If you live in a state south of Alaska this time of year, chances are that a midday high intensity workout outside is out of the question. When the sun is beating down and you have a high intensity interval workout planned, you can still get your intervals in at the gym. All it takes is some creativity and a few cardio machines.

Yesterday, I challenged my teammate Melissa to this high intensity gym workout that would have us both begging for mercy toward the end of the workout. We’re training for the New Jersey Tough Mudder race this fall, so the stakes are high. It’s a twelve mile obstacle course that “will punish you, no matter your shape or size or current level of fitness” according to the offical race site. “The Tough Mudder course will have 10-12 miles of hills, mud, water, ropes, walls, electric shocks, and of course, fire.” Our entire DailyBurn team is training for this race too, so we’ll be posting our workouts here all summer for you to check out.

If you are looking to increase your stamina or you are preparing for a tough event like we are, I suggest you add a workout like this to your routine on days when you can’t run or train outside.

The workout looks like this:

• 2 min rowing machine
• 2 min kettlebell swings
• 2 min treadmill sprint at 5% grade
• 2 min climbing stairs

 
Complete 4 rounds with a 2 min rest between rounds. Move from exercise to exercise as fast as you can with no more that 30 sec rest between exercises (unless you are between rounds).
 
Sure, it looks easy, but here’s the kicker: you have to redline it at each exercise. That means you have to treat each exercise as a sprint. Don’t settle for less than your maximum effort.

Have you ever attempted a high intensity workout like this in the gym? What are your favorite high intensity exercises?
 
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