Barbell Tens Circuit

In my ongoing pursuit of short routines, easy to execute but above all, intense, I came up with this routine. By using only barbells and sticking to 3 different weights across the 6 exercises, you eliminate much of the times between sets caused by changing weights or location.

Thus, you can perform 3 sets of 10 on 6 major exercises in little more than 10 minutes.

The exercises - all with a barbell:

10 Bench Press - weight A
10 Romanian Deadlift - weight B
10 Clean and Press - weight C
10 Bent Over Row - weight A
10 Squat - weight B
10 Floor Wipers - weight A

x 3, no rest.

You need to use a squat rack and a bench.

Weight A sits on the bench rack, then comes off for the bent overs, then back on for the floor wipers (if, like me, you like to do these on a bench.)

Weight C sits to one side for the clean and press.

Weight B can be awkward - I had to take the bar down off the squat rack to do the deads, then get it back up for the squat each time. This was a pain, but would be fine if you had a partner to help. If you can have a 4th bar involved, that is better, but there are not enough bars in my gym for that.

If you get the weights right, this can be a very intense effort. Too heavy and you have to rest in the middle of a set, which allows you to get your breath back. The idea is to choose a weight whereby you are just approaching failure on the final set of each exercise.

Barbell Tens Workouts: from workout diary