My workouts are currently being dictated by the Precision Nutrition Lean Eating program. Each moth they change it up and this month has me doing a dedicated day of upper, lower, whole body, EEW (twice per week) with two days left for active rest.
The upper, lower and whole body programs are written out for you. They tell me which exercises to do, how many reps/sets and how much rest in between. I won't lie...it's nice to not have to figure it out myself and to have an expert do all the planning. We do, however, have to figure out our own EEW and Active Rest day workouts.
EEW stands for energy expenditure workout and it should include exercises that make you breathe heavy and feel "pretty uncomfortable" at the end of them. Think Tabata, HIIT, Vo2max conditioning, etc.
I miss my kb circuits so I try to work a kettlebell routine into my EEW days. This is what I am currently doing for EEW days:
Warm up with the Versus (using these videos as my guide)
- Versus Mountain Climbers x10
- 2 handed swings x15
- Figure 8's x10
- Versus lunge x10
- 1 handed swings x15
- Kettlebell Snatch x10
I allow myself 10-15 seconds of rest between each exercise (only enough to grab some water) and then move on to the next exercise. I did this circuit three times, with a few minutes rest in between (generally enough time to control my breathing). For the kettlebell exercises I used my 12kg bell but could probably go higher or double for the 2-handed swings. I loved this workout!! Only thing missing is Krista and Angus :) ha ha.
I'm not going to lie - those Versus mountain climbers were supposed to be part of my warm-up but they were so hard that I decided to add it to my actual workout. The lunges are probably the easiest on the list but if I keep at a good pace (while still keeping form) then it keeps my heart pumping. The hardest on that list would be the snatches - again, in all honesty, the last set of 10 were pretty messy and I had to alternate 5 and 5 per side.
I'm no expert so I have no idea if this is the exact combination of exercises I should be doing for maximum effect but it works for me. In the previous month my EEW had a set of clean & press ladders in it which I always enjoy -especially since it's a great core and back workout for me. I left them out of this circuit because the current week's set work out seems to be pretty shoulder heavy and my shoulders definitely feel fatigued.

It's pretty cold down there so I wear about three layers.
I'd love some suggestions if you have any. Should I re-arrange my order of exercises? What are you doing for your high-intensity workouts?