So today (17th March 2017) marks my 34th birthday. If I was an athlete, it’d be the late winter of my career. Instead, I’m getting stronger, more powerful and fitter than ever before.

Take that, ageing.

Alas, I digress.

I’m not a fan of fads, be them diets, workouts (who remembers Reebok Step?!) or quirky fitness gimmicks (think Plank/Squat/Push Up/Burpee or whatever else challenge), but I did something a little self-indulgent and gimmicky today. It was a birthday workout centred around a single theme… the number 34.

I think you should do it too. Offset your Guinness/weekend indulgence with some serious gym work.

It’s a superset-based workout. I picked two exercises (apart from the final 2, and you’ll see why in a second) and did them as a super set (I did a set of each exercise one after the other), then had a rest until I reached 34 reps.

I broke them down as follows…

• Set 1, 10 Reps of each exercise
• Set 2, 8 Reps of each exercise
• Set 3, 8 Reps of each exercise
• Set 4, 8 Reps of each exercise

The Exercises

• Squats (80kg) and Kettlebell Swings (24kg)
• Deadlifts (90kg) and Push Presses (55kg)
• Lunges (60kg) and Hammer Curls (16kg per side)
• Pull Ups (BW) and Bench Press (70kg)
• 34 Burpees
• Row until I’d burned 34 calories

To be honest, break it down as you like – there aren’t any rules. Just make it tough.

I did it in 44 minutes and it was pretty grim, but I had to because, well, cake. And Guinness (it is St Patrick’s Day). The birthday workout certainly helped me feel less guilty than if I hadn’t done it!

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