Wednesday: Deck Of Cards Workout

This is part of The Lifehacker Workout, a 3-4 day exercise program for normal people.

This fun and random workout adds variety to the core Monday and Friday movements, and it’s especially handy when travelling.

To do the Deck of Cards Workout, grab a deck of cards. Each of the four suits represents a different exercise. Draw a card, and whatever suit is on it, you do the exercise. The number on the card represents how many reps you do. If it’s a face card, you can assign it 5 or 10 reps or whatever, based on your level. Continue as fast as you can until you complete the deck.

This can be a pretty intense workout, though; if you’re having a tough time getting through 52 cards, you may want to begin with half a deck at first or even a quarter of the deck and work your way up to add more cards each week.

These are the exercises we’ve selected for each suit, but you can substitute similar exercises if you wish, as long as they target the same areas (e.g. a different core or abs exercise instead of knee-to-elbow plank) and they don’t repeat the Monday and Friday exercises.

• Hearts (easy to remember that aerobics work your heart) = jumping jacks or jump rope if you have one (aerobics)
• Diamonds = chair dips or bench dips
• Clubs = knee-to-elbow plank
• Spades = lunges

See these exercises and log your sessions on Fleetly.

Here’s an example video of the Deck of Cards Workout, though they’re using different movements for the suits than the ones above:

Instruction Videos for Deck of Cards Exercises

Jumping Jacks:

Chair Dips:

Knee-to-Elbow Plank:

Front lunge:

Modification: back lunge or rear lunge, which might be easier on your knees

For variation and a whole leg workout, you can also alternate in side lunges:

Jump to The Lifehacker Workout for: Monday, Friday or Sunday.