Hey it’s Mike Whitfield here with Workout Finishers. I have a special treat for my friends over at Exercises For Injuries. I want to talk about doing a 5-Minute Cardio Circuit.
CLICK HERE to watch the YouTube video.
Now, the reason why we are doing only 5 minutes is because this is really important, and I truly believe it is something we need to do every day. I personally like to work out 3 days a week, sometimes 4, and this gives me the opportunity to just stay active on the other days. That having more time to play with my kids and play basketball. I love to play basketball and sometimes I go for a swim, because of the positive impact this has on my mental state. It helps me make better decisions with food and it just puts me in the right mind frame. Another reason is that it promotes a natural boost of energy. You don’t have to rely on stimulants or coffee.
When you just do a short bodyweight circuit, it can really provide you with a nice surge of energy. This is something you can do on an off day and requires no equipment. It’s a 5 minute circuit. It’s a bodyweight cardio circuit, so that means we are going to be doing a lot of legs, but we are also going to add in some pushing movements as well.
#1 – Lunge Jump or Total Body Extension
Start off in the lunge position, jump up and switch feet.
Lunge Jump
Now if your knees are not ready for something like that, instead do a Total Body Extension. So, instead of 5 per side with the lunge jumps, we are going to do 10 total body extensions.
Total Body Extension
Your feet are about shoulder-width apart with a slight bend in your knees. Your arms are behind your glutes, and you are going to explode up onto your toes with your hands above your head. Do it fast… one, two, three, all the way to ten. So, it is 5 reps per side on the lunge jumps or 10 total body extensions.
#2 – Explosive Push Up
Again, we are going to really crank our heart rate up. If you are not ready for explosive push ups, you can just do regular push ups.
Explosive Push Up
What we are going to do is push up with momentum so that our hands leave the ground. And to minimize the impact, you are going to want to make sure you land in the push up position. Again, if you are not ready for those, by all means, just do regular push ups. You are going to do 5 of those as well.
#3 – Skater Hops
All you are going to do is jump to one side and land on one foot, then jump back to the other side.
Skater Hops
Make sure that your weight gets shifted to the outside leg. So, that’s a total of 10 – 5 on each side.
#4 – Jumping Jacks
We are going to end the routine with 5 Jumping Jacks. This is a great conditioning exercise and great for shoulder mobility as well.
Jumping Jacks
We are going to do 5 reps of those, then you are going to go through this circuit as many times as you can in 5 minutes.
Now I am out of breath just demoing it, so you can imagine what the 5 minutes are going to do. It’s just a great way to stay active and get a nice surge of energy without stimulants and caffeine. You can also plug this in at the end of your workout as a great finisher. I will see you guys later. Rick, thanks for having me. Talk to you next time.
Now if you liked the above workout, then make sure to check out Workout Finishers 2.0, over here:
Mike Whitfield
