Top Metcon Exercises to Add To Your Workouts

Endurance workouts don’t have to be boring. You can try out these top Metcon exercises and add them to your existing workouts.

Metcon is short for metabolic conditioning, a type of workout that combines strength and cardio exercises – the bread and butter of CrossFit (but don’t worry, if you don’t like CrossFit, these are still amazing workouts you can try).

When people mention cardio training, some like to roll their eyes and grunt. That’s because they are mainly thinking of running or cycling for a long period of time, which could be boring. But cardio doesn’t have to be boring at all if you know how to program them in a metabolic conditioning style training session.

Related: How to Get Better at CrossFit Metcons

Check out these top Metcon exercises to add to your workouts shared by Adam Sinicki.

Sinicki is known online as “The Bioneer.” He is a health and fitness writer, a personal trainer and has gathered more than 600 thousand subscribers on his YouTube Channel.

Let’s jump right into it.

Top Metcon Exercises

Sinicki exemplifies conditioning exercises that you can add to your training that are not boring at all. “All these [exercises] will burn calories, strengthen your heart, improve circulation, give you all the benefits that you want from known regular bout of cardio, but at the same time they’re going to help preserve and even build muscle,” he explains.

1. Tyre Flip

What is amazing about tyre flipping is that it is a pulling and pushing movement combined, with hip hinge and leg targeting. As a resistance cardio exercise, is great to put it at the end of your workout as a cardio finisher.

Best Tyre Flip Workouts for Conditioning and Mental Strength

2. Skipping

Skipping or jumping rope burns loads of calories and is equivalent to running (sometimes even better) and you can do it in place in little time. It also works your hand-eye coordination, timing, rhythm, and even boosts your brain.

Also, if you can learn how to do some tricks while kipping it makes it a lot more fun to do this type of metcon exercises.

5 Training Tips to Help You Perfect Your Double-Under Technique

3. Battle Rope

“The great thing about this [battle rope exercises] is it challenges in particular the muscles of the upper body,” which is something most people don’t realise when cardio exercises come to mind.

Read More: How to Get Stronger and Fitter Using the Battle Rope (Workouts Included)

4. Heavy Bag Training

In other words, bag workouts. It could be punching, kicking, or hitting a bag. Sinicki recommends for everyone to do this type of training, even if they are not martial artists. “It’s full body using your upper body and your legs, you’re bouncing around. It’s a real tough cardio workout.”

You will be building muscle and burning calories at the same time if you hit a heavy bag.

5. Kettlebell Swing

Source: Stevie D Photography

Next in our list of great metcon exercises is the kettlebell swing, something you are probably not doing, but definitely should. It builds strong glutes, hamstrings, back, the posterior chain, help you jump higher and run faster.

Also, you just need one kettlebell to get an incredible workout, get sweaty, burn calories and build muscle at the same time.

10 Awesome Kettlebell Workouts for Beginners

6. Ball Slams

It is incredibly easy to do it, with a lot of benefits. Just slam the ball on the ground, catch it, and repeat. It can be a very cathartic process. In terms of biomechanics, ball slams are the opposite of an explosive vertical jump, which not many exercises can claim to do.

There are many different variations you can try to make it more interesting.

7. High-Rep Push-Ups

“Basically I do these really high-rep explosive bouncy push-ups which don’t include a full range of motion or particularly much control, it’s more about pumping out rep after rep.”

There is a time and place to go for a controlled full range of motion push-ups, and there is a time and place to do these “cheat” push-ups with high reps. This could be one of the best metcon exercises utilising only your body weight. A good cardio rep range would be above 50.

If you want to know more arguments from Sinicki regarding these top metcon exercises to add to your workouts, check out the video below.

VIDEO – Top Metcons Exercises to Add to Your Workouts

Read More: Top Fat-Burning Conditioning Workouts