Advanced Workouts For Not Only Abs and Core, but Full Body

I received a question today from a Sergeant who was looking for high intensity workouts with some work for abs, core, and full body to take his team of 30+ soldiers to a new level of fitness in preparation for their PT testing.

He basically said that the men had reached a plateau in their training and needed something really high intensity to take them to the next level.

My response is below...Keep in mind that this workout I gave him uses bodyweight-only exercises, however, it is VERY intense and for people looking for advanced fitness levels.

With that said, keep in mind that if you're not yet at an advanced level, you can still use this by simply using the basic format of the workout, and just do less of whatever exercises you struggle with, or choose an easier alternate exercise that's similar.

Here goes...

Hi J****. To get your soldiers to that next level in their workouts, we're going to keep the intensity super high here and use the whole body. Keep rest periods short, and use full-body multijoint movements as much as possible.

I'll give you a killer workout idea below that not only incorporates abs and entire core, but the entire body as well in an intense fashion. Not sure what (if any) equip you have available, so I'll give you a great workout that's bodyweight based. Here's an example to take your men through:

Start with a 2-3 min warmup of light jogging, jumping jacks, or jump rope.

Then, move through these exercises in circuit fashion, one right after the other with only 10 seconds rest between each (repeat the circuit 3-5 times for a killer total body workout):

1. bodyweight squats - 12 reps

2. plyo pushups (clapping) - 10 reps

3. walking lunges up 6 steps and back 6 steps

4. floor mountain climbers for 30 seconds

5. lunge jumps - 6 reps to each side

6. lying leg thrusts (abs) on floor - 12 reps

7. squat jumps - 8 reps

8. side plank hold 30 seconds one side, then 30 sec opposite side

Rest 2 min after each circuit; repeat circuit 3-5x

If that doesn't get them through the plateau and ready for the next PT test, nothing will!