Here’s a workout you can do easily from the comfort of your own home with minimal equipment. It’s called the “deck of death.”
I challenge you to give this a shot and let me know what you think! I tested this out and think you’ll really enjoy it. Read through the instructions below on the routine, and give it a try! Or, follow along and do the routine with me in the video above!
So… the “deck of death…”
Sounds scary, right? But don’t worry. It’s just a phenomenal routine that will get your heart rate up, get the sweat going, and maximize the amount of time you have to work out!
What you need
- A full deck of cards
- Your body
- Optional: a dumbbell
If you don’t have a dumbbell, there are other options for you. We’ll dive into that as we go through the details of the routine.
The Routine
In this workout, each card in the deck becomes an exercise. Shuffle the deck, and draw one at a time. After you draw each card, perform the assigned exercise before moving on to the next one.
First, we break the cards out by suit. Each suit represents an exercise. Here’s a breakdown of the exercises I did:
| Suit | Exercise |
| Diamonds | Push Ups |
| Spades | Squats |
| Clubs | Sit Ups |
| Hearts | Dumbbell Rows, or Squat Jumps |
Feel free to scale these as needed so you can complete the workout. You don’t NEED to do these four exercises. I prefer to use them because it creates a well-rounded, full-body routine — there’s pushing, pulling, legs, and core.
If you’d like to swap in different exercises, feel free! Just keep in mind… By the end of this routine, you will have completed 100 reps of each exercise.
For instance, if you can’t do standard push ups, do push ups from your knees. If you can’t do full sit ups, do crunches. You get the picture.
And if you need to scale things up to increase the intensity, feel free to do that as well. For instance, do squats with a 30-pound dumbbell to make it a little more challenging than just using your body weight.
When you draw a specific suit, the value of the card will tell you how many reps to do.
| Card Value | Reps |
| 2’s | 2 reps |
| 3’s | 3 reps |
| 4’s | 4 reps |
| 5’s | 5 reps |
| 6’s | 6 reps |
| 7’s | 7 reps |
| 8’s | 8 reps |
| 9’s | 9 reps |
| 10’s | 10 reps |
| Jacks | 10 reps |
| Queens | 10 reps |
| Kings | 10 reps |
| Aces | 15 reps |
| Wild | 2-minute cardio |
I did 2-minute sprints on the stationary bike for cardio, but you can choose whatever is most feasible for you. Again, scale this to make it work. Here are some alternative options for cardio:
- Mountain climbers
- 400-meter run
- 500-meter row
- 2-minute high knees in place
- 2-minute bike sprint (your choice) or distance
Once you’ve made it through the entire deck, the workout is complete!
Be sure to time yourself during the routine, because that’s your overall score! We’ll see who ends up with the top score, and you can have a time to try and beat the next time you do this routine!
I hope this helps you get in quality at-home workouts!
—
I hope you found this helpful! If you’re interested in taking your fitness or nutrition to the next level, check out my coaching page and let’s talk about how we can work together on your next program. I’d love to work with you!
Thanks for reading!
CGF