You only need five exercises and 24 minutes to train like Reggie Fasa, the Fittest Man in the UK, using this fiery weights-based workout.
Alongside his status as the Fittest Man in the UK, Fasa is one of the top CrossFit athletes in the world. Granted, you don’t reach Fasa’s athletic status by doing just one workout, but this EMOM (every minute on the minute) 24-minute workout is as close as I got to training with him. Fasa handed this workout exclusively to Tom’s Guide. So for 24 minutes, you can train like him, too.
I decided to put it to the test and see what this five-move workout with weights could do for my mind and body. If you plan to try it yourself, remember to scale to your strength ability and consult a physician before planning a new exercise regime. I also recommend the best wireless headphones and a decent playlist.
Reggie is the Fittest Man in the UK and one of the top CrossFit athletes in the world. Previously a professional rugby player, Reggie decided to pursue a career as a full-time athlete in 2020 and is working towards his goal of the CrossFit Games.
Fittest Man in the UK, Reggie Fasa’s workout with weights
Before tackling the workout below, Fasa recommends looking at it as three minutes of high-intensity work followed by one minute of rest.
“Make sure you can recover as much as possible within the rest minute by slowly walking around or pedaling lightly on the bike to lower your heart rate slightly,” he advises. Complete the set number of reps or calories for exercises within the minute before the next minute begins. After the third minute, you’ll get a minute’s rest. You have six rounds to complete, totaling 24 minutes.
“Try to be as efficient as possible with your transitions from movements. This can be helped by having equipment set up so you don’t have to travel too far,” Fasa adds.
“Practice the bar-facing burpees beforehand so you know how you will do them in the workout (either jumping or stepping over the bar from each rep). If you are stepping up, try to alternate your legs and how you jump so you don’t end up moving in a circle and getting dizzy!”
The workout: EMOM24
The workout targets and strengthens muscle groups across the entire body, including your chest, shoulders, back, core, and leg muscles. It also taps into calorie-torching strength and conditioning training, which will boost your metabolism long after you throw down your weights.
If some of these terms aren’t familiar, don’t worry, the workout is still suitable for beginners.
Check out the videos below for a run down on each move, and remember to scale using any equipment and weights available. Fasa advises you to adjust the assault bike calorie target to something you can achieve in around 50 seconds. “This should be fairly comfortable in the first round but will get very tough by the end.”
The workout targets and strengthens muscle groups across the entire body, including your chest, shoulders, back, core, and leg muscles.
The calorie and weight ranges are split by males/females. If the weight or rep ranges for thrusters and wall balls are too challenging, scale back to something you can perform unbroken each round. Chest-to-bar pull-ups are an advanced CrossFit calisthenics move, so I swapped them out for assisted pull-ups using one of the best resistance bands, or you could try ring rows (find these in the five best CrossFit workouts for beginners).
- Minute 1) 20/15 Calorie assault bike
- Minute 2) 8 Thrusters @ 50/35kg
- + 6 bar-facing-burpees
- Minute 3) 12 Chest to bar
- + 12 wall balls @ 9/6kg
- Minute 4) Rest
I tried this workout from the Fittest Man in the UK — and I’m still sweating
Don’t get married to the numbers on this workout. You should have 10 seconds left before each round begins, so aim for that.
Even just looking at this one made me feel a bit sick, but how can you turn down a workout from the official Fittest Man in the UK? I’ve done enough CrossFit workouts to recognize when to kick my ego aside and tactically pick weights, so I choose 25kg (55 lb) for thrusters and 6kg (13 lb) wall balls.
If you’re new to the move, the goal is to achieve a low squat and powerful upward trajectory, aiming for the same spot on the wall with clean precision on every throw. Find out what happened when I did 50 wall balls every day for a week for a how-to on nailing them.
Verdict
This workout with weights involved 24 minutes of being humbled with exercises I actively dislike (hello, assault bike and thrusters), but I’m a firm believer in doing hard things and learning from them.
Exercise that challenges your mind and body helps build mental strength — a translatable skill for daily life. We should all dig into our mental reserves from time to time while exercising.
Fasa’s workout does well to keep things simple so that you don’t have to think, just move. For anyone doing this for the first time who doesn’t have CrossFit experience, keep an eye on your form before you lift heavier. There’s plenty of time to progress the workout and celebrate your wins, but you only get one body to do it with.
I was a sweaty, wobbly mess afterward, despite maintaining a relatively conservative 10 calories per round on the assault bike, which is a good starting point to work with. Bar-facing burpees just mean that you jump over the bar every rep, facing the bar. Learn how to do burpees for more variations to try. Six reps seem easy at first, but four rounds down, they might as well be a hundred. Pace yourself.
Now, I’m off to stretch my humbled limbs.
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