A jump rope or a medicine ball are probably two of the last items you’d grab at the gym. Pair them together, however, and you can get one of the best cardio and core workouts of your life. Check it out in the video above.
The jump rope offers a low-impact way to carve your calves, hike up your heart rate, and improve your rhythm and coordination. If you don’t have a jump rope, either fake it or hop, skip, or run in place.
The explosive med-ball drills rip up your abs and turbocharge your metabolism. (I like to use a light, padded Dynamax ball.) The 3 med-ball moves in this routine work your body in all three planes of motion, so you’ll get a complete workout that will make you more athletic, too.
Here’s how to do it: Grab a stopwatch. Perform the exercises in the order shown every minute on the minute (EMOM). Follow the prescriptions for each movement. If you finish all the reps before the minute is up, rest the remainder of that minute before beginning the next move at the top of the minute.
(Maximize every second of your workout with The Best EMOM Routines For Getting Lean.)
Minute 1: jump rope, 50 revolutions
Minute 2: med-ball rotational chest pass, 8 reps per side
Minute 3: jump rope, 50 revolutions
Minute 4: med-ball split stance wall ball, 8 reps per side
Minute 5: jump rope, 50 revolutions
Minute 6: med-ball situp throw, 15 reps
That’s 1 round. Do up to 5 total rounds for a 30-minute workout.
For the jump rope work, progress by adding 5 to 10 revolutions per session. Once you can do 100 skips EMOM, progress to doing 50 revolutions on one leg or use a heavier rope.
For the med ball work, start with a 2kg to 3kg ball and progressively build up to a 5kg to 10kg ball.