I think by now, if you know anything about unconventional training and RIGHT training, you might know some of these methods. If not, pay attention! I guess I was born with a natural orientation towards intense training methods because I hated regular cardio at a young age. I was strictly a sprinter. Maybe because he was short or because he was naturally fast, he HATED running long distances. Who finds it fun to run more than 20 minutes at a time? A different breed, I suppose. Well, I want to share some of my methods that I use to keep myself shredded and make my athletes shred. You will not find any machine or exercise that you do for more than 20 minutes. These intense cardio sessions will be fast and super effective!
So get on them!
1) Battle ropes
Mr. John Brookfield knows how to PUNISH people with ropes.
The man is a genius! The battle ropes are the real problem!
I have a 1.5 inch rope and a 2 inch rope. They are both 50 feet.
I’m just scratching the surface of what you can do with these bad boys.
I normally do 30-15 work outfits or tabatas.
Battle ropes will give you a tough upper body workout and will crush your core too!
2) Trail running
You must know that sprints work well to melt body fat from the body. Well, hill sprints are sprints on steroids! Especially when you can find a nice long hill that slopes about 45 degrees and is about 80-100 yards long.
That’s how long the old hill lasts at Brickyard Park in my hometown!
That will was a BRUISER!
I still remember the 100 degree days running around with some of my soccer teammates.
We would ride our bikes there which was about 3-3.5 miles and then do 15-20 repeat hill sprints!
Great for a speed boost, but even better for getting shredded!
3) Kettlebell Long Cycles
Now I’m not a competitive kettlebell, but I know a great fat burning routine when I see one.
Long kettlebell cycles will tear you apart big time!
Some series can last 40 to 45 minutes.
That’s a lot of time under tension, but at the same time it’s a huge waste of energy.
Take a light to medium weight bell, I use a 35 pound bell and try to see how many clean and pressed you can get (in good shape) in 20 minutes.
That will make you breathe for air in a big way!
4) Bodyweight Density Sets
Super sets are great. The circuits are cool.
But how about doing some bodyweight exercises, say 2-5, and keep hitting the circuit until the timer is up?
Here is an example:
1A) Squat jumps x 5
2A) Plyometric push-ups x 5
3A) Pull-ups x 5
4A) Jump Lunge x 5
Repeat that set for ten minutes and get as many rounds as possible in that time.
In a week, do the same circuit in the same amount of time BUT increase the number of sets you get.
That’s density training and you can apply it to just about anything.
I like to do it with bodyweight training, especially when I go to the park or work out outside!
Head to the playground and do the exact workout I got above and see how many rounds you can do in 10 minutes.
5) Core + Kettlebell Super Sets
Kettlebells on their own are great for burning fat.
I like to add basic moves to make it even more effective at ripping you apart!
One of my favorite supersets to do is full kettlebell swings with hanging leg raises.
Essentially, you’re taking two body-intensive exercises and doing them back-to-back for high-rep sets.
I usually do sets of 15 for both, rest 30 seconds, and repeat that for 3-4 sets to wrap up a workout.
It’s a great finishing workout that will really boost your conditioning and your fat-burning furnace.
There you go! There are 5 intense cardio methods to build strength and melt fat! Now go to work and tear yourself to shreds!