Workout for the Office dweller.

     I work for a small town fire department.  My official title is Administrative Assistant/Firefighter/EMT.  I also hold a few other titles within the department but I'm writing a blog not a novel.  As the Admin Assistant I spend quite a lot of time behind a computer.  Since starting this position I find my self snacking a lot and not moving around enough.  I go on the occasional run, take Krav classes, and do Obstacle races but I still noticed that I wasn't maintaining any kind of strength from these events.  I realized that yes outside of work I try to remain active but during work hours most days I am pretty stagnate.  I spend a total of 50+ hours a week at my job and can honestly say that at least half the time I am planted in front of a computer.  With the new year approaching I decided to try to find a way to workout at my desk.

     During my search of the internet for things to do I came across a workout called the "Deck of Death".  The workout in the post involved a deck of cards and dumbbells.  I read into the workout and noticed that this could be used to cater to a multitude of fitness levels, as well as being simple enough to modify to use either equipment around the office or nothing at all.  The basic rules of this workout are as follows:
    1. Shuffle a deck of cards
    2. Assign 4 different exercises to each suit.
    3. Assign a value to the numbers and face cards
    4. Pick a card
    5. Execute the exercise that was picked.
As you will see you can design these in anyway to make it fit your needs.

     Keeping those basic rules in mind I have turned my 8 hour shift into the perfect opportunity to get a decent work out in.  I am using the Ace as a 1, valuing the Jack, Queen, and King as 11,12,13 respectively.  I am also multiplying these values by 5 to add a little difficulty to it.  I am going to admit that I think starting with 5 is a little much but if it isn't challenging it isn't helping, with the disclaimer to know your limits if it challenges you to much and you get hurt it will have a negative affect.  First thing in the morning I grab a card and complete that exercise.  Then on every hour grab a card and complete the corresponding exercise.  This gets me off my chair for a few minutes every hour and gets the blood flowing.

    I am currently using 2 different exercise cycles running them Monday Wednesday, and Tuesday Thursday with Friday being a Hybrid cycle.

         Cycle 1                            Cycle 2                          Hybrid
 Hearts= Burpees          /    Jump Rope            /   Planks

Spades= Push Ups       /     Lunges                  /   Burpees

Clubs=  Sit Ups           /     Squats                   /    Push Ups

Diamonds= Jumping   /     Planks                   /    Squats / Lunges
Jacks

Jump Rope and Planks will use seconds instead of reps.  Some examples a 10 of hearts on Monday is 50 burpees,  a 5 of diamonds on Tuesday is 25 sec. of planks, etc. 

   Another way I am going to try is plotting out a half mile run.  Grab a card do the exercise that corresponds and then run/jog the course.  Repeat this action as many times as you like.  Each time try to get an extra half mile in.  So if the first time you run 3 miles that means you also grabbed 6 cards, the next time try 3.5 miles while grabbing 7 cards.  This can be done as a group or by yourself.  In the group every person can do the same card or everyone draws a card and goes at their own pace. 

   As you can see this is a great flexible way to get a workout in no matter where you are or what you have for equipment.  Remember you don't have to run marathons or lift massive amount of weights to be healthy or fit, all you have to do is get out of that seat and go at your own pace.