Popsugar: Burn 300 Calories in 30 Minutes

Burn 300 Calories in 30 Minutes is another excellent workout from Popsugar. It is essentially a cardio workout but it uses several different modalities to get your heart pumping. I real enjoyed it. It was intense but not super intense. And, I only mention this because of the title, I didn’t burn 300 calories. According to my Fitbit I burned 211 in 30 minutes.

This workout is led by Anna Renderer. To get your heart rate pumping you will be doing traditional cardio moves, bodyweight strength work and more metabolic exercises using dumbbells to increase intensity. At the beginning of the workout Anna tells you to have 5-10 pound dumbbells but when you get to the circuit that uses the dumbbells she recommends 5-15 pounds. There were two exercisers with Anna. One used 5 pound dumbbells, one used 8 pound dumbbells and Anna used 10 pound dumbbells. I used 12 pound dumbbells.

Burn 300 calories in 30 Minutes is actually 29 minutes long; the first circuit serves as a warm up and there is no cool down/stretch. You need a mat and a set of dumbbells for this workout. Anna shows easier modifications to many of the exercises.

Circuit 1 (Warm Up):

1. Jog in place
2. Foot fires (fast feet)
3. Jumping jacks

Repeat circuit 1 three times.

Circuit 2 (Upper Body):

1. Plank and rotate (get into elbow plank and rotate side-to-side, lifting bent arm up each time so you are almost in elbow side plank
2. Push up + plank jack
3. Shuffle to side w/ high knee (or 1-2-3 Heismans as Shaun T calls them)

Repeat circuit 2 three times

Circuit 3 (Lower Body):

1. Reverse lunges w/ bicep curls (use DBs)
2. Squat + overhead press (use DBs)
3. Ali shuffle (scissor runs)

Repeat circuit 3 three times

Circuit 4 (Ninja Circuit):

1. Squat w/ alternating side kicks
2. Get into elbow side plank w/ top hand behind head, bring top knee to elbow

Repeat Circuit 4

Circuit 5 (Full Body Circuit):

1. Burpee walk (start in squat, place right hand and right leg on the floor at the same time, place left hand and left leg on floor at same time, bring right hand and foot back to start position then bring left hand and left foot back up so you are back in squat; continue doing this move until Anna tells you to change leads then you start with the left)
2. Mountain climbers
3. High knee runs

Repeat Circuit 5

Finisher: Russian twists w/ one leg raised; switch legs when Anna tells you to.

For more info on Popsugar and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.