Gamified workouts for the win!

Engaging in daily activity has become imperative to my mental, physical, and emotional wellness over the past 3 years. I love to either run or attend CrossFit classes at my local gym on average of 5-6 days a week. However, life happens… rain, Covid, quarantine, after-work commitments, cold weather, travel, and sometimes plans shift and I have to come up with a plan C.  The challenge for me, as it probably is for most, is motivation and accessibility. Not everyone has the equipment or space to work out at home, and even if you did, it’s sometimes difficult to know where to start or what to do. I have found these 3 gamified workouts to be an easy and fun way to get a fantastic workout that is extremely customizable and mobile!

Roll-A-Move Workout

I was at Target recently and found this awesome 12-sided foam die for $3! Each side has a different exercise. Ie. 10 burpees, 25 crunches, 10 squats, etc.

If you can’t find this 12-sided die, I also found this version at Amazon, for $8.88. Alternatively, you could buy a 4-sided dry erase die at Dollar Store or on Amazon and write a different exercise and rep amount on each side. You could write wild on one side, if you wish to add some chance!

Instructions:

1. Set a timer for the amount of time you have to exercise: 10, 20, 30 minutes or more.
2. Roll the die and complete the exercise it lands on. 
3. Roll and repeat until time is up!

There are so many reasons to love this! The die is foam so can easily pack in a suitcase for travel, the movements don’t require equipment or a lot of space, and you can adjust the time. You could even double the movements, if you chose or create your own variations!

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Deck of Cards Workout

I learned this game from my amazing CrossFit instructor, Michelle Abbott​, from Crossfit The Den in Medford, Oregon.  All you need is a deck of cards and a piece of paper or small whiteboard to write down the movements. You will need to choose one exercise for each of the suits in the deck (hearts, diamonds, spades, clubs). If you don't have equipment, choose exercises that only require bodyweight. Ie. squats, sit ups, push-ups, alternate lunges (L/R=1), jumping jacks, etc. Each number in the deck represents the number of repetitions you will complete of that movement. Aces = 11, royals = 10, and jokers are wild. When you draw a joker you can complete any of the 4 movements, or choose something entirely different.

Instructions:
1. Start the timer and turn over the first card in the deck. 
2. Complete the corresponding exercise and reps.
3. Draw a new card and repeat until you have completed all the cards in the deck.
This typically takes about 30 minutes, but you could set the timer, and see how many cards you can complete before time is up! This is fun to do as a partner workout too.

Tabata on a Roll

A four-minute tabata workout, is comprised of 20-seconds of exercise at 100% effort, followed by 10-second of rest for a total of eight rounds. This is another great workout that you can take anywhere. I use an online Tabata Timer that does all the interval counting for you. To add a gamified twist, roll the 12-sided workout die (or a 4-sided dry erase die) for each of the 8 rounds to determine the movement. 

When we can add a little chance to our workouts, it can make it just a bit more fun! I'd love to hear your ideas for gamified twists on your favorite workout! Reply or share on Twitter or Instagram using the #MLmagical hashtag!