Valentine’s Day Workout: Primal Poker

It’s almost Valentine’s Day, but forget about your romantic life. Does your workout need a little attention? Is your gym routine becoming too, well, routine? If your workout just isn’t making you happy like it used to, maybe all it needs is for you to show that you care. Did you ever think of that?

Show your body some love this Valentine’s Day and revamp your workout for once with this fitness game featured in Primal Blueprint Fitness. Grab a deck of cards and get ready to feel the burn with a rousing (literally) game of Primal Poker.

Primal Poker is a fun workout that you can update as you wish, and you’ll be sure to feel a different muscle every time. You’re never sure exactly what you’re going to get with Primal Poker, which makes it the perfect combination of fun, challenging and effective.
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Primal Poker

The cards:

Hearts: push ups
Diamonds: pull ups
Clubs: squats
Spades: planks

The workout: After you assign an exercise to each suit (like above) and after you’re properly warmed up, turn over the first card. Say you get the 8 of Clubs: do eight squats. Face cards are worth ten, with aces worth 12. Jokers are wild, so make them whatever exercise you want. It’s okay if you draw a few of one suit in a row– push through the pain. For spades/planks, multiply the value by four and do a plank for that many seconds. A Queen of Spades, then, means a 40 second plank. Do the entire deck for time.

To increase the difficulty: Add some weighted implements to your workout. Toss a sandbag over your shoulders for the squats and drape it over your back during push ups.

To decrease the difficulty: Work with fewer cards or substitute chair dips, or whatever easier exercise you wish.

Thanks Mark’s Daily Apple for this awesome workout!