Firstly, I want to state that to participate in any of these workouts, you must already have a good level of fitness. These workouts are not basic, although you can vary the number of reps that I perform to suit your fitness ability.

I will mostly use a series of exercise disciplines: skipping, press-ups, squats, squat thrusts, burpees and sit-ups.

This workout, which I call the ‘buzzin’ workout, is very intensive, uses up a lot of energy, burns fat for up to 48 hours afterward and builds lean muscle tissue, as well as burning hundreds of calories.

For this workout you will require:

  • 6-7 kg medicine ball (with handles if possible)
  • Stability Ball (optional but adds intensity to a workout)
  • Leather jump rope (try to avoid speed ropes, as they can get tangled up)
  • 20 kg dumbbells
  • Non-slip mat
  • Plenty of funky music (optional, but motivating)

Firstly, do a little gentle skipping to warm up, or march on the spot. Try to use alternate feet when you skip. If you bounce using both your feet, you may find that you tire quick, you could get a stitch and you may reach exhaustion faster, which is not what we want with this session. Perform some gentle stretching, so do a calf stretch, stretch your back muscles and do a hip stretch on each side.

The Workout

I started the workout with 3 minutes of fairly fast skipping, or a short song length, can do longer if you really want to push your body to the limit. You may find out that early on in this stage of the workout, your body will start to warm up and you will start to perspire. This is normal as your body requires a lot of energy, especially for a high intensive workout such as jump rope. If you can, and you are an experienced jump roper, perform ten double unders (spin the rope at double the speed at which you normally skip and allow the rope to spin round twice for each rope jump). This move is very intensive but will really test your fitness. Try to build up to 10, but if you can do 5 that is excellent.

  • Perform 15 press-up burpees (jump into a press-up, jump back into a squat thrust and jump up to finish. That’s one rep. Burpees are difficult so try to build up to 15. If you can only perform 10, work from 10-1, rather than 15-1.
  • Pick the 20 kg weight and place it on your shoulders. Keep your back straight and perform 15 squats. When performing a squat you should be able to see your toes when you raise your body. Push your bottom out and keep your back straight. Remember your posture and perform them slowly rather than fast.
  • Position yourself on the stability ball and use your medicine ball to perform 15 medicine ball curls. Again, perform these slowly for maximum muscle building.
  • Perform 14 press-ups, 14 squat thrusts (full or alternate legs) and 14 jumping jacks.
  • Perform 14 weighted squats, maintaining good posture.
  • Perform 14 medicine ball sit-ups on the stability ball.
  • Perform 13 burpees.
  • Perform 13 weighted squats
  • Perform 13 medicine ball sit-ups.
  • Perform 12 press-ups, 12 squat thrusts (full or alternate leg) and 12 jumping jacks.
  • Perform 12 weighted squats.
  • Perform 12 medicine ball sit-ups.
  • Perform 11 burpees.
  • Perform 11 weighted squats.
  • Perform 11 medicine ball sit-ups.

By this time, this workout should have taken you about 15-20 minutes. Remember to take your time and go at your own pace. Your body will be very warm, and in the fat burning zone. Burpees, press-ups, squats, squat thrusts, sit-ups and jumping jacks use your own bodyweight to perform the reps, so they burn a lot of calories, help to build lean muscle tissue and burn fat for up to 48 hours afterward. They will ‘whip’ your body into shape fast.

Skip for another song length or for 3 minutes to build up the intensity of the workout and try to perform 5-10 double-unders to complete.

  • Perform 10 press-ups, 10 squat thrusts and 10 jumping jacks.
  • Perform 10 weighted squats.
  • Perform 10 medicine ball sit-ups.
  • Perform 9 burpees.
  • Perform 9 weighted squats.
  • Perform 9 medicine ball sit-ups.
  • Perform 8 press-ups, 8 squat thrusts and 8 jumping jacks.
  • Perform 8 weighted squats.
  • Perform 8 medicine ball sit-ups.
  • Perform 7 burpees.
  • Perform 7 weighted squats.
  • Perform 7 medicine ball sit-ups.
  • Perform 6 press-ups, 6 squat thrusts and 6 jumping jacks.
  • Perform 6 weighted squats.
  • Perform 6 medicine ball sit-ups.
  • Perform 5 burpees.
  • Perform 5 weighted squats.
  • Perform 5 medicine ball sit-ups.
  • Perform 4 press-ups, 4 squat thrusts and 4 jumping jacks.
  • Perform 4 weighted squats.
  • Perform 4 medicine ball sit-ups.
  • Perform 3 burpees.
  • Perform 3 weighted squats.
  • Perform 3 medicine ball sit-ups
  • Perform 2 press-ups, 2 squat thrusts and 2 jumping jacks.
  • Perform 2 weighted squats.
  • Perform 2 medicine ball sit-ups
  • Perform 1 burpee.
  • Perform 1 weighted squat.
  • Perform 1 medicine ball sit-up.

Well done! Workout completed and you should be feeling completely ‘buzzin’ as well as looking full of glowing health. What this workout gives you is more energy afterward, which is motivating enough.

You may find in the last 10-1 set of exercises that your arms may be feeling the strain with the weighted squats. Remember not to over-exert yourself. Work to your own ability. You know your body and you know what it can do, what pain it feels. The best thing about this workout is that if you perform is regularly, say twice a week over a month, your lung function will increase and you will be able to work through the intensity, while pushing your body to the limit.

Again, if you cannot perform 15-1, try 10-1. This workout is more intermediate to the advanced stage. You may find that your muscles ache for up to 3-5 days afterward because the muscles in the whole body have been torn during the workout and are rebuilding stronger. It is important to eat good amounts of protein after your workout. A handful of nuts are good, as it a protein shake or a banana milkshake with a tablespoon of peanut butter blended in.

We will be working with this workout for the next 4 weeks, when your body has adapted to the workout. It will then be time to push it to the max again.

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