Use Dice And A Deck Of Cards To Get A Different, Fun Workout Anytime, Anywhere

When going to the gym isn’t an option or you’re just not feeling up to doing your normal bodyweight routine, roll with this novel, spontaneous workout from Muscle and Strength instead, minimal equipment needed. You’ll need a die and a deck of cards.

Image by Steve A Johnson.

A full deck of cards would be ideal. Since the whole workout lasts until every single card has been flipped, you can go with fewer cards to shorten the workout, or use two decks for a crazy challenge. There are three steps you’ll need to repeat throughout the workout:

• Flip a card: Each of the card suits — spades, hearts, clubs and diamonds — represents a group of bodyweight or cardio exercises.
• Roll the die: The number tells you which exercise within the suit’s group of exercises you will be doing.
• Do the exercise: Find the exercise from the full chart below and perform it for the prescribed number of reps.

And repeat. These are the number of reps you’ll be doing, based on the card you draw:

• Two – 2
• Three – 3
• Four – 4
• Five – 5
• Six – 6
• Seven – 7
• Eight – 8
• Nine – 9
• Ten – 10
• Jack – 11
• Queen – 12
• King – 13
• Ace – 15
• Joker – 25

For cardio-type exercises like jumping jacks, multiply the face card by 10 to calculate the total length of time (in seconds) you’ll be performing it.

For the following tables below, the number denotes the dice roll; the second column is the exercise associated with it. So, if you roll a two and get a Queen of hearts, you’d be doing 12 reps of burpees.

Hearts

Dice Roll / Exercise or Form of Cardio

1. Step Ups (Conditioning)
2. Burpees
3. Push Ups
4. Lying Floor Leg Raise
5. Hip Raise/Bridge
6. Standing Long Jump

Diamonds

Dice Roll / Exercise or Form of Cardio

1. Bear Crawl (Conditioning)
2. Jumping Jacks
3. Diamond Push Ups
4. Sit Ups
5. Tuck Jump
6. Walk Out On Hands

Spades

Dice Roll / Exercise or Form of Cardio

1. Running (Conditioning)
2. Bodyweight Jump Squats
3. Mountain Climber
4. Abdominal Pendulum
5. Star Push-ups
6. Dive Bombers

Clubs

Dice Roll / Exercise or Form of Cardio

1. Jumping Rope (Conditioning)
2. Bodyweight Lunge
3. Superman
4. Ab Wheel Rollouts
5. Clapping Push-ups
6. Jumping Butt Kicks

The unpredictable nature of the card draw can make this workout pretty challenging, so even though Muscle and Strength recommends not taking breaks, you should definitely catch your breath enough to maintain good form, while keeping intensity high. The exercises suggested aren’t locked in, so feel free to swap them with something similar or a variation that you’re more comfortable with.

Dice and Cards Bodyweight and Conditioning Workout [Muscle and Strength]