30 Min Total Body METCON Workout // Metabolic Conditioning is another excellent cardio + strength workout from Heather Robertson. This one promises total body strength work and delivers it. To make it more metabolic, Heather used compound moves (as she usually does), but this affects how well some muscle groups are worked. For instance, Curl & Raise (Circuit 1 exercise #2)–I usually use 8-9 pounds for lateral raises but I can lift 18 pounds for bicep curls. But because she combined the two exercises together I used 10 pound dumbbells. This was very challenging for my shoulders but did not challenge my biceps at all. Still, she does hit every muscle group, even if some are worked better than others.
There are 2 circuits, each containing 4 exercises–3 strength exercises + one cardio exercise. Each circuit is done 3 times. All of the exercises are done interval style: 45 seconds of work followed by 15 seconds of rest. There is a timer in the lower right hand corner of the screen, counting down your intervals and recoveries. During the recoveries Heather previews the next exercise.
30 Min Total Body METCON Workout // Metabolic Conditioning is 30:42 minutes; 2:30 minute warm up and 2:30 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells and fitness mat. Heather is using 10 and 15 pound dumbbells. The weights listed below are what I used.
Circuit 1:
- Deadlift & lunge (one deadlift + one reverse lunge, alternate legs when lunging) (20# DBs)
- Curl & raise (alternate one double arm hammer curl with one double arm straight arm lateral raise) (10# DBs)
- Skull crusher + crunch (lay on back, legs extended straight to ceiling, do one skull crusher then crunch upper body while reaching DBs toward feet) (13# DBs)
- Half burpee (plank burpee–place hands on ground, jump feet back to plank, jump feet back into hands and stand)
- Repeat #1-4 two more times
30 second rest
Circuit 2:
- Kneeling squat & stand (start in high kneeling w/ DBs on shoulders, step one foot forward into kneeling lunge, step the other foot forward to join it (knees are still bent so you are in squat), raise to standing, reverse motion, squat then step one foot back to kneeling lunge, step other leg back to join it so you are back in high kneeling then lower glutes to heels) (15# DBs)
- Push up & row (one renegade row each arm + one push up) (30# DBs)
- Push press & twist (hold DBs at shoulders, squat and when you stand, rotate torso to side while doing a double arm overhead press, keeping hips facing forward, alternate sides when doing the overhead press) (16.5# DBs)
- Butt kick jacks (jumping jacks, when bringing feet together, raise one leg in hamstring curl, tapping heel with opposite hand behind body, alternate legs)
- Repeat #1-4 two more times
For more info on Heather Robertson’s workouts and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.
