Have you ever gone into the gym with no idea what you are going to do? You never have to do that again. Just pick one of these 4 extreme exercise routines that will put you to the test. You don’t have to completely torch yourself everyday, but sometimes it’s good to really see what you’re made of. These routines will also take some of the thinking out of what you do in the gym which will save you time.
1 – Tabata
If you are short on time this exercise routine is a perfect choice. Pick an exercise that works large muscle groups. It can be used with literally any movement even sprints. To make it a complete workout, use exercises that use lots of body parts. Exercises like back squats, front squats, and olympic lifts like cleans are good choices. You can also do this with secondary exercises like bicep curls and tricep extensions as well as a part of a more complete workout.
You are going to need a clock or stop watch available. You can do this routine for around 10 minutes, give or take a couple minutes. When the clock starts you have 20 seconds to do as many reps as you can. After the 20 seconds is up, you have a 10 second break before repeating. Every 30 second mark you better be ready to pick up the weight and start moving. In 10 minutes you will experience 20 rounds of madness. If you don’t feel like you got a complete workout in after a good tabata then you didn’t give it your best effort.
2 – Drop Set
A drop set requires a spotter because you will experience some muscular failure if you’re doing it right. It will give you a bunch of extra repetitions that will push your muscles to the limit. If you want to pump up your muscles and train for hypertrophy this is one way to do it.
To perform a drop set pick a heavy weight that you can move for 6 to 10 repetitions. As soon as you are done with that set, take off about half the weight and immediately push out 20 more reps. Don’t do this by yourself unless you are using a machine. As you’re muscles start to fatigue you need a spotter to make sure your technique doesn’t crumble.
3 – Sprint Break
This routine is almost exactly like circuit training. It’s different because instead of going from one resistance exercise to another you immediately do a sprint. This workout is an extreme fat burner.
As an example, after doing a set of bench press or squat you don’t get to take a 1 minute break. Go right into a 10 or 12 second sprint. You won’t find too many better ways to increase your heart rate during resistance training. 
4 – Hectic 100
This routine is a simple way to give any workout a grande finale finish. It’s really simple yet effective. It’s best to do this with only one or two exercises. Similar to the drop set, if the exercises have free weights involved you may want to have a spotter. Machines or bodyweight exercises may be a better option if you are by yourself, for safety purposes.
For example, like the picture below, for shoulders it may be more effective to do shoulder presses on a machine rather than free weights. The machine will keep you from cheating and the weight won’t fall on your head when you start to struggle.
You perform the hectic 100 by simply doing 100 reps of any exercise as fast as you can. Do as many repetitions as you can until you can’t possibly push out another one. Then rest for a few seconds and repeat until you get to 100.
You can use 2 exercises as well. For example doing pushups and bicep curls. Do as many pushups as you can. When you can’t do another one, start doing bicep curls. Keep alternating exercises until you reach 100 repetitions with both.
You don’t ever have to enter a gym again without having an idea of what you want to do. Pick one of these 4 exercise routines that will put you to the test. All you have to do is pick the exercises. This will save you time and push your body to new limits. Contact me if you have any questions about exercises to use. After you do one of these workouts, leave a comment below and let us know how you liked it!
About Adam Pegg
