Better Body
Cindy Whitmarsh’s goal for you with this Results Fitness interval training workout is to improve your cardio endurance and efficiently burn calories by quickly alternating 1-minute cardio intervals with 1-minute strength training sets.
Upper and lower body are worked separately in two 35-minute workouts, which can be used on alternating days, or performed back to back on the same day for an intense challenge. Cindy works you hard, moving through the intervals quickly yet smoothly. Her friendly, upbeat one-on-one teaching style makes each workout enjoyable and effective.
Each workout alternates 13 strength-building exercises with 13 cardio intervals. Since each strength exercise is done for a minute, the number of reps per set varies from 16 to 24. Cindy includes a few balance challenges and core exercises in each workout. Each cardio interval features one move that is repeated for the entire minute.
Cindy starts with a low-impact version, then escalates to a higher-impact version that usually involves jumps and hops. You can follow either one, or alternate between the two moves if you’re getting tired.
The lower body workout is based on compound exercises that use multiple muscle groups simultaneously — you’ll be doing three types of squats, three variations on deadlifts, and two types of lunges. For these strength sets, you’ll be holding your heavier weights. Since you’re using the same large lower body muscles for both the cardio and the strength intervals, the lower body workout is more intense.
Although your heart rate may drop when you switch from cardio to weights and raise again when you return to cardio, this difference probably won’t be as dramatic during the lower body workout as during the upper body workout, where you’ll stop moving your feet and focus on working for smaller muscle groups.
In the upper body workout, each muscle is targeted individually, although a couple of sets work shoulders and biceps together. The back gets three exercises, shoulders get four, biceps and triceps two each, and chest one — a set of push-ups.
Who’s it for?
This workout is aimed at intermediate exercisers who are comfortable with squats, lunges, and deadlifts. Beginners could give it a try but may need to move at their own pace and do fewer reps for the strength sets. Advanced exercisers who don’t do high impact cardio may find the lower impact cardioversion too easy, as the music tempo is 128 bps, pretty low for floor cardio.
Equipment
Cindy suggests using a minimum of two sets of weights: light (2 to 5 pounds) for the upper body and heavy (8 to 10 pounds) for the lower body. However, you may want to keep more sets of dumbbells ready since Cindy does a quick preview of the upcoming exercise which allows you to choose a heavier weight if you can handle it. You’ll need a floor mat for a few ab exercises at the end of the lower body workout.
Best features
The variety of strength exercises, easy-to-follow cardio moves, and Cindy’s carefree, good-natured teaching style make this one of the best workouts.
