gf Collections
Design your own workout using gf Collections! In this series I will show you some of my favorite exercises, separated into collections by major muscle group. From here you can use these exercises to create your own workout by following the patterns I’ve hilited below.
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Design Your Own Workout
You only need two things to create a workout:
Exercises and a Pattern (or Sequence)
When you design your own workout you get to choose the exercises and the length of the workout. While it can take a little more prep than following a workout video, it’s an opportunity to be creative and challenge yourself. In each tab above I’ve outlined different ways to put exercises together to make custom workouts for yourself, your friends or your clients.
Circuits are different exercises performed in a sequence for multiple rounds.
One time thru each of the exercises is called one “round” of the circuit. Each round is usually followed by rest. After rest, the sequence is repeated for a second round. Perform as many rounds as you have time or energy for.
You can do circuits by counting reps or time.
If counting reps, I recommend staying between 8-12 reps. If counting time I recommend 30 seconds per exercise. To vary the intensity you can change the amount of rest time between each exercise or round.
Example circuit with 4 exercises (A, B, C & D):
Round 1 = 10 reps A + 10 reps B + 10 reps C + 10 reps D. Rest 30s.
Repeat 2 more times, for a total of 3 rounds.
Tabata is 8 rounds of exercises performed with a 2:1 work to rest ratio.
One exercise is one round. You can do the same exercise for each round, alternate exercises or do different exercises for each round. Every round is the same amount of time and the rest between rounds is half the time of the work. There are a total of 8 rounds in a tabata.
You will need a timer to do a tabata workout.
The shortest common tabata is 4 minutes which is 8 rounds of 20 seconds work followed by 10 seconds rest. I often use that format or a couple of other longer formats such as 30 seconds work with 15 seconds rest or 40 seconds work with 20 seconds rest. You will notice the common theme is that the work to rest ratio is always 2 to 1.
Example tabata with 2 exercises (A & B):
Style = 20/10
Round 1 = 20s A. Rest 10s.
Round 2 = 20s B. Rest 10s.
Round 3 = 20s A. Rest 10s.
Round 4 = 20s B. Rest 10s.
Round 5 = 20s A. Rest 10s.
Round 6 = 20s B. Rest 10s.
Round 7 = 20s A. Rest 10s.
Round 8 = 20s B. Rest 10s.
Pyramids start with one exercise and add or remove exercises with each round.
In pyramids each round varies in length from the one previous. You can do a “build up” pyramid which starts with one exercise and adds a new one every round. You can do a “build down” pyramid which starts with all of the exercises and removes one every round. Or you can combine the two (that’s my favorite way to do it).
You can do pyramids by counting reps or time.
If counting reps, I recommend you chose one number between 8-12 reps. If counting time I recommend 30 seconds per exercise. To vary the intensity you can change the amount of rest time between each round.
Example pyramid build up & down with 4 exercises (A, B, C & D):
Style = 30 seconds per exercise with 30 seconds rest between rounds
Round 1 = 30s A. Rest 30s.
Round 2 = 30s A + 30s B. Rest 30s.
Round 3 = 30s A + 30s B + 30s C. Rest 30s.
Round 4 = 30s A + 30s B + 30s C + 30s D. Rest 30s.
Round 5 = 30s B + 30s C + 30s D. Rest 30s.
Round 6 = 30s C + 30s D. Rest 30s.
Round 7 = 30s D. Done.
EMOM stands for Every Minute on the Minute.
In EMOM workouts you have 1 minute to complete a task, before the next minute starts. One minute is one round. The faster you complete the task the more rest you get until the next round starts. The task refers to specific number of reps of an exercise.
You will need a timer to do an EMOM workout.
For your EMOM you’ll want to chose a number of reps (the task) that gives you a challenge, but allows you to complete it with some rest at the end before the next round starts. Because different exercises take different amounts of time, it may take some trial and error to get it just right. I usually like to time my EMOM workouts to give me about 15-30 seconds of rest between rounds.
Example 5 minute EMOM workout with 5 exercises (A, B, C, D & E):
This workout assumes exercises A, D & E take the same amount of time. B takes less time. C takes the most time.
Round 1 starts at 0:00: 10 reps of A then rest.
Round 2 starts at 1:00: 12 reps of B then rest.
Round 3 starts at 2:00: 8 reps of C then rest.
Round 4 starts at 3:00: 10 reps of D then rest.
Round 5 starts at 4:00: 10 reps of E then rest.
AMRAP stands for As Many Rounds As Possible.
In AMRAP workouts you work continuously without rest for a certain amount of time. You can use multiple exercises performed in a sequence over and over until time runs out.
You will need a timer to do an AMRAP workout.
For your AMRAP you’ll want to chose a number of reps for each exercise you’ll be doing. I recommend something between 8-12 reps. Keeping the number of reps the same for all of the exercises is simplest and works well. I usually pick 2-5 minutes as the total length of my AMRAP workouts. The idea is to work continuously without rest so much longer than 5 minutes is pretty tough.
Example 3 minute AMRAP workout with 4 exercises (A, B, C & D):
Decide on doing 10 reps of each exercise for the AMRAP. Run a timer for 3 minutes.
Do 10 reps of A, 10 reps of B, 10 reps of C, 10 reps of D, 10 reps of A, 10 reps of B, etc… without rest for a full 3 minutes.
Count your total rounds.
Come back to the AMRAP in the future and try to beat your number of rounds completed.
