Your One-Stop Cardio Solution

Welcome to Part 2 of our one-stop cardio series.

You’ve spent the last 5 or 6 days diligently practicing the mechanics of the Knee Drop Spinal Rock, and now you’re ready to put it all together into the Rock Up Deck Squat: your all-in-one cardio workout.

If you liked the “anytime, anywhere” versatility of our TACFIT Commando collaboration, you’ll love this exercise. It makes staying in shape on the road a breeze.

As I wrote in part one of this series, the Rock-Up Deck Squat is a great exercise for working your legs and core, and if you do it right, you can use it as a complete exercise session when you just don’t have a lot of time to work out.

The other great thing about the Rock-Up Deck Squat is that you can do it in about the same amount of space you need to lie down in. It’s perfect for the living room, the office, and especially for hotel rooms. This is one of my favourites when I’m on the road doing assignments for travel magazines.

[voice from another room]: “just get to the exercise!”

Okay, okay. I know you’re anxious to get started….

Here’s your Rock Up Deck Squat tutorial:

As a reminder, these are the key points of the exercise:

• tuck your pelvis under at the bottom of the squat to engage the ground smoothly
• place your feet in your stance as you roll back up to the squat, and keep your feet close to your butt
• if you’re having trouble rolling back up, you may be holding your breath – remember to exhale hard, and lift your heart to the sky as you roll to your feet

If you can’t roll back to your feet unassisted, use your hands as training wheels — but keep working on these performance goals until you nail it down.

The way I train this movement on the road is to plug it into a Density Cycle. Density Training works by decreasing the number of sets while increasing the number of reps, always keeping the total volume of the training session at 100.

Here’s how the steps line up:

25 sets of 4 in 25 minutes
20 sets of 5 in 20 minutes
17 sets of 6 in 17 minutes
15 sets of 7 in 15 minutes
13 sets of 8 in 13 minutes
11 sets of 9 in 11 minutes
10 sets of 10 in 10 minutes
9 sets of 12 in 12 minutes
8 sets of 14 in 14 minutes
7 sets of 15 in 15 minutes
1 set of 100

Begin at the lowest step: 25 sets of 4 in 25 minutes. That’s your entire workout. When you can complete that volume without feeling like you just went 10 rounds with Rocky Balboa, you’re ready to move on to the next ratchet in the progression.

And individual workout will look like this. You’ll perform one set every minute until you’ve done them all. Start your reps at the top of the minute, when that second hand hits twelve. Imagine that 4 reps of your chosen exercise takes 7 to 10 seconds to complete. The remainder of that minute — 50 seconds — is yours to rest. Shake it off, and when that second hand reaches the start of the next minute, get in position and do your next set.

As you can see, we’re compressing the rest time throughout the program while keeping the total volume the same — a great way to build up to 100 nonstop reps. By the time you reach the final stage of the program — and it’ll take you several weeks — your rest time will be cut drastically, requiring you to complete more work in less time, to shake it off faster, recover your reserves, and get right back in the game. But you’ll be ready because you got there incrementally.

Keep working your way through the progression until you’re able to complete 100 nonstop reps. Once you hit 100, you’ve built your one-stop cardio shop!

Anytime you’re on the road or don’t have much time to train, do a quick warm up and crank out 100 nonstop Rock Up Deck Squats. You’ll keep that road warrior flab away, and you’ll look and feel great when everyone else in the meeting is jetlagged and miserable.

(If you missed Part 1 of this series, please go back and review it now. I want you to master the fine points of the ground portion of this movement before you put it all together and do it for volume.)
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Our reluctant heroes may have been hiding a double purpose in this devious exercise combination…

Not only is it great for cardio — but we’re sure you noticed the serious abdominal activation in the Spinal Rock portion of the exercise. Most of our exercises develop a strong and functional core because we believe in developing movement before muscle. (although you’ll like the show muscle you get from building your “go” muscle)

But if you want to know EVERYTHING there is to know about a solid core and a shining six pack, you need to meet Dr Kareem Samhouri. His Ab Strength Guide is THE resource on the subject. Kareem received a doctorate in physical therapy and is a Neuro Metabolic Six Pack Abs Expert. He just totally revamped his abs training product and is offering a huge blowout sale this week. We strongly urge you to check it out…

(oh, and don’t tell anyone but we’re also adding our Kevlar Core and Pillar Power routines to anyone who gets the Ab Strength Guide through the link below… Just forward your receipt to Angela at support [at] bodyweightcoach.com)

You may also enjoy:

1. Can One Exercise Really Meet All Your Cardio Needs?
2. Resistance Cardio — Ditch The Old Low & Slow Cardio Conundrum