Get ready for Tabata intervals. But before you get stuck into them, you're gonna do some pretty serious deadlifting. This classic compound move works everything from your glutes and hamstrings to your grip. It’ll also provoke a huge hormone response because of the sheer amount of weight you can lift.
“If your lower back becomes rounded as you deadlift, then the weight is too heavy or the lower back itself is too weak to maintain a proper neutral spine,” says strength and conditioning coach Zach Even-Esh, who programmed this series of workouts. “If the regular version is beating you up too much then you could switch over to the trap bar deadlift or Zercher squats, which aren’t so tough on the lower back.”
How To Do The Workout
“Bear in mind that the deadlift doesn’t need to be attacked in the same way as the other movements for you to get results. Make sure you do a couple of quality sets of three to six reps, but leave something in the tank – you don’t need to cripple yourself to get the benefit.” If you want more deadlift pointers, check out our guide to perfect deadlift form.
Once you've done the deadlifts, get stuck into the tabata intervals. High-intensity aerobic training, such as this, can improve both aerobic and anaerobic capacity. “If I’m training other people, I’ll use Tabata intervals a lot,” says Even-Esh. “Do 20 seconds of a single exercise and 10 seconds of rest, repeated eight times. This will take just 16 minutes but leave you fried.”
