The Hardest Bodyweight Workout You’ll Ever Do

The Hardest Bodyweight Workout You’ll Ever Do

Last week, Men’s Health published a story called “The Workout That Burns 346 Calories In 13 Minutes.”

The article was based on new research from North Dakota State University. In the study, men did as many reps of an exercise at 50 percent of their one-rep max as they could in 30 seconds, and then rested for 15 seconds. They followed this protocol for three sets of six different strength movements.

So I decided to put together my own equipment-free version of the workout that men can do anytime, anywhere. I demonstrated the routine on Men’s Health Facebook Live last week, but you can follow-along to the video shown above.

(I perform a brand-new Facebook Live follow-along workout every Friday at noon EST.)

I also created an extended version of this workout with three total cycles. Each cycle gets progressively more difficult.

To date, I think this is the most challenging Facebook Live workout I’ve ever done. I think you’ll agree if you try it, too.

The true power of this routine comes from the fusion of high-intensity 30-second work periods with the short, incomplete 15-second rest periods. This negative 2:1 work-to-rest ratio optimizes both the intra-workout and post-workout calorie burn.

Read: It’ll push you to the limit. (For a full workout program that will push you to your limits, try THE 21-DAY METASHRED from yours truly. It helped one man lose 25 pounds of fat in 6 weeks!)

Plus, by doing 3 rounds of the 30-15 interval for each move before moving on to the next move, it allows a lighter load to go a longer way. This is easier on the joints and allows for cleaner, crisper repetitions and faster recovery between sessions.

If you can’t stream today’s workout in real time, you can always catch it later. The workout will be on the top of our Men’s Health Facebook page.

How to do it: Perform each of the following movements for 30 seconds, and then rest 15 seconds. That’s 1 set. Do 3 total sets for each exercise.

Complete a cycle before moving on to the next one.

Cycle#1

1. Box squat jump

2. Pushup (change every set: close, normal, wide)

3. Single-leg hip thrust (left)

4. Single-leg hip thrust (right)

5. Mountain climber

6. Jumping jack

Cycle#2

1. Drop squat

2. Pushaway

3. Lunge (left)

4. Lunge (right)

5. Spider mountain climber

6. Skater jump

Cycle#3

1. Squat jump

2. Blast-off pushup

3. Bulgarian split squat (left)

4. Bulgarian split squat (right)

5. Slalom mountain climber

6. Burpee

Original article and pictures take www.menshealth.com site