This Valentine’s Day, let’s connect to our hearts in a different way—through a heart rate-based fitness workout! Orangetheory Fitness Coach, Zoe Brown, has provided us with a sweaty Valentine’s Day workout that’ll get your heart racing like no-one’s business and seriously make you sweat.
The goal of this workout is to get out of your comfort zone and accumulate 12 minutes or more of uncomfortable effort to achieve a lasting, elevated caloric burn and boosted metabolism.
She’s added intervals on the treadmill to help increase your heart rate and ensure that you reach the intensities that result in an increased caloric burn.
In the weights section, it’s all about focusing on generating lean muscle. A combination of upper and lower body movements with some added core to guarantee a full body workout. Combining resistance and interval training ensures that you’re targeting muscle development, reducing excess fat within the body and generating an elevated calorie burn.
We suggest that for this workout, you track your HR to monitor your BPM, then compare this to how you’re feeling. This will give you a good indication of your target zones and provide maximum benefit to your workout.
Key Zones:
- Uncomfortable runs = above 84% or your Max HR
- Recovery jogs = between 71% and 83% of your Max HR
Warm up:
Treadmill for 5 minute at a pace you can manage for 20-30mins
Treadmill Block 1
- 2 minute run at an uncomfortable pace (about 2-3km/hr over your warm-up pace)
- 1 minute recovery jog
- 90 second run at an uncomfortable pace again (aim to match the previous speed)
- 1 minute recovery jog
- 30 second sprint at a very uncomfortable pace (about +2km/hr over your run pace)
- 1 minute recovery walk
Weights Block 1
6min block
Goal: minimum of 2 rounds
- Dumbbell (DB) Overhead triceps press x 10
- DB Hammer curl x 10
- DB Upright row x 10
- Reverse crunch x 16
Treadmill Block 2
- 1 minute run at an uncomfortable pace (match or better previous pace)
- 1 minute recovery jog
- 90 second at an uncomfortable pace
- 90 second recovery jog
- 1 minute sprint (big finish!)
Weights Block 2
6min block
Goal: minimum of 2 rounds
- DB Squat x 12
- DB Static lunge x 8 each leg
- Plank alternating leg lift x 16
After this, it’s time for a nice long stretch and to enjoy that post-workout feeling!
Looking for more heart-loving workouts to try this Valentine’s Day? Click here for 8 yoga poses that will open your heart!
