Workout of the week: 12-min endurance workout

ALL LEVELS / endurance workout / 12 minutes

Equipment: Barbell, gym box & pull-up bar

Muscular endurance plays an important role in athletic activities but it’s also great for your health. For example, it has been linked to a lower risk of multiple health issues, including cardiovascular disease. That’s the conclusion of a 2014 study, that found that high muscular endurance was associated with lower levels of blood pressure. Later, in 2017, a clinical review showed that lower levels of muscular endurance were linked to a higher risk of injury.

With all these benefits in mind, we decided it was a good idea to bring you this endurance workout. It consists of 5 exercises, each performed for 2 minutes with a 30-second rest in between. In total, this workout should take you 12 minutes to complete.

Squat
Push-up
Barbell row
Box jumps
Hanging knee raise

Ready? Let’s test your endurance!

WORKOUT SETUP

5 exercises
2-min each exercise
30-sec rest between exercises
12 minutes total
Equipment: Barbell, gym box & pull-up bar

WORKOUT EXERCISE LIST

1 – SQUAT

2 minutes

Stand on your feet, placing them at the same distance as that of your shoulder lines.
Engage the core and go down to the floor, maintaining your knees on the line of your feet. Maintain the abs and glutes tight to control your hip and stabilize the movement. Use your arms to help you with your balance.
Keep your feet attached to the floor and squat as down as possible without lifting the heels or feeling pain in your lower back.
Repeat.

2 – PUSH-UP

2 minutes

Start in a plank position with arms straight, shoulders above wrists, and body in a straight line.
Engage the core and glutes.
Keeping the shoulders over the wrists, lower the whole body towards the floor, dropping comfortably as low as you can.
Push the body upwards and return to the start position. Repeat.

3 – BARBELL ROW

2 minutes

Grab a suitably loaded barbell with a shoulder-width grip. Engage the core and set the shoulders. Lift the bar to assume a standing position – this is your start position.
Keeping the core engaged and the shoulders set, hinge at the hips until the bar is just below the knees. Row the bar towards your belly button and lower again. Immediately deadlift the bar to a standing position – this combination movement completes one repetition.
Return under control and repeat.

4 – BOX JUMPS

2 minutes

Stand in front of the box.
Swing the arms back and rapidly drop into the squat.
As soon as you hit the bottom of the squat, quickly swing the arms arm and extend the hips as you jump onto the box.
Land into a squat with control.
Step down and repeat.

5 – HANGING KNEE RAISE

2 minutes

Begin by hanging on a bar.
Set the shoulders and engage the abdominals to form a ‘hollow’ or ‘dish’ shape.
Keeping the arms straight, lift the knees towards the chest.
As the knees cross the hips, use the abdominal muscles to ‘tuck’ the hips, bringing the knees closer to the chest.
Return and repeat.