The Interval Challenge is a zero-equipment workout — four rounds of a 400-meter run, 12 burpees, 24 pushups, and 36 air squats, done for time — that you can do anywhere in the world. This Physical Friday is for everyone who trains fine at home and falls apart on the road. Travel is where most programs die, so I keep a document of hundreds of no-gear workouts, and this one, from Never Gymless author Ross Enamait, is one of my very favorites.
Listen now: press play in the player above and follow along.
The Interval Challenge is a zero-equipment workout: run 400 meters, then do 12 burpees, 24 pushups, and 36 air squats, and repeat that four times for time. Over the course of the workout you run a full mile in fast 400-meter increments and knock out the bodyweight work in a dozens rep scheme — one dozen burpees, two dozen pushups, three dozen squats per round.
No. A high school track is ideal, but you can run a piece of road, loop the hotel you are staying in, circle a parking lot, run 100 meters back and forth four times, or even use a treadmill. Get creative about the distance and call your loop 400 meters for the day. The point is that nothing about travel or missing equipment can stop this workout.
Work capacity is your ability to do the same amount of work in less time. Put the Interval Challenge on a stopwatch: if it takes you thirty-five minutes today and twenty minutes a couple of months from now with the same reps and distance, your work capacity — and therefore your fitness — has measurably increased. That is why I time everything.
Ross Enamait is a trainer and author I particularly like, and Never Gymless is his book about being able to work out anywhere — if you are away from your gym, you are not away from the gym. His website is rosstraining.com, where you can find his books and an excellent forum full of DIY fitness gear ideas. This workout came from him.
Travel is where most people fall off their program, including me. When you are home with your trainer and your gear, nothing deters you. Throw in travel and you are suddenly off the plan. Over the years I have collected hundreds of zero-equipment workouts in a document on my computer so there is never an excuse, and this is one of my very favorites.
Yes — since the workout is standardized, you can compare times with a brother in California or a buddy across town and retest later. Honestly, though, the stopwatch is mostly for yourself. The feeling of doing this in thirty minutes today and twenty minutes after a couple of months of work is proof your effort paid off.
Here is the exact workout I lay out in this episode. Put it on a stopwatch.
I walk through each of these in the episode. Press play in the player above.
When you are on your plan, seeing your trainer, with all the right equipment, you get on a real good stretch and nothing deters you. Then you throw in travel or any situation that takes you off your program, and that is where a lot of people struggle, including me. The fix is a collection of workouts that need nothing but your body and a little space. I explain how I built mine in the episode, so press play above.
Then you improvise, and the workout does not care. One loop around the hotel might be your 400 meters that day. A parking lot works. A hundred meters run back and forth four times works. A treadmill works. The track is best, but the inability to find one is never the reason to skip it. I run through all the substitutions in the episode above.
The stopwatch tells you. Same workout, same reps, same distance — thirty-five minutes today, twenty minutes in a couple of months, seventeen a few months after that. That is more work in less time, which means your work capacity has increased, which means your fitness has increased. You will not believe how happy that second test makes you. I break down how I track it in the player above.
From Ross Enamait, a guy I particularly like who has written a number of books on training anywhere, including Never Gymless — meaning if you are away from your gym, you are not away from the gym. You can do pullups on a swing set. His site, rosstraining.com, has his books and a fantastic DIY-gear forum. I tell you why I love his stuff in the episode above.
Ross Enamait · Never Gymless · rosstraining.com · burpees · pushups · air squats · 400-meter runs · work capacity · travel workouts · Physical Friday
Physical Friday is my weekly fitness series for fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen — the training, nutrition, and mindset to stay in the game for life. Watch and listen to every Physical Friday episode from Tom Rowland.
I'm Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. On the podcast's Physical Friday series I share the workouts, fitness challenges, and mindset lessons that keep me ready for long days on the water, so guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen can stay strong and stay in the game for life.
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