SWAT Workout: Extreme Weight Loss and Fat Burning

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A 48-minute, bootcamp (or SWAT-style) fat-burning workout. Tom Stroup instructs.

Intermediate exercisers. It may not seem that challenging at first, but it gets intense. You will need 3 to 5 pound weights, plus a mat.

I’ll admit that this bootcamp, calisthenic-type of routine isn’t really my bag (it reminds me of everything I hated about middle school phys. ed.), but that said, this was a pretty good workout. Stroud starts you off easy with a slow-paced, 9-minute warm-up, but it picks up once you get to the real thing. You are hit with 3 10-minute interval training/ circuit fusion segments, each one just a little more intense than the one before it. You alternate a series of high-energy moves with marching and finish each segment with a quick weight training/ recovery exercise. The goal is conditioning, which is the reason for the intervals — you need your heart rate to both rise and fall, which improves your cardio ability. The exercises are all your basic jumping jacks, lunges, push-ups, squat thrusts, mountain climbers, etc., and you have the option of doing an easier version of most moves if you’re getting tired. After the main workout, there is a killer 6-minute abs section and you finish with a cool down and stretch. I’ll admit that although I did this DVD rather grudgingly and more than once talked back to the instructor (good thing her couldn’t hear me!), I did feel loads more energetic once I was done. Mission accomplished.