T Nation

Deck of cards workout....

Bodybuilding
#1

I found this over at a wrestling message board and it?s a workout that some of older professional wrestlers used to use (sometimes they used more than one deck of cards though.)

The crux is that you get a deck of cards, shuffle them and then do as described below?

OK, folks…a really easy version to remember, and one taught to me by my dad, Billy Robinson…

1-10 equals number; Face Cards = 15, Aces = 25.

Total = 125 reps of each exercise

Hearts are pushups,
Diamonds = free squats/Hindu squats
Clubs = crunches
Spades = sit-ups.

Spades could also be step-ups onto a chair / bench.

NOTE: You HAVE to stand up immediately after completing each card!

Goal: Do the entire deck in less than 35 minutes…

Also a slight modification I have made is that jokers= 30 reps of any exercise.

I know it?s a bad workout as it neglects body parts etc, and is flawed, but it was an interesting challenge. I did 37 cards before giving up- I?ve been slacking off recently, but even when I wasn?t I doubt I could have done the whole deck.

The key when doing it is not to take any breaks and keep the intensity up.

What do you think of the workout, and can anyone do the whole deck? I?m sure there are a few people who can.

#2

Better if certain cards = chug a beer.

#3

I’ve done them as conditioning workouts before, using black cards as pushups and red cards as sit-ups. It’s a bitch, but you get to where you can blow through a deck pretty quickly.

#4

i think this is pretty cool. If I was in a hotel room and had no access to equipment I think i would try this. looks fun.

#5

I have used a very similar type of work out before. Usually as a “bad weather” type of PT. We divide into 2 groups and one group draws a card and the other group performs the exercise. We go back and forth between the 2 groups. To increase the diffuculty we use a pinochle deck the first time around and a regular deck the second time. I good work out in a short priod of time.

#6

time and time and time and time again…it has been stated that high rep training will do NOTHING for you. What is the benefit of doing 30 reps for any particular exercise? You say the goal is to do the whole deck in 35 minutes? You can do a 5x5 workout in the same amount of time and get more bang for your buck my man.

#7

For those interested in the military, my brother and I play a similar game of cards, but with only pushups and situps. Basically, even numbers are pushups, odd numbers are situps. Go through the whole deck. Once it’s easy (which should be quickly) just double the number you get. Gets you very good at pushups. Got the idea from a couple of boxers…

#8

Sorry Chris, didn’t see your post…