbells
Deck of Cards (or a deck-of-cards app like RipDeck)

For the deck-of-cards workout structure, you flip over one card at a time. Each suite corresponds to a different exercise, and the number on the card indicates the number of reps you’ll do. For example, a three of diamonds = 3 jack-jump planks in this workout. Go through the entire deck. There are smartphone apps out there (I use RipDeck) you can use so that you don’t have to be that weirdo walking into the gym holding a deck of cards. 😉

CLUBS = PUSH UPS WITH DUMBBELL ROWS

Holding a dumbbell in each hand in a plank position, do a push up. Row your right hand up, elbow thrusting up, and then do the left. That’s one rep. If it hurts your wrists to hold the weights while in plank, place them besides you and just grab them after you do the push up for the rows.

DIAMONDS = JACK JUMP PLANKS

Start in a plank position. Jump both feet up towards your hands. Jump them back into plank position. Jump feet apart (like a horizontal jumping jack) and then jump them back together into your starting plank position. That’s one rep.

SPADES = V-UP CRUNCHES

To do a V-Up, you start on your back with arms stretched out overhead and legs hovering just slightly above the ground. You’ll then crunch up, bringing your hands towards your toes (keeping legs and arms straight). When done correctly, your body will make a “v” shape as you crunch; this means you’re not just reaching your arms up, your chest needs to move towards your knees. Lower back down to starting position. If possible, your feet should never touch the ground.