Burpees|Mountain Climbers|Bulgarian Training Bag Swings|Kettlebell Clean and Press|Oh My!

Interval training with four of my favorite exercises: burpees, mountain climbers, bulgarian bag swings, and kettlebell clean-n-press. This is a great workout you can pack into a short amount of time.

The Workout

The workout combines those four exercises into some high-intensity interval training (HIIT) by timing each exercise, then allowing a short period for recovery before moving on to the next exercise. The intervals are key to getting you metabolism moving, burning calories, and burning fat. Work hard, really hard, recover, and repeat.

Here is how it breaks down.

Intervals and Rounds

The workout intervals are timed the same way I’ve been doing my 1,000 rep kettlebell swing workouts with 40 seconds of work followed by 20 seconds of rest. I set my timer up for 20 periods.

To work through the intervals do each exercise for as many reps as possible in the 40 second work peiod, rest, then move onto the next. Repeat that for 5 complete rounds for a total workout time of 20 minutes.

Burpees

I love burpees, they may be an age-old movement, but they are a killer. The movement is simple but hard to keep up with good form. Here are the steps:

1. Stand straight
2. Squat Down
3. Extend your hands down to the ground shoulder width apart with your palms flat on the ground
4. Hop and drive your legs back into a straight plank position (starting position for a pushup)
5. Do a push up, lower yourself down until your chest touches the ground, then back up.
6. Hop bringing your feet back into the squat position with you palms still on the ground.
7. Jump, driving all the way through with complete hip snap for full extension
8. Land, and repeat.

In the 40 second period I could do 8-10 reps.

Mountain Climbers

The mountain climbers are another simple bodyweight exercise that is just a killer. I tried and tried hard, but I couldn’t keep these going for a total 40 seconds. I ended up taking short breaks.

The movement starts from a plank position, then alternate bringing your legs up as high as you can go. I alternate every few reps from bringing my knees inside my elbows to bringing them on the outside. When I bring my knees outside I aim to bring my foot far enough forward that the sole of my foot is flat on the ground.

Bulgarian Bag Swings

The Bulgarian bag swing is like performing a kettlebell halo with more momentum. It works the shoulders and the entire mid-section. I used my DIY Bulgarian Bag for this movement. I did 12 reps each direction in the 40 second work period.

Here is a quick video of Rick Baird of Peak Performance Fitness doing the Bulgarian Bag Swings

Kettlebell Clean-n-Press

I pulled out two lighter kettlebells for this and went with my 16kg (35 lb) kettlebells for the kettlebell clean and press. This weight let me finish 8-10 reps in the 40 second work period.

Working through this series of exercises was hard. In twenty minutes there are five sets of burpees, mountain climbers, bulgarian bag swings, and kettlebell clean-n-press. Packed together with some high intensity interval training for an intense workout.