You’ve chosen to make the program harder! Good for you!
The way you are going to do this is simple: Instead of aiming for a certain number of reps per set, you are going to workout for a prescribed amount of time instead!
The exercises stay the same. The circuits stay the same. The 1-minute rest period after doing each 5-exercise circuit stays the same.
To make this change, you will need to set your interval timer to do split or complex intervals.
Your work interval will be 30 seconds. Your rest interval will be 30 seconds. You are still allotted 1 minute per exercise. The overall workout still takes only 30 minutes!
For example, here is how you will do the next 2 weeks of the program:
Exercise | Work Time | Rest Time |
Jumping Jacks | 30 sec | 30 sec |
Squats | 30 sec | 30 sec |
Mountain Climbers | 30 sec | 30 sec |
Reverse Lunges | 30 sec | 30 sec |
Planks | 30 sec | 30 sec |
Rest | n/a | 60 sec |
After the rest, start circuit #2 immediately. Continue to do 5 circuits total, just like before.
Don’t worry if you can’t do the entire 30 seconds of every exercise the first time you try. Record the number of seconds you were able to do and try to get up to 30 seconds as the goal at the end of this 2 week block.
Also, keep a reasonable cadence with your reps. If it takes you 30 seconds to do only 5 squats, you are moving too slow. It is natural to slow down the reps once you start getting fatigued, but try to do the best you can. Don’t sacrifice form for reps however!
Think 30 seconds of work time is too easy for you?
It might be! Increase the work time to 35-45 seconds, and give yourself the corresponding amount of rest to make each set last 1 minute total. If that is not enough, speed up the reps (only if you’ve mastered the form, no sloppy reps) so that you are doing more reps in that 45 seconds.
With harder work comes greater reward! Good luck!