This Friday the 13th Workout Works Up a Scary Amount of Sweat

No gym needed! This Friday the 13th, you can perform this workout just about anywhere.
Image Credit: Juan_Algar/iStock/GettyImages

Before you curl up with a scary movie this Friday the 13th, try this high-intensity workout for a scary-good sweat session. Crafted by Maillard Howell, owner of CrossFit Prospect Heights and founder of The Beta Way, a holistic wellness program, these 13 moves are sure to have your heart racing.

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Perform the following exercises as a simple ascending ladder workout, going in order from one to 13. It's a doozy, so rest as needed (and you will need it!) to keep good form while performing each exercise. And be sure to give your body a proper cooldown before your horror film of choice picks your heart rate back up!

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Read more: HIIT For Beginners: 7 Tips to Jump-Start Your Workouts

1-Minute Squat Hold

Use this minute-long squat hold as a warm-up move for your lower body, Howell says. You can also add pulses (bounce up and down a few inches) or rock side to side as you hold for a little more movement.

  1. Stand with your legs slightly wider than hip-width apart.
  2. Hinge at your hips and bend at the knees as if sitting down into a chair.
  3. Pause at the bottom of the squat with your thighs parallel to the ground.
  4. Hold for a minute, then reverse the motion to return to standing.

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2 Minutes of Sit-Ups

  1. Lie on a mat or soft surface with feet flat on the ground.
  2. Cross your arms over your chest or place your hands lightly behind your head (but don't pull on your neck).
  3. On an exhale, keep your core tight and sit up while keeping your feet on the ground.
  4. Reverse the motion back to the ground.

Tip

Pace your sit-ups at a warm-up speed so you don't have to take pauses to rest. And time your breath so that it matches one breath per rep, Howell says. Exhale on the way up and inhale on the way down.

3 Minutes of Jump Squats

  1. Stand with your legs slightly wider than hip-width apart.
  2. Hinge at the hips and lower into a squat.
  3. Using your arms for momentum, jump into the air, landing back into a squat.
  4. Rebound quickly and repeat the motion, taking pauses as needed.

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Tip

Squeeze your glutes at the top of the jump and don't worry about how high in the air you get. Your feet don't have to leave the floor too substantially (you can take the jump out and raise onto your tiptoes if you have joint issues) but make sure to always get a deep squat at the bottom. "No half or short squats," Howell says.

Read more: The Top 15 Moves to Tone Your Glutes

4 Walkout Push-Ups

This move will slow your heart rate back down after the jump squats and give you a chance to catch your breath. Use this move to warm up your shoulders and upper body, too, keeping an easy pace.

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  1. Stand up straight, then hinge at your hips, folding your body over. Try and keep your legs as straight as possible with a slight bend in the knee as you bring your palms to the floor.
  2. Keeping your feet in place, walk your arms out to a high plank, hands directly beneath your shoulders, body in a straight line from head to heels.
  3. Lower your chest toward the ground for a push-up, hovering an inch or two above the ground (or as far as your strength and mobility allow).
  4. Walk your hands back to your feet, keeping your legs as straight as possible.

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5 Reverse Lunges (Each Leg)

  1. Begin standing, then step your right foot back a few feet, bending both knees.
  2. Lower until your right knee hovers just above the ground. Both knees should form 90-degree angles.
  3. Using the glute muscle of your left leg, come back to standing and bring your legs back together.
  4. Do all 5 reps on one side, then switch to the other leg.

Tip

Take a rest after your reverse lunges until you feel recovered enough to do all 6 push-ups reps one after the other.

6 Push-Ups

  1. Begin in a high plank with your hands directly beneath your shoulders, body in a straight line from head to heels.
  2. Bending your elbows at a 45-degree angle to your body, lower your chest until it hovers an inch above the ground (or however far you can go).
  3. On an exhale press yourself back up to a high plank.

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Read more: The 'Palindrome Workout' That Shakes Up Your Fitness Routine

7 Kettlebell Suitcase Deadlifts (Each Side)

  1. Hold a kettlebell, dumbbell or other heavy weight in your right hand.
  2. Hinge at your hips, sitting your butt back and slightly bending your knees.
  3. Keep your back flat and your shoulders back. Pause here for a moment.
  4. Reverse the motion, pushing your hips forward and returning to standing.
  5. Do all 7 reps on one side before doing the same on the other.

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8 Single-Arm Push Presses (Each Arm)

  1. Hold a weight in your right hand (you can use a dumbbell, kettlebell, etc.) and stand with your feet hip-width apart.
  2. Bring the weight up to your shoulder.
  3. Slightly dip the knees and bounce lightly, allowing the momentum to help you press the weight up overhead on an exhale.
  4. Bring the weight back to shoulder height.
  5. Do all 8 reps on your right side, then repeat on the left.

9 Mountain Climbers (Each Side)

  1. Begin in a high plank.
  2. Bring your right knee up to your right elbow, hovering above the ground, then return to plank.
  3. Next, bring your left knee to the left elbow.
  4. Alternate between both legs as quickly as possible for 18 total reps (9 on each side).

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10 V-Ups

  1. Lie on the ground with your arms straight over your head, a few inches from your ears. Extend your legs out straight.
  2. On an exhale, fold your body in half by lifting your arms and legs, keeping them straight. Tap your feet with your hands.
  3. Return to the starting position but hover your arms and legs just about the ground.

Read more: Are V-Ups a Good Abdominal Exercise?

11 Jumping Lunges (Each Leg)

  1. Stand and bring one leg forward, coming into a lunge by bending at the knees. Don't let your front knee extend past your toes.
  2. Swinging your arms for momentum, jump into the air and land in a lunge with the opposite leg in front.
  3. Continue alternating legs for 22 total reps (11 on each leg).

Tip

As with any lunge, your feet shouldn't land directly in front of one another, Howell says. Think about landing with the feet on "opposing sides of train tracks."

12 Kettlebell Swings

  1. Begin with a kettlebell about a foot in front of you and stand with your feet hip-width apart.
  2. Hinge at your hips and with a flat back, grab the kettlebell with both hands.
  3. Swing the bell back between your legs, keeping your eyes straight ahead and your neck neutral.
  4. Swing the kettlebell to should height as you stand up and push your hips forward.
  5. As the weight comes down, swing it back between your legs, returning to the beginning of the movement.

13 Burpees

  1. Stand, then drop down into a squat, hands on the floor in front of you.
  2. Jump back into a high plank.
  3. Do one push-up, bringing your chest as close to the floor as you can.
  4. Press back up to the top of the push-up.
  5. Jump your feet back to your hands.
  6. Immediately jump up into the air, arms overhead.
  7. Land with knees slightly bent and go straight into the next rep.

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