Whether it’s New Year’s Eve or the launch of an important international space flight, it seems we love to precede all great things with a good old-fashioned countdown. Well, if you would like to discover a brand new beautiful body that is not celestial but instead a lot closer to home, it’s time to launch yourself onwards and upwards towards superior fitness with a very different type of countdown; welcome to the hardcore countdown.

There’s always a new way to spice up our routine- Matthew Muscat Inglott

The hardcore countdown is a simple yet brutal repetition scheme that can be performed as an addition to your already existing routine, or laid down as the main foundation of an entirely new workout plan. While we normally perform say, three sets of 10 repetitions of a given resistance training exercise or a variation not at all that different, the hardcore countdown is simply another way of piecing it all together.

Many of us more regular gym users have used super sets, giant sets, tri-sets and drop sets in the past to ratchet up the intensity of our gym sessions, so why not give the hardcore countdown set a try? It is actually a set because the repetitions will continue while we take virtually no rest whatsoever in the process. We can string two or more exercises together using this system, and even throw in some cardiovascular training into the mix too. So how does it work?

Let’s say we’re starting the countdown from 10 and employing two different exercises; here’s how it would all pan out. Perform 10 repetitions of exercise one, immediately followed by 10 repetitions of exercise two.

As soon as you have completed exercise two, revert back immediately to exercise one again with no rest, however, this time start the sequence over, performing eight repetitions instead of 10. Continue this pattern in diminishing repetitions each cycle until you have performed both exercises a total of 10, eight, six, four, two, and finally one repetition each.

The cumulative effect of all the repetitions that constitute a hardcore countdown set ensures that over and above enhancing the strength endurance of the particular muscles involved in the selected exercises, there is also a cardiovascular training benefit as the heart, lungs and circulatory system strive to serve and support the muscles with oxygen and fuel rich blood.

This ultimately means more calories burned and more fat lost. The bigger the moves employed, the more dramatic the cardiovascular training effect will become.

Athletes may use this system to train sport-specific exercises while also building both general and local muscular endurance. Those wishing to lose weight and burn fat may employ such a system mixed with cardiovascular training as we will see later to achieve maximal calorie expenditure.

Those wishing simply to tone up can, upon picking the right exercises, achieve the perfect balance between muscle building and fat burning. Even bodybuilders may benefit from this system if they fancy a welcome change from their normal training sequences.

Finish off a workout using isolation exercises targeting opposing muscle groups as we do in a super set, and enjoy an insane pump like never before.

Here’s a few combos you might like to try. If you already work out and are of above-average fitness, here’s a little taster: squat jumps, press-ups and pull-ups (performed at an angle if you can’t manage the full regular version).

Start at 10 repetitions of each, performed in quick succession with no rest between. Move on immediately to eight, then six, four, two, and one of each. That’s a total of 93 repetitions performed with no rest, targeting virtually every muscle of the body. When you’ve completed all 93’ take a good rest, because if you’re fit enough, let’s see if you can repeat the whole lot three times.

To cut fat you could pick some slightly easier moves performed on the resistance machines found in your gym, or some light dumbbells. Choose just two such exercises, and combine them with some cardiovascular exercise. In other words, run, cycle, or step for 10 minutes, then perform any two resistance training exercises back to back in countdown style.

Keep alternating the cardio with the resistance training combos, each time spending diminishing time on the cardio segments in bouts of eight, six, four, two and finally one minute. If bodybuilding is more your thing and you typically group opposing muscle groups together in the same workout, then a countdown set is the perfect finisher.

If you’re working your chest and back, for example, grab a pair of dumbbells and perform 10 chest presses followed immediately by 10 bent-over dumbbell rows with the same weights, repeat in countdown style, and flush your muscles with nutrient rich blood to fuel recovery and growth. Try combining curls with extensions for your biceps and triceps respectively and behold with delight how your upper arms respond.

Whatever your experience in fitness, there’s always a new way to spice up our routine and keep you on the right track towards your goals. If you thought you had reached the point of diminishing returns in your workout regimen, then think again, and see how the diminishing repetitions of the hardcore countdown set can work for you.

info@noble-gym.com

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.