The deck of cards workout assigns an exercise to each suit in a standard 52-card deck, then you flip cards one at a time and do the reps shown, which makes it a complete zero-equipment workout you can do anywhere. It has been my number one tool for training on the road for years. For this Physical Friday I explain exactly how it works and share four of my favorite variations, from the hotel room version to core-only and dumbbell versions.
Listen now: press play in the player above and follow along.
Assign one exercise to each suit in a standard deck, flip one card at a time, and do the number of reps on the card. Number cards count at face value, face cards count as ten, and aces count as eleven, or one if you need to scale back. Work through the whole deck and you are done, which usually takes around twenty minutes with four bodyweight movements.
My go-to is burpees for spades, push-ups for clubs, sit-ups for hearts, and squats for diamonds. Flip a five of diamonds, do five squats, flip a ten of spades, do ten burpees. Those four movements need zero equipment and zero space, which is why that version is the one I do more than anything else, in hotel rooms, gyms, parking lots, by the pool, wherever.
The jokers are wildcards you assign to anything around you, and I count extra cards like the rules card as jokers too. In a hotel room I may skip them, but outside I will make a joker ten pull-ups if there is a bar, a run around the block, a couple hundred double-unders, or step-ups on a park bench. In the gym they can be kettlebell swings, a mile run, or fifty calories on the rower, bike, or ski erg, which can turn a twenty-minute deck into a monster.
The way I first heard it, from Ross Enamait of RossTraining.com, was two exercises only, all black cards are burpees, all red cards are push-ups. It is a really tough workout, and I love it because I can do it in any six-foot space, including the kind of hotel room where it is not safe to run outside and there is no gym. Any two exercises work, but burpees and push-ups is the classic.
Cut the deck in half and do half the cards, or cut the reps, count a ten as five, a face card as five, and an ace as one. On the other end, add jokers with big movements, use a weighted version with a dumbbell or kettlebell, or pick harder exercises. The format scales to any fitness level, which is part of why I have used it for so many years.
Yes, and it is a great option for hotel gyms with just a dumbbell rack. With one 25-pound dumbbell you can do single-arm snatches, single-arm swings, goblet squats, weighted lunges, or light overhead presses, one movement per suit. Keep the weight light, because the reps add up fast across a whole deck. I often travel with one kettlebell in the truck for exactly this.
I unpack each of these in the episode. Press play in the player above.
I have a deck of cards in every bag I own, because it removes every excuse. After a flight, before a morning of fishing, before a big meeting, I can knock the rust off in twenty minutes in whatever space I have. The only thinking required is which exercises fit the room. I explain why it has stuck for so many years in the episode, so press play in the player above.
There is my standard four-movement version, the brutal two-movement original from Ross Enamait, an all-core deck I use as a finisher or on rest days, and a weighted deck for hotel gyms with a single dumbbell. Each one solves a different problem on the road. I walk through how I pick between them in the episode, so press play in the player above.
The jokers are where the workout gets creative. A park bench becomes step-ups, a pull-up bar becomes ten pull-ups, a gym turns them into a mile run or fifty calories on the rower. Suddenly a twenty-minute deck becomes a long, hard session. I share my favorite joker assignments in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Put a deck of cards in each bag. It is mindless in the best way, scales to any level, and works in any six feet of floor space on Earth. If you have a variation you love, email me at podcast@saltwaterexperience.com, I do this workout so often that I am always looking for new ways to spice it up. Press play in the player above.
deck of cards workout · burpees · push-ups · sit-ups · squats · jokers · Ross Enamait · RossTraining.com · hotel room workouts · travel training · core workout · kettlebell · dumbbell · zero equipment · Physical Friday · Tom Rowland Podcast
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 training, nutrition, and mindset that keep me ready for long days on the water, in short, focused episodes built for fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and anyone who wants to stay in the game for life.
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